Shootmaster_44
Registered User
When exactly did hockey of all sorts eliminate the rover? Also, why was this move made?
For those unaware until the 1920s some professional hockey was played 6 vs. 6 with goalies. There were three forwards and three defencemen and the third defenceman was known as the rover. He was more or less like the centreman of the defensive line. Not having seen games from that era I am unaware whether the defence played a basketball style zone defence where the rover and the other two defencemen kept to their sides of the ice or what.
I know the WCHL and PCHA played with a rover until their demise, but was that the end of the rover or did it live on in Europe or youth hockey longer than that?
On this note, does anyone know whether this caused any outrage by eliminating the position? Since the rover seemed to be a Western Canadian thing, I could see this being seen as an attempt to be more like Toronto (or Ontario or whatever the derisive term for the "East" was at the time) and eliminate the unique aspects of the "Western" game. Much like how Canadian football fans bristle whenever an American football fan suggests the CFL adopt American rules.
Who was the last player who was regularly a rover in the NHL? What I mean is when the NHL eliminated the rover (which I think came with the transformation from the NHA to the NHL), what player who was a rover ended up playing the longest after that change? Did most rovers end up becoming defencemen or did they transform into forwards instead?
The whole 6 on 6 plus a goalie game has intrigued me for awhile. It would have been interesting to see how the game would have developed if the rover hadn't been eliminated. I'd think scoring wouldn't have been as high simply because there was another defender on the ice. Granted that could also mean since there were two extra bodies on the ice, the likelihood of the goalie being screened is much higher also. Interesting things to ponder though.
Is hockey the only sport to have undergone such a radical change in the number of players? Other than Harvard rules in football reducing from 12 to 11 in the early days of football (at such a point where nothing was really codified yet), I can't think of any other sport that changed the number of participants so far into its development. By that point hockey had been played as hockey for around 50 years. 50 years in, in the development of baseball, it had basically solidified their rules. Yes they added the Designated Hitter in 1972, but it wasn't on both the offensive and defensive side of play that this made a difference. So I don't really count that, if the DH became a 4th Outfielder than that would count. Basketball I believe also was entrenched at 5 players 50 years after development. The list could gone on and on, but hockey decided that it needed to reduce the number of players.
For those unaware until the 1920s some professional hockey was played 6 vs. 6 with goalies. There were three forwards and three defencemen and the third defenceman was known as the rover. He was more or less like the centreman of the defensive line. Not having seen games from that era I am unaware whether the defence played a basketball style zone defence where the rover and the other two defencemen kept to their sides of the ice or what.
I know the WCHL and PCHA played with a rover until their demise, but was that the end of the rover or did it live on in Europe or youth hockey longer than that?
On this note, does anyone know whether this caused any outrage by eliminating the position? Since the rover seemed to be a Western Canadian thing, I could see this being seen as an attempt to be more like Toronto (or Ontario or whatever the derisive term for the "East" was at the time) and eliminate the unique aspects of the "Western" game. Much like how Canadian football fans bristle whenever an American football fan suggests the CFL adopt American rules.
Who was the last player who was regularly a rover in the NHL? What I mean is when the NHL eliminated the rover (which I think came with the transformation from the NHA to the NHL), what player who was a rover ended up playing the longest after that change? Did most rovers end up becoming defencemen or did they transform into forwards instead?
The whole 6 on 6 plus a goalie game has intrigued me for awhile. It would have been interesting to see how the game would have developed if the rover hadn't been eliminated. I'd think scoring wouldn't have been as high simply because there was another defender on the ice. Granted that could also mean since there were two extra bodies on the ice, the likelihood of the goalie being screened is much higher also. Interesting things to ponder though.
Is hockey the only sport to have undergone such a radical change in the number of players? Other than Harvard rules in football reducing from 12 to 11 in the early days of football (at such a point where nothing was really codified yet), I can't think of any other sport that changed the number of participants so far into its development. By that point hockey had been played as hockey for around 50 years. 50 years in, in the development of baseball, it had basically solidified their rules. Yes they added the Designated Hitter in 1972, but it wasn't on both the offensive and defensive side of play that this made a difference. So I don't really count that, if the DH became a 4th Outfielder than that would count. Basketball I believe also was entrenched at 5 players 50 years after development. The list could gone on and on, but hockey decided that it needed to reduce the number of players.