Faceoff Factor

NHL Meetings Lead To Rule Changes

Matt Bodenschatz | National Hockey League

Jun 20, 09:15 PM | Hype this story!

Shootouts have been a popular addition to NHL hockey, but the board of governors chose night to inflate the number of shooters from three to five, as some expected.

They did, however, change penalty shot rules to include the entire ice surface rather than just the attacking zone. So, for a player to be awarded a penalty shot, he must be obstructed while on a clear-cut breakaway in any of the three zones.

As a result, penalty shots likely will increase, though not by much, as most breakaways are gained in the offensive zone, not the neutral and defensive zones.

Also changed were rules regarding faceoffs and the interference call.

All faceoffs now must take place on one of the nine faceoff dots on the ice. And, as for interference, on-ice officialswill be given the discretion to assess major penalties and/or game misconducts for instances of interference that result in injury.

So what do I think about all of these changes? Well, I don’t think much at all.

Penalty shots are few and far between, and as I said above, the rule change likely won’t increase the number awarded by much. If the NHL was looking to add more excitement, the governors should have increased the shootout length to five shooters per side. Having just three shooters per side causes the excitement to go by too quickly.

As for the faceoff locations, who cares? This is one of those rules that really seems meaningless. I am neither for nor against it.

I am, however, against giving on-ice officials more subjectivity in their penalty calling. As if these morons didn’t make enough mistakes, they are given more free reign to toss players they don’t like.

If the NHL truly was worried about cleaning up its image, the on-ice officials would be given a clear-cut, hard list of rules that can’t be interpreted in numerous ways. Instead, they give the on-ice officials more leeway, and what we will see is more stupidity from the striped buffoons.

At least the board didn’t do something completely stupid, like changing the goal size.