Is there a way to reduce cross checking ?

[tarheelhockey]

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.

It's really not that hard to just take one hand off your stick and use a legal two-handed push in the small of the back.

Granted, it gives you less leverage and makes it harder to move the opponent. On the other hand, it's a legal play and shouldn't be an instant penalty according to the rulebook.

 

[Man Bear Pig]

It's really not that hard to just take one hand off your stick and use a legal two-handed push in the small of the back.

Granted, it gives you less leverage and makes it harder to move the opponent. On the other hand, it's a legal play and shouldn't be an instant penalty according to the rulebook.

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but that sounds illegal to me. Don't get me wrong, cross checking is illegal too but it's accepted. You can push and shove all day in front of the net. That's why when it's called players lose their mind. It's hard to tell what's a penalty and what's not. Obstruction creeped back in years ago. They'll have a reset on the rules, people will get concussed and obstruction will creep back in over the years.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but that sounds illegal to me.

I don't think so, not as long as the defender has established his position. What would it be called?

The only thing that I can think of is roughing, but that's a subjective call (unlike crosschecking) and no ref would consider a push in front of the net to be roughing.

 

[Eisen]

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.

I cansee instructional videos that show the refs what to let go or not. Preserve the entertainment. Everyone wants to see a guy carried off on a stetcher. It creates emotions. It should be pretty easy to fix this. Call it by the book.

 

[Tweed]

I agree with the Crosby hater, ITS FINE.

 

[ijuka]

To answer the question in the title: Penalize it.

 

[Bronson]

Call penalties.

 

[Unspecified]

The p***yfication of the NHL continues

 

[LongWayDown37]

I've never understood it. Its a clear as day penalty to cross check, yet its done literally dozens of times during every game - clear cross checks - and never gets called a penalty. This has NEVER made any sense. I just assume its because a bunch of crusty oldschool guys at the league offices just say "its part of the game."

 

[Everlast22]

I've never understood it. Its a clear as day penalty to cross check, yet its done literally dozens of times during every game - clear cross checks - and never gets called a penalty. This has NEVER made any sense. I just assume its because a bunch of crusty oldschool guys at the league offices just say "its part of the game."

Because it IS part of the game... I'm good with any kind of crosscheck as long as it's not to the head.. but those are already called.

 

[BruinsBtn]

Crosschecking in front of the net is the most inconsistent call in the NHL.

Sometimes you can absolutely hammer a guy, other times you give him a little push and he falls over and it's a penalty.

When there's a loose puck, anything goes.

Calling it way tighter in front of the net is an easy way to increase scoring but the NHL will screw it up because it's a bush league.

 

[Steal Your Faceoff]

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.

I'd love to see that portfolio in action. Does it start with tapping the guy on the shoulder and asking him to move because your goalie can't see?

 

[Groo]

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 ?

How about sticks from Nerf.

 

[HollaHaula]

How about sticks from Nerf.

The flex would be insane lol

 

[King'sPawn]

Cut one hand off every player. Cross checking will be eliminated entirely

 

[tarheelhockey]

I'd love to see that portfolio in action. Does it start with tapping the guy on the shoulder and asking him to move because your goalie can't see?

Defensemen constantly move or contain players without resorting to a crosscheck. If you'd like to see it, I'm pretty sure there's a game on tonight.

 

[h2owned]

You have 2 hands on your stick in most situations. The instinct is to push someone. The conscious decision is to take a hand off your stick to make it a legal push. Nudging people with 2 hands on your stick is fine and happens all the time, it's my when people go overboard (that Dubinsky clip) or smoke someone that it should be called. It's at the refs discretion to decide what is too hard and with any subjective decision it varies. Yes there should be more consistentsy with calls but no you can't eliminate or reduce cross checking because it's mostly an instinct (Niskanen).

 

[Steal Your Faceoff]

Defensemen constantly move or contain players without resorting to a crosscheck. If you'd like to see it, I'm pretty sure there's a game on tonight.

If there are so many other ways to quickly and effectively clear the crease as you say there are, then why does so much crosschecking occur there? Listen, I'm not saying any crosschecks in the game are ok but it's been part of the game for a very long time that if you park yourself in front of the net, it's only a matter of time before your going to feel a stick in your back. Simply leaning on a 6' plus over 200 lb player is not going to get the job done so as long as a certain degree of crosschecking is tolerated, it will continue.

 

[deckercky]

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.

Obviously such a change would drastically change how defence has to play in front of the net. We already saw how it played out in 2005-6. It's really tough on defencemen, who need to put a premium on positioning. There's no reason this couldn't be done again.

 

[yourbestfriend]

Defensemen constantly move or contain players without resorting to a crosscheck. If you'd like to see it, I'm pretty sure there's a game on tonight.

There actually aren't a lot of legal ways to get a guy outta the front of the net. There is a TON of leeway given to D when they're clearing the crease (crosschecks, whacks, punches). D almost always either crosscheck/two hand jab or tie the guys stick up (which you don't do on a PK).
Regardless if it's right or wrong, forwards who go to that area of the ice are gonna pay the price. Just ask Tomas Holmstrom. I would wager that almost everything that happened to him in front of the net was "illegal" if you go by the book.

As it stands, crosschecking penalties are normally handed out to pretty vicious crosschecks. I don't remember the last time I saw a crosschecking penalty handed out to a defenseman clearing the crease. Unless they start calling every crosscheck (which wouldn't be a good thing IMO), I don't think there's much the NHL can do.

 

[CrashBartley]

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.

Exactly. No rule change needed, just enforce the existing. Just like all the rules in the rulebook.
Sure there will be a parade to the box, but that should increase scoring like everyone wants.
And after a season or so, maybe, just maybe, the players and coaches may figure it out, change the style of play to let the skill players do their thing instead of the muckers and grinders bring the game down to their level.

 

[BoltSTH]

Without it there would be big bodies in front of the goalie and no way to shift them (without grabbing, charging, or the goalie doing a Hasek).

 

[tarheelhockey]

If there are so many other ways to quickly and effectively clear the crease as you say there are, then why does so much crosschecking occur there?

Because it's allowed. Why would you NOT take that extra leverage on your opponent, and the opportunity to inflict pain and maybe injury on him? If the ref's going to let you do it, of course you will. I know I do when I play. It's a conscious choice to NOT do something legal, because I know I can get away with the illegal move to get a better advantage.

Simply leaning on a 6' plus over 200 lb player is not going to get the job done so as long as a certain degree of crosschecking is tolerated, it will continue.

If you establish position correctly, there's no need to move him because you're already occupying the spot he's trying to get to. It's up to him to figure out how to get you out of the way. If you use your lower and upper body properly, you can manipulate him as he tries to get past you. If you have your stick positioned correctly, you can deny him the opportunity for tips or rebounds. This stuff happens constantly in any game, using effective techniques that are coached from the very lowest levels on up. If a defenseman can't figure it out, why should he be allowed to illegally "punish" a forward who is outplaying him?


I'm not saying crosschecking is the game's biggest front-burner issue or anything, but it's one of those things where there really isn't a rational explanation for why we all just agree to ignore the rules and let defenders take illegal advantages. It reminds me of the late 90s and early 00s where everyone just decided that hooking and holding didn't need to be called anymore. I distinctly remember the argument that physical contact was just part of the game, and defenders "needed" those techniques to do their jobs. Then we took a year-long break, eliminated that aspect of the game completely, and lo and behold it turned out that those illegal techniques were actually completely unnecessary all along.

 

[UnderratedBrooks44]

Sure there's a way: don't let guys cross check each other. It's almost hilarious that you can't be down low with the puck without getting cross checked and slashed constantly.

If getting rid of that stuff makes it harder to play defense, oh well. All it means is that there will be better skaters that are technically sound playing defense in the league, and offensive players will be able to make more plays in the down low. I have absolutely no problem with that. You can most definitely still play tough without resorting to boxing players out with cross checks constantly, and this is coming from someone who watches Letang cross check the **** out of anyone that touches the puck below the goal line.

 

[yourbestfriend]

Sure there's a way: don't let guys cross check each other. It's almost hilarious that you can't be down low with the puck without getting cross checked and slashed constantly.

If getting rid of that stuff makes it harder to play defense, oh well. All it means is that there will be better skaters that are technically sound playing defense in the league, and offensive players will be able to make more plays in the down low. I have absolutely no problem with that. You can most definitely still play tough without resorting to boxing players out with cross checks constantly, and this is coming from someone who watches Letang cross check the **** out of anyone that touches the puck below the goal line.

I think this is an over reaction to Crosby's hit. Niskanen's hit was a crosscheck and it sucks Crosby got concussed, however I don't think we need to resort to something as drastic as removing all crosschecks from the game.
If what happened to Crosby was the norm, then ok there's a good discussion to be had, but it's not. Crosschecks almost never result in players missing considerable time. What happened to Crosby was a series of unlucky and unfortunate events, you don’t go and change all the rules because of an anomaly. It shouldn’t matter if it happened to Crosby or a career 4rd liner.

Way more people get hand and wrist injuries from slashes which lead to more games missed (Gaudreau, Methot etc) than crosscheck injuries, yet no one talks about calling every single slash.