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Brendan Shanahan is Busy Man in Preseason

Oct 3

Posted by Eddie in Behind the Bench | 1 Comment

NHL VP of Player Safety Brendan Shanahan has been a busy man so far this preseason. He has handed down several suspensions for illegal hits to the head. I believe he is sending a message to every player and every team that hits to the head will not be tolerated. No one is exempt from suspension, from Detroit soon-to-be-minor league player Brendan Smith to recently-suspended Clarke MacArthur. When a controversial hit is sent to his desk for review and suspensions are handed down, it won’t be a matter if someone will be suspended but rather how many games.

“NHL Rule 48.1 Illegal Check to the Head – A lateral or blind side hit to an opponent where the head is targeted and/or the principal point of contact is not permitted”

I like this because he’s taking a no-nonsense approach to cleaning up the beautiful game. With what happened over this year with Sidney Crosby, the league has to take a proactive approach to maintain the intensity needed to play the game but without the head shots and checks from behind that has plagued the game since men have been lacing up the skates.

Below are a couple of video clips as well as my opinion on the hit. I’ve also included Shanahan’s punishment if he has made a ruling on the incident.

Brendan Smith (Red Wings) on Ben Smith (Blackhawks)

A play that was outright dirty, Brendan Smith deserved a multi-game suspension. He was about to get beat on the 1-on-1 by Ben Smith when Brendan lounged his shoulder clearly into the head of Ben. Seeing a few Red Wings preseason games, Brendan isn’t NHL-ready. He looked like a fish out of water with bad passing and failing to keep his head up when he got hit. He’ll learn how to properly hit someone in the American Hockey League and should be more prepared next season.

Shanahan Sentence: Three preseason and five regular season games.

Next up: Clarke MacArthur (Maple Leafs) on Justin Abdelkader (Red Wings)

The first clip was a hit by a Detroit Red Wing. The clip above was a hit on a Detroit Red Wing. Two days after Smith’s hit, Abdelkader was the victim of a hit to the head. Shanny even decided to clearly explain the rules and why it was called. While MacArthur didn’t intend to hit Abdelkader to the head, it was wreck-less. To help my point, look at the time of the incident. It happened with a few seconds left in the game and it was headed to overtime. It wasn’t like MacArthur tried to stop a scoring opportunity (potentially giving Abdelkader a breakaway). Not to mention, the official should have called interference on MacArthur because the puck was no where near Abdelkader and he was trying to turn up the ice to play the puck. What helped in MacArthur’s case is that this was his first incident and any other time he violates this rule, he will be considered a repeat offender.

Shanahan sentence: Remainder of the preseason as well as two regular season games.

In the end, Shanny is going to use the following guidelines when reviewing cases:

  • Illegal check to the head
  • Head position doesn’t change
  • No discipline history
  • No injury

Check back Behind the Bench periodically throughout the season for my take when ever a controversial play or ruling is made on the ice, in the Toronto War Room, or behind Shanahan’s desk.

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2010-11 Rules Enforcement: What To Expect

Oct 3

Posted by Eddie in Behind the Bench, Media | No Comments

Preseason games have already begun and the regular season is only a few days away. There are some areas in the rules that will begin to get enforced with strict emphasis. The biggest change you will see is with head checks. In the video below you will see many players who suffered head injuries such as concussions and penalties were not usually called. It could potentially cost the career of Paul Kariya, and its effects has lingered onto this season as players such as Marc Savard and David Booth will not be ready to begin the season.

This season, lateral and blind side hits to the head like those seen in the video will now be called more severely than simply a minor penalty. They will be called either a Major accompanied by a Game Misconduct, or a Match Penalty. This is a good move by the NHL because shots to the head were becoming all to common, and it also helps clean up the game. Hits like the ones to Savard and Booth were completely unnecessary. If a defender wants to play the body at the same time as a player is releasing the puck, he needs to learn to make shoulder-to-shoulder contact or hip-to-body contact. Expect the first couple players to be penalized under this to receive hefty fines from the league.

Next you will see legal checks. As you can see with those legal checks, the player applying the hit is doing so legally. In the the first clip (at 2:20) where Phil Kessel is leveled by a Tampa defender, the defenders shoulder makes contact with the Maple Leaf logo on Kessel’s chest. It was a textbook north-south check to take Kessel off the puck. It didn’t help Kessel that his head was down either.

In addition, points of emphasis the officials will be looking in more detail to make the proper penalty calls are:

Clipping- Where a player will purposely drop their shoulder or hip to take out a player’s knees or legs. The difference between an illegal hit such as clipping and a legal check such as a hip check is that a hip check the defender is making contact with the attacking players midsection or hip area. The two differences can be seen at the 3:48 and 4:00 mark of the video.

Contact on Icing- It’s about time the NHL has taken a look at unnecessary hits on icing plays. Having the “touch icing” rule in place is dangerous for the attacking player as it is, and the league is trying to make it more black-and-white and less of a grey area for both the players and officials. In addition (such as the clip seen at 4:38), it will prevent after-whistle scrums like seen there.

Altercations off of Playing Surface- Now, misconduct and potentially a game misconduct and even fines will occur to players who are off the ice and make contact with a player who is either on the opposing bench or on the ice.

Warm-Up Altercations-  Any teams whose players become involved in an altercation other than during the periods of the game (examples include before the game, between periods, or after the final horn is sounded) can face a $25,000 fine or other disciplines from the league.

Unsportsmanlike Conduct- Any identifiable player who makes an obscene, profane, or abusive language or gestures at anyone (including fans) will be subject to an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and other disciplines from the league.

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What NHL Rule Changes Will Work?

Aug 31

Posted by Eddie in News | 1 Comment

Two weeks ago in Toronto, the National Hockey League conducted a Research, Development and Orientation camp. The two-day event allowed General Managers and scouts to preview the 2011 prospects as well as using them to experiment and test proposed rule changes beginning Fall 2011. Several rule proposals were tested at the camp, from placing an off-ice official on a platform to help call penalties, to placing a line inside the goal to assist video reviews.

Below is a list of some proposed rule changes tested in Toronto, as well as Pro’s and Con’s of each.

Hybrid Icing

Current Rule: Icing is called when a player on the defensive team touches the puck after it crosses the goal line. It could be negated if an attacking player touches the puck before the defensive team.

Proposed Rule: Allow the linesman to determine what player has advantage around the area of the faceoff dots. If the defensive player has advantage, icing could be called. If the attacking player has the advantage, play would continue.

Pro’s: This would prevent injuries from players racing for the puck. Several players have suffered serious injuries (remember Kurtis Foster in 2008?) including broken legs and ankles.

Con’s: While the official has more freedom to call/wave off icing, it could lead to controversy in instances if there is a tie or no player has a distinct advantage for the puck. Last thing I want to see is a blown call like this at a critical point in the game such as the final minute or in overtime.

Yellow Verification Line

Current Rule: None.

Proposed Rule: A yellow line would be placed three inches behind the goal line. If the puck touched the line, it would clearly mean the puck crossed the goal line/entered the net.

Pro’s: This one is pretty obvious. How many good goals with video review technology are  turned back because it could not be determined the puck completely crossed the line? Remember the World Cup goal earlier this summer? It can only help the replay officials determine goals from both the overhead and in-net camera angles. It could also speed up the process.

Con’s: Hockey is played in a 3D world. Camera angles and a yellow line is still in a 2D environment. I’m confident the yellow line would help and speed up the review process but I have a feeling this won’t solve all problems.

Changing Ends for Overtime

Current Rule: Teams and goalies stay at the same sides as the third period.

Proposed Rule: Teams switch ends for Overtime. They will attack at the same end of the rink as they did in the second period.

Pro’s: For those who hate the shootout, this could lead to more scoring opportunities as players are further from the bench. It would be risky for teams to make line changes on the fly because a team could be caught off guard and easily create a odd-man rush. They should implement this before going to a 3-on-3 overtime.

Con’s: This took a while to think about, but it could be more difficult for a goalie to go to the team’s bench for an extra attacker in a delayed-penalty situation.

Smaller Goal Cage

Current Rule: The current depth of the net is 44 inches.

Proposed Rule: Make it more shallow to 40 inches.

Pro’s: It would create more room behind the net. More space for offensive forwards to setup plays or attempt wrap-around shots.

Con’s: We already see several goals that will hit go inside the net and quickly pop out. 4 inches doesn’t seem like much, but when shots happen that quickly it could lead to increased goal reviews. Another unintentional drawback is more, bigger hit’s from defensemen who want to lay out a forward coming from behind the net.

Faceoff Infractions

Current Rule: When the center cheats on a faceoff, a winger will usually jump in and take the faceoff.

Proposed Rule: The opposing center gets to choose what player he wants to take the faceoff against. That player just has to be on the ice.

Pro’s: It will teach center’s to not cheat on faceoff. Especially if it’s in their own zone, because most likely the opponent will pick a defenseman to take the draw against.

Con’s: This rule seems silly. Having a player pick who he want’s to take the faceoff against? This could turn some fan’s off especially if he leads to a goal for the non-offending team.

For more information about the NHL Research Development and Orientaiton Camp, The Hockey News posted a video as well as interviews from General Managers and others involved with the camp.

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