tarheelhockey
Offside Review Specialist
Carrying this over from a thread on the main board:
From the source cited above:
So... what were the exact dimensions of the zones?
According to the chart above, the neutral zone should have been 58', which was standard until reduced to 54' in 1998 and then 50' in 2006.
That would leave 133 feet combined for both offensive zones. Split evenly it would add up to 66.5' in each zone, as compared to a standard 71'. However, the notes above show that one offensive zone was smaller... anyone know their exact dimensions?
The obvious guess would be 65'/67', but that's not based on anything but common sense.
For those arguing that the players are faster now. I'd like to introduce two videos.
This one is of Bobby Orr. Goto 3:48 and you'll see the first of two rushes he makes. If you pause the video when his feet touch the defensive blue line on either rush and then take note of how long it takes for his feet to touch the opposing blue line, you'll see it's somewhere around 2 seconds or less.
If you goto the 33 second mark and do the same with this video of McDavid, you'll see it's about the same.
According to this site. http://www.frozenfaceoff.net/2015/01/nhl-history-of-rinks.html The difference here is the neutral zone in Orr's time was 58 feet. And today, it's 50 feet.
Yeah it's inexact, but for the sake of this argument here, it's obvious that the differences in speed of the players from different time periods isn't all that great no matter which way you want to argue it.
That's a great way to look at it and I agree with the conclusion.
That said, in the interest of honest discourse I have to point out that Orr was skating in the old Boston Garden, which was 9 feet shorter than standard. I don't know where they cut out that 9 feet, if it was 3 feet per zone or what. But he probably had a somewhat shorter path between those blue lines.
That said, it definitely didn't make a whole lot of difference at that speed. Fractions of a second at most.
Grrr, forgot about that. Nice catch.
Any way, I just checked and according the link in my post that gives rink size, it says at the bottom of the article that that they made one of the offensive zones smaller. So if that link is correct, the neutral zone is regulation 58 feet.
From the source cited above:
Some older, smaller arenas in the past have had shorter rink dimensions.
Buffalo Memorial Auditorium - 196' x 85' (Neutral Zone smaller then regulation)
Boston Garden - 191' x 83' (One offensive zone smaller)
Chicago Stadium - 188' x 85' (Smallest Neutral Zone in the league)
Detroit Olympia - 200' x 83' (2 feet shorter in width)
Maple Leaf Gardens - 200' x 85' (Uneven corners, unconfirmed
It wasn't by much. They subtracted the 9 feet from both offensive zones, but one was slightly smaller than the other. Probably something they learned from Red Auerbach.
So... what were the exact dimensions of the zones?
According to the chart above, the neutral zone should have been 58', which was standard until reduced to 54' in 1998 and then 50' in 2006.
That would leave 133 feet combined for both offensive zones. Split evenly it would add up to 66.5' in each zone, as compared to a standard 71'. However, the notes above show that one offensive zone was smaller... anyone know their exact dimensions?
The obvious guess would be 65'/67', but that's not based on anything but common sense.
