Blocking shots should be illegal

[FluffyMcAvoy]

Missing the net should be illegal! It would create more goals!

 

[3rdLiner]

This might be the single dumbest thing I've read on HF this season. Congrats!

 

[Ricck]

worst idea ever

 

[joe dirte]

One of the worst ideas I've seen on Hfboards.
That's a heck of an accomplishment. Congrats.

exactly what i was thinking. so many bad ideas go through here. this one is well up there.

try to visualize it. players jumping out of the way of shots in fear of a penalty? lol.

 

[Evil Janney]

exactly what i was thinking. so many bad ideas go through here. this one is well up there.

try to visualize it. players jumping out of the way of shots in fear of a penalty? lol.

Mighty Ducks shows us its possible.

 

[RDTBay4]

I think injuries should be illegal.

 

[Seanaconda]

This might be the single dumbest thing I've read on HF this season. Congrats!

Doubt it unless this is your first day

 

[PlamsUnlimited]

Making saves should be illegal

 

[snipes]

What a terrible idea

 

[3rdLiner]

Doubt it unless this is your first day

Nope, I read some pretty stupid stuff on here. This is really beyond the norm, unless it's satire, then idk.

 

[3rdLiner]

I think injuries should be illegal.

High sticking penalty opens you up above the nose, blood gushing into your eyes.

Que the ref:

GET INTO THE BOX YOU *******

 

[RageQuit77]

Making saves should be illegal

Would make "sense" only if there would be introduced multiple pucks to the game simultaneously, let's say 5 or 10. It would be then legal to goalies to save only one puck at time, but not several simultaneously... If all pucks are already in the net, referees would dig their pockets and throw extra-puck on the ice, or off-ice official pouring more from a pucket, that way we could also get rid off those stupid time consuming faceoffs...

 

[Seanaconda]

Nope, I read some pretty stupid stuff on here. This is really beyond the norm, unless it's satire, then idk.

At least its something new and dumb instead of the same offseason posts made every 2 weeks

 

[boredmale]

While many people think this is stupid I am all for cutting down people falling on the ice to block shots(besides goalie). Basically make a rule if a player knees are touching the ice and the puck hits him he has to either get off the ice or he will get a penalty if he touches the puck with his stick intentionally.

This won't outright stop blocking shots but it will stop people from falling down intentionally to block shots.

 

[Mayor Bee]

While many people think this is stupid I am all for cutting down people falling on the ice to block shots(besides goalie). Basically make a rule if a player knees are touching the ice and the puck hits him he has to either get off the ice or he will get a penalty if he touches the puck with his stick intentionally.

This won't outright stop blocking shots but it will stop people from falling down intentionally to block shots.

That's been discussed as a rule change in NCAA hockey for years, but it's always fallen just barely short of getting the votes to be implemented.

Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing it go into effect. Considering the size and strength of equipment, there's less actual sacrifice than ever to throw yourself in front of a shot.

 

[donghabs98]

I have a simple question, how would this be enforced? If it's to call a penalty whenever a puck hits a player then that will ruin the pace of the game. Playoff games would become unwatchable.

 

[LeafFever]

I do agree. Blocking shots has hurt the game. Ban it.

 

[IamNotADancer]

I'm going out on a limb here but I'm guessing you have never played a team sport. They don't HAVE to block shots, they do it because they want their team to succeed.

I have seen some terrible suggestions on here ("make the nets bigger", "the puck smaller",etc..) but this one takes the cake.

Maybe tennis might be your sport.

 

[LeafFever]

I have a simple question, how would this be enforced? If it's to call a penalty whenever a puck hits a player then that will ruin the pace of the game. Playoff games would become unwatchable.

I watched playoff hockey before people were blocking shots and no, it was not unwatcheable.

 

[Mayor Bee]

There's always a need to balance the game itself with the entertainment value, since it is after all entertainment.

The idea of there being any real "sacrifice" to blocking shots went away as soon as guys were able to add armor to their skates and wear shinguards the size of a door. 30 years ago, there was sacrifice. If you blocked a shot and it hit you in the foot, it was pretty much guaranteed to be a broken toe or a broken foot. If it hit you in the shin, you'd definitely feel it. And if you were caught on the side of the shin or the calf, you'd lay there like Paul Coffey while the Devils scored a game-winning goal in the SCF.

I could probably name the great shot-blockers around the league on two hands from that whole time period. And they were known because it was so uncommon to have someone willing to actually put themselves in harm's way. That's a long way from the six-goalie system that seems to be common today.

What's the sacrifice now? Laine getting injured by a shot to the foot is an aberration, and there have been a lot of guys in the last few years that have taken shots to the foot that suffered no ill effect. It's not an act of sacrifice. It's boring, it kills offense, and although I won't say that blocking shots should be illegal, I'm certainly in favor of there being a careful assessment of the exact role that it plays and how it should be looked at going forward.

 

[The Panther]

The main problem (of a few) with the OP's idea is that it would simply be impossible for the officials to evaluate whether the defending player was attempting to block it or if the puck just hit him. As a result, every other penalty called would be entirely disputable and the League would start to look ridiculous.

While many people think this is stupid I am all for cutting down people falling on the ice to block shots(besides goalie). Basically make a rule if a player knees are touching the ice and the puck hits him he has to either get off the ice or he will get a penalty if he touches the puck with his stick intentionally.

This won't outright stop blocking shots but it will stop people from falling down intentionally to block shots.

Yes, it's an interesting idea. Might be worth trying out in pre-season a couple of seasons and see what the result is.

 

[beowulf]

Would be virtually impossible to enforce.

 

[donghabs98]

I watched playoff hockey before people were blocking shots and no, it was not unwatcheable.

That's not the thing here, shot blocking is a common occurrence in hockey particularly in the playoffs. To call a penalty for every time a block shot happened would ruin the flow of the game. It would then become unwatchable as a result.

 

[Seanaconda]

That's not the thing here, shot blocking is a common occurrence in hockey particularly in the playoffs. To call a penalty for every time a block shot happened would ruin the flow of the game. It would then become unwatchable as a result.

Or everyone would just become mad alfredson

 

[LeafFever]

That's not the thing here, shot blocking is a common occurrence in hockey particularly in the playoffs. To call a penalty for every time a block shot happened would ruin the flow of the game. It would then become unwatchable as a result.

How about just calling one when a player lays on the ice to block it? Pkayer would get use to that.