Boston Globe KPD: Cam Neely believes NHL should look again at ‘lost blade’ rule

[Fenway]

Many rule changes happen after something bizarre that nobody thought of happens.

Cam Neely believes NHL should look again at ‘lost blade’ rule - The Boston Globe

Bruins president Cam Neely said here Monday that general manager Don Sweeney will bring up the lost-blade incident at the next league GM meetings, with an eye on such incidents leading to an immediate stop in play. The NHL rulebook currently allows refs to call for a stop in play only when a goalie loses his headgear.

“I think they’re going to have to look at this,” said Neely. “Maybe if we’d gained possession of the puck, they might have blown it down, I don’t know. But what, the goalie’s going to take his mask off if his blade comes off?”

Or knock the net off its moorings, it was suggested to Neely.

“Then you’ve got a potential two-minute penalty,” said Neely. “It’s going to be up for discussion, I imagine, among the GMs. If a goalie doesn’t realize his blade’s off, and he goes to push off, he could rip a groin. So it’s something that they’re definitely going to have to look at.”

Click to read more...

 

[Sheppy]

Many rule changes happen after something bizarre that nobody thought of happens.

Cam Neely believes NHL should look again at ‘lost blade’ rule - The Boston Globe

Bruins president Cam Neely said here Monday that general manager Don Sweeney will bring up the lost-blade incident at the next league GM meetings, with an eye on such incidents leading to an immediate stop in play. The NHL rulebook currently allows refs to call for a stop in play only when a goalie loses his headgear.

“I think they’re going to have to look at this,” said Neely. “Maybe if we’d gained possession of the puck, they might have blown it down, I don’t know. But what, the goalie’s going to take his mask off if his blade comes off?”

Or knock the net off its moorings, it was suggested to Neely.

“Then you’ve got a potential two-minute penalty,” said Neely. “It’s going to be up for discussion, I imagine, among the GMs. If a goalie doesn’t realize his blade’s off, and he goes to push off, he could rip a groin. So it’s something that they’re definitely going to have to look at.”

I agree 100% with this. People kept saying "WHY DID RASK QUIT PLAYING?!"... probably because he didn't want to twist anything or pull something.

 

[JRull86]

As long as this only applies to goalies, I have no issue with this. It truly is a hazard for both the goalies own health, and if there's a blade lying in the crease and it gets hit with a puck, it could end up poorly.

I am curious why the NHL suggests goalies wear the quick release blades as well though.

 

[mjhfb]

I agree 100% with this. People kept saying "WHY DID RASK QUIT PLAYING?!"... probably because he didn't want to twist anything or pull something.

Hindsight is easy but the only thing I could think of since he didn't have the left blade to plant in the ice and push to his right to center himself, he could have used the left goal post to push off, and at the same time "accidentally" knock if off. But yes, he could have hurt himself doing that even if he was quick enough to think of it.

 

[nORRis8]

For a forward or d man....no. A goalie...yes. The other players who lose a blade do not have opposing players blasting pucks at their heads.

 

[compan]

Not the worst thing to error on the side of caution for the player that has pucks shot at them.

 

[talkinaway]

The rule change can't hurt - seems like it'd be rare, but when it does happen, blowing the play dead isn't inherently unfair. It's not like a goalie can knock the blade out of his skate on purpose, right?

As far as the reason for the quick-change blades, it's so that if there IS a problem with the blade, they can change it quickly and keep the goaltender in the net. Forgive me if I'm wrong (never played the game), but my impression is that if you had to change the entire skate, it would be a much longer process - long enough that you'd have to stick the backup goalie in while the skate was being repaired.

I'm one of the few Bruins fans who wasn't livid at the play not being whistled down. It's not in the rules, and I get that referees only blow the whistle for the goalie's helmet popping off. You can't stop the play every time a player is yelling at you, either. Maybe "blade = danger" just didn't enter their heads, since skaters' blades come off all the time, and don't require an intervention because they generally come of in more open ice.

But, y'know what? This pisses me off that they're going for a rule change in the name of safety when there's another equipment rule that's much, much more important. The NHL needs to play by IIHF rules when it comes to helmets: If it pops off, you go to the bench, no playing the puck on purpose. Again, I've never played the game, but the point of the helmet is that it's supposed to be fixed to the head, no? If you're always pulling a Bartolo Colon, you either need to find a better fitting helmet, or learn how to use your helmet properly. The IIHF has been doing this for years, and, again, it's not common to see a helmet come off. I can't think of any negative effects - will opponents try to rip another player's helmet off to get an advantage? Hell no - you're already not supposed to be targeting heads.

 

[Mr. Make-Believe]

Did the goaltender have the opportunity to make the save?
No?
Then it should be no goal.

 

[Don Cherry]

I ask myself: would it have been blown dead had it been Tampas goalie instead? My answer is yes it would have.

 

[ODAAT]

I`m not sure that a rule specifically stating the whistle be blown in the case of a goalie losing a blade will or should be looked at. I do however feel that an extension on whatever the current rule/number is for whistle being blown if a goalie loses his helmet should be done. I understand goalies wear the most protection however, I think a rule should be in place that if a goalie loses a blade/helmet pops off, blocker or glove fall off play should be blown dead. Can`t have a goalie in there without the preceding equipment on facing a 100mph shot

 

[Bruin1970]

I think it’s more important that they review and solidify the injured defensive player rule. In the Toronto series a defensive player was injured while the bruins had possession and were about to score and the ref blew the whistle instantly. In the Tampa series, Debrusk gets wrecked and can obviously not even skate and they let the play go on permanently. I’m not saying one or the other is right- just make a damned rule.

 

[Bruin1970]

Did the goaltender have the opportunity to make the save?
No?
Then it should be no goal.

this is right. Also, it was an injury risk issue. Surely Tuukka could have kept diving around trying t save it- but he would likely have caused an injury. All I want is consistency.

 

[ODAAT]

this is right. Also, it was an injury risk issue. Surely Tuukka could have kept diving around trying t save it- but he would likely have caused an injury. All I want is consistency.

yep, it "should be" a common sense call. If the goalie (or player) is in a position where he is unable to defend himself or is completely exposed to risk, whistle it down

 

[RustyBruins72]

On CBC last night they said that Rask had talked to the official after and the official said that if he'd seen the blade, he would have blown it dead.

 

[Kate08]

On CBC last night they said that Rask had talked to the official after and the official said that if he'd seen the blade, he would have blown it dead.

This keeps getting missed and I don’t understand.

Rule changes mean poop if the official doesn’t see it

 

[BiGBear8]

On CBC last night they said that Rask had talked to the official after and the official said that if he'd seen the blade, he would have blown it dead.

heard the same on cbc Mclean said same with grapes

 

[missingchicklet]

Weird that the none of the officials saw it considering that Tuukka was screaming and waving his arm for a pretty long time once the blade came off. Of course officials don't see a lot of things nowadays. Even though there is no specific rule for the skate blade of the goalie resulting in an automatic whistle the refs do have the ability to blow a play dead due to safety concerns, which a sharp blade in the crease is. No surprise the official told Tuukka he would have blown the play dead since he would have known it was a safety issue. Hopefully they make a rule for next season about this type of incident with goalies. It will likely not be a play that comes up more than once every blue moon but it still needs to be addressed.

 

[GloryDaze4877]

Last night in the Jets v Preds game. Rinne got hit in the head with a shot while WPG was on the PP. His strap came loose and he was yelling to the ref. The Jets had possession and they did not blow the play dead.

He was super upset, and a minute later he gets hooked behind the net by Lowry and uncharacteristically retalites with a slash. Of course, the ref calls the 2nd infraction, WPG goes on the PP and scores the GWG.

The analysts said you could see the strap had actually come loose and were not sure why Rinne didn’t just shake the mask off?