Should the league make it illegal to fall to the ice to block the puck?

[Paradise*]

Terrible idea.

 

[GoCanes2013]

Scoring in the NBA is still well below the scoring in the 90s.

Shotblocking itself isn't a problem, the problem is offensive players no longer are afforded the space to make plays. Scoring is down because obstruction isn't called as often. When it's happening every play, you can't call it every play. That was the price the NHL paid when they started calling interference penalties in 06, teams learned how to interfere without knocking players to the ground. But that doesn't mean that other obstruction calls can't be properly enforced.

All the NBA did was make one rule change that helped offensive plays and then decided to actively call fouls against defensive plays that deserved it, and then some. The end result is that offensive talents in the NBA have more freedom because defensive setups know that they'll get flagged for anything out of the rulebook that they try.

Not to mention that right now nobody really dives to block shots anymore. Shotblocking is done standing upright shinpad-first to prevent injuries and keep the skater in a position to make a play after the block. The Stephane Yelle two-pad stack isn't in vogue because it takes the man out of the play for a split second, in which the opposition now has a 5 on 4 which they could take advantage of.



Question, what if a player is trying to block with the body but deflects it out of play? That's still a gutty attempt even if it didn't quite work. Sometimes the puck is unintentionally deflected, and that'd still be a penalty.

I'm not saying I dislike the idea, I think if we have over the glass penalties already that the NHL could theoretically just include defensive deflections as part of that rule which would be interesting, I'm just trying to play devil's advocate here.

 

[GoCanes2013]

Goalie development and performance seems to have taken a leap forward with the greats of the 90s when scoring went down quite significantly from earlier years. Brodeur, Hasek, Osgood, Belfour, Kolzig, Biron, Roy, Richter...

 

[Sam Spade]

I say if some dumb ass player wants to fall to the ice (or stand up) and block a shot even though he has a perfectly good player BEHIND him who is trained to stop said shot, he should go for it.

I hope shot blockers break something every time they do it.

 

[Beville]

I think this is possible the stupidest idea I have ever heard...

Make all goalies play stand up to in case they suffocate the puck as well yeah?

 

[Mighty Chin]

Yes. Personally I think if you penalized blocked shots the scoring would increase.

Seeing defenders on all fours sometimes is a joke.

 

[Fabs]

Excellent idea. I'd like to add one of my own and suggest goalies should have to wear blindfolds when killing penalties.

 

[jw2]

Jagr is 2nd all time in points.

Make the nets smaller!

 

[TheRexman]

Do soccer fans go to such extremes in order to increase scoring in their games?
I'm just curious since it's the most popular sport in the world and yet they score even fewer goals.

 

[MoreOrr]

Anywhere from the goal outward to within a 2-4 meter perimeter in front of the goal, with the goalie in the net, I think Yes, it should be penalized.

 

[Ducks in a row]

Don't allow icing on the PK.

Yea lets make bad calls hurt a team more with them being unable to ice the puck

 

[Liferleafer]

They should make it illegal to intentionally stop an opposing player from scoring.

Lol, take away goalie masks....Hell, make the goalies were nothing more than a T-shirt with cutoff sleeves and some of those 1980's skin tight Adidas shorts...that should increase scoring!!

Why do people want to take defense out of the game? It's been a part of it since the dawn of time.

 

[These Are The Days]

Seriously? So if a 6'5 defenseman on a 2 on 1 slides with his stick out he is defending about 12 feet worth of ice to block a pass. I call that doing your job. Why even have a defenseman then?

 

[jw2]

Seriously? So if a 6'5 defenseman on a 2 on 1 slides with his stick out he is defending about 12 feet worth of ice to block a pass. I call that doing your job. Why even have a defenseman then?

Good call.
No more defensemen!

 

[Coastal Kev]

Do soccer fans go to such extremes in order to increase scoring in their games?
I'm just curious since it's the most popular sport in the world and yet they score even fewer goals.

No offense to the rest of the world, we never liked soccer and that's why created better more entertaining sports. It's the younger generation that likes soccer, enjoys suffocating D in hockey, thinks music has never been better and Papa Johns is the gold standard for Pizza. Yikes

 

[Coastal Kev]

Jagr is 2nd all time in points.

Make the nets smaller!

Not an informed thought.

Jägr is ranked near 20th all time points per game. Nearly a full point behind Gretzky and Lemieux.

 

[TheRexman]

No offense to the rest of the world, we never liked soccer and that's why created better more entertaining sports. It's the younger generation that likes soccer, enjoys suffocating D in hockey, thinks music has never been better and Papa Johns is the gold standard for Pizza. Yikes

You think the younger generation likes suffocating D in hockey? I think it's the younger generation coming up with these stupid ideas. I like the game the way it is and I don't qualify as the younger generation.

 

[Moncherry]

Wow, it took all of one post for a "hockey is perfect the way it is" guy to show up.

Per that crowd, never make any changes to adjust/improve their on ice product. Yikes

My post in no way infers that hockey is perfect and no rules should ever be changed. It's a response to the constant idiotic proposals to micromanage how the game is played to fix problems that don't exist.

I guess you're part of the "anyone who doesn't agree with revolutionary (dumb) rule changes is just afraid of progress" crowd.

 

[AquaticBirdman]

I hope the league passes a rule that forbids the passing of new rules.

Stop screwing with our game already.

 

[Roomtemperature]

I hope the league passes a rule that forbids the passing of new rules.

Stop screwing with our game already.

Why its already been screwed with for a century

 

[AquaticBirdman]

I'm just fed up of the constant idiotic tinkering, most of which doesn't actually serve to improve the on-ice product. Aside from elimination of the red line (and two-line pass) they haven't done anything that has served to improve the entertainment value of the way the game is played. At least not in my mind. It'd be nice if they finally incorporated the larger international ice surface that way the skilled players could actually make greater use of their skill, but I guess that's just too easy...

 

[v00d00daddy]

There's a simple solution to the issue of collapsing into the slot and having to shoot through 3,4...sometimes 5 shot blockers. And yes...I think this type of defending has gone overboard.

Solution: tell your attacking forwards to skate toward the net while a teammate is planning on shooting. Now, instead of trying to screen the keeper, keep going. Enough to get the defending team to do the now typical collapse to block the shooting lane. Now instead of trying to shoot through legs or deliberately shooting wide to get a bounce of the back boards (which has become a sad, commonly used solution to the super blocking defence) you get the shooter to fire the puck high and hard.

Now the blockers can feel the shot in the chest and gut. It won't be long before they decide to reduce the blocking. Nobody is gonna wanna feel slaps and snaps in soft spots. A shot to the face would suck but blocking has gotten way out of control

 

[Seanaconda]

There's a simple solution to the issue of collapsing into the slot and having to shoot through 3,4...sometimes 5 shot blockers. And yes...I think this type of defending has gone overboard.

Solution: tell your attacking forwards to skate toward the net while a teammate is planning on shooting. Now, instead of trying to screen the keeper, keep going. Enough to get the defending team to do the now typical collapse to block the shooting lane. Now instead of trying to shoot through legs or deliberately shooting wide to get a bounce of the back boards (which has become a sad, commonly used solution to the super blocking defence) you get the shooter to fire the puck high and hard.

Now the blockers can feel the shot in the chest and gut. It won't be long before they decide to reduce the blocking. Nobody is gonna wanna feel slaps and snaps in soft spots. A shot to the face would suck but blocking has gotten way out of control

Might work for a while but then players would start wearing full shields or cages.(I doubt it's illegal because safety is better and they let guys wear them when they are coming back from a face injury) To the chest isn't that bad now that they don't let you wear the tiny Gretzky shoulderpads anymore.

 

[meenamjah]

I remember hearing this idea on TV (I forget where TBH) and I personally really like it. If the league is all about making the game "safer" and adding more offence then I believe this rule would address both.

I guess a common argument would be "players would then just pretend to fall onto the ice" and while I agree some players would do that the league would then treat that as diving. If the ref catches it it is a penalty, if the ref misses it then the league can fine the player using the same system as diving.

As I said I really think this is a good idea with very minimal impact on the game while adding a lot more offence.

personally, I like this, but I think there are better options. like, larger nets. zero tolerance to any and all obstruction/hooking/interference/cross checking/holding/slashing. only on the fly line changes allowed. oh, and permanent 4 on 4.

 

[ColinO]

This is absurd. I would bet a lot that banning falling on the ice to block a shot would have absolutely no effect at all on scoring. If you want more scoring, then call the rules as they are written.