Is there a way to reduce cross checking ?

[HamiltonNHL]

Why is it allowed that the principal point of contact should be the stick .... with two hands on it ?

I know it cross checking is a penalty .. but it is rarely called.

How about calling it 100% next season ?

Yes, I did just watch Niskanen cross-check Cosby in the head/face.

If cross checking was banned ...Niskanen's instinct would not have been to cross check the guy in front of the net.

Anyone think the League will increase cross checking penalties ?

Ideas ?

Click to read more...

 

[Space Herpe]

1) Reduce the size of goalie equipment
2) More goals!
3) Less crosschecking

 

[Spitfire11]

That's the entirety of Shea Weber's defensive game

 

[PlamsUnlimited]

Yeah call them more

 

[Ducks DVM]

Exactly. Call it as a penalty and it will go away. It took a while in '06, but after a short spike in penalties called the players will figure out where the new line is and stop crossing it.

 

[izzy]

they are constant

 

[Heldig]

Chris Pronger is chuckling at this (as is virtually every defender that played before about 2010.

 

[SEALBound]

Yes. When you cross check someone in the head and concuss them, you get punished for it. Simple as that really.

 

[Legionnaire]

Exactly. Call it as a penalty and it will go away. It took a while in '06, but after a short spike in penalties called the players will figure out where the new line is and stop crossing it.

That never happened. Power plays were through the roof though.

 

[TCIH]

Call the penalty. Don't let players get away with even a light cross-check. The best way to curb such behavior is to have zero tolerance for it.

 

[ecemleafs]

never understood the way crosschecking is enforced. in front of the net youll have 100 cross checks in a game and yet its only randomly enforced.

 

[FLYLine27*]

Crosby gets cross checked and all of a sudden we need to be all dramatic and drastic...sigh.

ITS FINE.

 

[FLYLine27*]

never understood the way crosschecking is enforced. in front of the net youll have 100 cross checks in a game and yet its only randomly enforced.

Because 99 of those don't effect anything in the play or aren't hard enough warrant a penalty. Plus if you go to the front of the net you are expected to take some punishment which the league has always allowed as long as it's not overboard.

 

[FLYLine27*]

Call the penalty. Don't let players get away with even a light cross-check. The best way to curb such behavior is to have zero tolerance for it.

And you would be the first one crying when there is 20 crosschecking penalties a game.

Funny nobody ever cared until the great crosby got injured from one

 

[Ringo13]

Maybe a different way to curb it. Instead of allowing a guy to get cross checked 5 times and then penalizing him for retaliating, call the initial cross check and ignore the retaliation. Then a guy gets smoked and penalized.

 

[Ducks DVM]

That never happened. Power plays were through the roof though.

It absolutely happened, but the emphasis was on obstruction and holding, which reduced dramatically until the league decided that they needed to let it go again to reduce injuries because they adecided they didn't want to also enforce charging and boarding.

 

[TCIH]

And you would be the first one crying when there is 20 crosschecking penalties a game.

Funny nobody ever cared until the great crosby got injured from one

Based on what?

And I don't see why this isn't a worthwhile topic of discussion, even if it's being raised as a result of Crosby's hit to the head.

If slew footing was legal, and the league decided to crack down, it would take time for the players to get used to the new rule enforcement but eventually they'd realize that taking someone's leg out from under them is no longer a tool in their arsenal.

There's a reason cross-checking is a penalty. It's been deemed dangerous. Letting players get away with it up to a certain point is not only bad for player health, but frustrating for fans and players alike when a line is crossed and no one really even knows where the line is.

 

[authentic]

Shouldn't be allowed.

 

[Eric Sachs]

sure, change the rule so that players are executed if they get a cross-checking minor

should work out eventually

 

[TheMule93]

If only there was a rule against it, surely that would help

 

[tarheelhockey]

Because 99 of those don't effect anything in the play or aren't hard enough warrant a penalty. Plus if you go to the front of the net you are expected to take some punishment which the league has always allowed as long as it's not overboard.

I get that, but there's just absolutely no reason that deliberately crosschecking a guy should be allowed. As a defender, there's a whole portfolio of things you can do to body a guy up legally and move him out of the lane. You have to consciously choose the crosscheck motion, and there's really no benefit to giving players a pass on that.

This would be like if the NBA allowed big defenders to elbow someone in the back of the head if they tried to post up. In a world where the penalty was called consistently, people would think the NHL was bat**** crazy to just openly allow it.

 

[Goalie guy]

Pool noodle sticks!!!!! Smaller goalie equipment, and Nerf ball pucks!!

 

[achtungbaby]

Crosby gets cross checked and all of a sudden we need to be all dramatic and drastic...sigh.

ITS FINE.

Let me guess, you don't like Crosby? Your thoughts on this are hard to read.

 

[Knave]

And you would be the first one crying when there is 20 crosschecking penalties a game.

Funny nobody ever cared until the great crosby got injured from one

Some of us have always thought the NHL needs to start coming down hard with the rules.

I don't want to scroll through my post history but I've argued it quite a bit over this season. The counterpoint is obviously that the game would suffer temporarily when there are a ton of penalties called every game as players adjust.

 

[Man Bear Pig]

Ever played defense? Good luck playing it effectively without cross checking. I'm talking shoving here not shots to the face or whatever else people are thinking.