Individual players who influenced NHL rules?

[kmad]

Off the top of my head, I can think of

Martin Brodeur influencing the no-touch zone for goalies

and

Jean Beliveau making it so that powerplays ended after a goal was scored (he wasn't solely responsible, but it WAS the 60s Habs, and he was their centerpiece)

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[pitseleh]

I can't remember whether he caused the rule change or not, but didn't they get rid of the rule that a goaltender having to stay on his feet because of Clint Benedict, or something along those lines?

 

[Ogopogo*]

I can't remember whether he caused the rule change or not, but didn't they get rid of the rule that a goaltender having to stay on his feet because of Clint Benedict, or something along those lines?

Gretzky (& the Oilers) caused the NHL change the rule for coincidental penalties. It was that you would play 4 skaters on 4 but, because the Oilers were so dominant in that mode, the NHL kept play 5 on 5 in that situation. It has been since changed back but the Oil caused that rule change.

 

[Shootmaster_44]

Its not specifically one player but the New Jersey Devils of the mid-90's forced the crackdown on obstruction in the neutral zone.

The only other rule I can think of is Rob Ray caused the NHL to change the rule about taking off your jersey during a fight.

 

[arrbez]

I imagine Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita caused stick curves to be regulated?

 

[jkrdevil]

Its not specifically one player but the New Jersey Devils of the mid-90's forced the crackdown on obstruction in the neutral zone.

Yep and they have since been the least penalized team in the league (and were one of the fewest before).

It wasn't because of the Devils it was because of the copy cats who tried to play the system but were less talented and thus out of position. The result of which they had to result to the hooking and holding. The crackdown on obstruction was because of aleague wide thing not one team.

 

[WheatiesHockey]

Bobby Orr and the eventual removal of the centre line two line pass rule. It wasn't direct and it took 30 years at the NHL level but it did happen. Smaller 5'11 puck movement and skating d-men like Orr all but vanished during the 90's NHL period. Teams preferred largers defenders who more or less chipped the puck off the glass and specialised in the short transition game. If Bobby Orr could only play in today's NHL with all that open ice.

 

[garnetpalmetto]

Well, Martin Biron's use of jersey #00 led to NHL Rule 9.2 stating that

"Each player and each goalkeeper listed in the line-up of each team shall wear an an individual identifying number at least ten inches (10") high on the back of his sweater. Sweater numbers such as 00, 1/2 (fractions), .05 (decimals), 101 (three digit) are not permitted. In addition, each player shall wear his surname in full, in block letters three inches (3") high, across the back of his sweater at shoulder height."

 

[pitseleh]

I guess the 'Rob Ray' rule is an obvious one.

 

[Weztex]

The Bill Masterton incident led the league to eventually make the helmet obligatory.

Wasn't it Hextall who caused the league to forbid goalies from crossing the blue line?

I know that Roger Neilson had some funny tricks that led to rules changes in various leagues.

 

[Zetterberg4Captain*]

The Bill Masterton incident led the league to eventually make the helmet obligatory.

Wasn't it Hextall who caused the league to forbid goalies from crossing the blue line?

I know that Roger Neilson had some funny tricks that led to rules changes in various leagues.

Isn't it now illegal to use a defencemen as your goalie for penalty shots because of Neilson? I know he was the first (and maybe only?) coach to try it.

 

[Big Phil]

It was the 50's Habs actually that influenced the rule of not having a player serve the whole 2 minutes of a penalty. If I remember correctly it was the '55-56 team. Imagine a team with Beliveau, Richard brothers, Moore, Geoffrion, Olmstead, and Harvey on the point. Wow.

I think it was the big game ending brawl with Ottawa/Philly in 2004 that led to the 1 game suspension for anyone instigating a fight in the final 5 minutes. I hate that rule I like the old one. Watch that clip and tell me if any Philly fan leaves during that whole time. They dont. By the way how in the world did the NHLPA approve that rule? Talk about sucking the passion out of the game at the end of it

 

[David Puddy]

It has been speculated that the trapezoid behind the goal was added because of Martin Brodeur.

Its not specifically one player but the New Jersey Devils of the mid-90's forced the crackdown on obstruction in the neutral zone.

The Devils were not a clutch-and-grab team. The Devils have been short-handed the fewest times this season as they were last year, in 2003-04 and 2002-03. The Devils play sound positional hockey. The Devils would stand up the attacking forwards at the blueline to allow Marty Brodeur to handle the puck in the corner, but that was within the rules at the time. That might be a change (along with what I posted before the quoting Shootmaster_44) that the Devils as a team and Martin Brodeur specifically brought to the NHL.

I just hate when the Devils are accused of being a clutch-and-grab team. That was not the case. The neutral-zone trap, or 1-2-2, was and is properly executed by positioning.

 

[Jussi]

Oilers signing Reijo Ruotsalainen twice from Europe prior to the playoffs caused a change in rules that you couldn't sign European players after a certain date or something. I thing it may have included North American players as well, I don't remember anymore.

 

[jamiebez]

Isn't it now illegal to use a defencemen as your goalie for penalty shots because of Neilson? I know he was the first (and maybe only?) coach to try it.

Yup. He did it in the OHL and his team stopped all their penalty shots against that year.

My personal favorite was when he pulled his goaile at the end of games, he used to have his goalie lay his stick across the goal line.

More here under "Coaching legacy":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Neilson

During one particular game in the OHL his team was up one goal, but was down two men in a five on three situation for the last minute of the game. Realizing that more penalties could not be called under the existing rules, Neilson put too many men on the ice every ten seconds. The referees stopped the play and a faceoff was held relieving pressure on the defence. After this display the rule was changed so that a call for too many men on the ice in a 5 on 3 situation now leads to a penalty shot.

 

[BM67]

Yep and they have since been the least penalized team in the league (and were one of the fewest before).

It wasn't because of the Devils it was because of the copy cats who tried to play the system but were less talented and thus out of position. The result of which they had to result to the hooking and holding. The crackdown on obstruction was because of aleague wide thing not one team.

The Devils have had to kill the fewest penalties in the league 7 of the last 11 seasons, and the last time they had over the league average # of PKs was in 90-91. In fact if you add up the Devils PKs from 93-94 to 05-06 they have 42 fewer than the lowest non-Devils total for each season added up for the same years.

 

[McNasty]

The Devils were not a clutch-and-grab team.

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight

The regulation on stick curves was due to Bobby Hull who used a 2 inch curve and used to rifle the puck as fast as 116MPH. Brodeur got the league to ban mirrored visors because he couldn't see Ovechkins eyes (boo hoo marty). Clint Malarchuk is the reason goalies wear neck shields. Jaromir Jagr and Ilya Kovalchuk were a few of the bigger name players who were caught using illegal sticks only for the shootout, if you remember after the olympics they started checking the sticks before shooters went.

 

[Ofuzz]

It was an accumulation of incidents involving goalie equipment and over-sized jerseys over the last decade that lead to recent rule changes but Garth Snow and his ridiculous shoulder pads he wore when in Philly that got the ball rolling. As for jerseys, look no further than pictures of Patrick Roy playing in '86, '96, and then 2000. He looks like he's progressively gotten to twice the size. "Coincidental" that Roy retired just before the jerseys and equipment got smaller?

 

[GarretJoseph*]

Off the top of my head, I can think of

Martin Brodeur influencing the no-touch zone for goalies

and

Jean Beliveau making it so that powerplays ended after a goal was scored (he wasn't solely responsible, but it WAS the 60s Habs, and he was their centerpiece)

Shanahan

 

[Pwnasaurus]

It was the 50's Habs actually that influenced the rule of not having a player serve the whole 2 minutes of a penalty. If I remember correctly it was the '55-56 team. Imagine a team with Beliveau, Richard brothers, Moore, Geoffrion, Olmstead, and Harvey on the point. Wow.

I think it was the big game ending brawl with Ottawa/Philly in 2004 that led to the 1 game suspension for anyone instigating a fight in the final 5 minutes. I hate that rule I like the old one. Watch that clip and tell me if any Philly fan leaves during that whole time. They dont. By the way how in the world did the NHLPA approve that rule? Talk about sucking the passion out of the game at the end of it

This is correct. It was the 50's Habs during the midst of their consecutive streak. Funny but I still think Moore was a bit underrated on those teams even though he won 2 scoring titles and is a HOFer. If you watch the old games of those teams he was unstoppable with the puck and always making plays. Shame his career was cut short.

 

[David Puddy]

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight

Yes. I am right! The Devils have played positional hockey in the neutral-zone to clog the passing lanes.

 

[reckoning]

When the NHL started specifically calling certain penalties "obstruction penalties", the Devils were at the bottom of the list of teams who were called for obstruction fouls the most. This whole idea that New Jersey was an unskilled, clutch-and-grab team who invented the trap is one of the most over-repeated urban myths in NHL history. They were a talented and sound defensively responsible team. Why do so many harbour grudges against the Devils? Probably the same reason there's so many Gretzky-haters here: Success breeds jealousy.

 

[Big Phil]

I think the reason there are so many Devils haters is because they played some of the most boring Hockey known to man. In the '95 finals that was the first time I changed the channels periodically when the game was on. That never used to happen. The '95 Philly/NJ series was boring. The '95 Cup finals were boring. The '00 Cup finals were boring. The '03 Cup finals were extremely boring. Like them or not, they played very boring Hockey that wasnt good for the game. Sure they won but the game did truly suffer for it