Goalies playing the puck behind the end line

[PGFlyfisher]

I thought last year the WHL rules stated a goalie could only play the puck in the designated area behind the net and not out in the corners behind the end lines.
Has this rule been dropped? I have seen goalies stray several times now and no calls from the refs.
Just curious.

[dondo]

Slade got tagged for playing the puck, but he skated to the corner and dug it out -- i guess he had a brain fart there.

also lots of goalies will catch the puck before it hits the end line, but I guess that its not one of those adamant rules like some of the others

[PGFlyfisher]

Thanks Dondo. :)

[Sput]

I believe the rule is the goalies can play the puck ahead of the red line, and inside the trapezoid behind the net. More than a few times this last week I saw Sexsmith and Slade play the puck ahead of the red line, but skated with it behind the red line and not in the zone behind the net. Is that an interpritation of the rules? Or is this another one thats up to the refs discression?

[Beaner]

It all depends on where the puck is not the goaltender.

A goaltender can stand in the 2 corner areas (behind the red line, and outside the trapezoid) and play the puck, as long as the puck is not in that area.

As soon as the puck goes into the area behind the red line and outside the trapezoid, if a golaie touches it, he gets a penalty.

That being said, I have seen the refs blow at least one of those calls against Slade so far this year.

[Jimmypop316]

I don't really understand how this rule will help scoring up, I can see it in the NHL with goalies like Dipietro and Brodeur running around.. but they are one of a kind of guys.

If anything remove the rule during Powerplays because if anything its hampering the offence.

[Bran]

I don't really understand how this rule will help scoring up, I can see it in the NHL with goalies like Dipietro and Brodeur running around.. but they are one of a kind of guys.

If anything remove the rule during Powerplays because if anything its hampering the offence.
I pretty much agree with you. There aren't a lot of goalies who truly play the puck (and probably fewer who are good at it.)

I don't really like this whole idea of trying to increase scoring. I would rather watch a hard fought, low-score game than a high scoring game that is a result of...well, everything they've done to increase scoring. Sunday I was watching an NHL playoff game on TV...Phillie and Toronto, 1975. That is when, as many people will tell you, hockey was good. I don't understand their idea of changing rules to make the game more enjoyable, when most people I know seem to think that the best thing for the game is to let it be played the way it used to be.

[dondo]

that would be all well and good if there weren't now defensive specialist coaches who were playing for the tie Lemaire etc etc. The coaching styles have changed so much since then that part of these rules changes is to try to bring it back to a better product and hopefully a better game, but how they are going about it is as assed-backwards as it gets.

The real problem I am seeing lately is that in the process changing the game "for the better" they are also trying to force their puritanical ideals down our throats by villifying the physical aspect of the game -- which for me is the heart and soul of the game itself. If I wanted to watch SEL equivalent hockey then I'd move to Sweden.

The Instigator penalty more than any other has created a breeding ground for cheap-shot artists, pests and gutless acts. The players need to be given back the freedom and right to beat the ever-loving tar out of a player who takes liberties with their star players. The league is killing that and in the process encouraging dangerous stick-work and gutless plays. The instigator penalty is not there and the Todd Bertuzzi incident never happens -- Moore gets his ass handed to him and is forced to wear it as a hat and all is forgiven or at least felt like its been dealt with.

Also in the 70's players would never ever put their back to the play or if they did it would be a very wary brief time. Nowadays players know that if they put their back to the play and face the boards they "can't be hit" -- and this is crap -- some players put themselves into even more dangeorus positions, by seeing the hit coming and deliberately turning their back so they are hit on the numbers (I mean wth??) to draw the penalty I suppose but not really thinking about the neck they are about to snap.

So with all of the extra penalties to make the game safer they have in fact made it more dangerous and taking away the ability for the players to police the ice themselves is a recipe for disaster.

So in the end Bran the reason we can't go back to that style of hockey is that it simply doesn't exist anymore (sadly - very sadly), but the more I see the more I feel we are moving away from the heart of the game and that irritates me. So we get to see more goals -- big deal when a lot of the teams are playing slightly different versions of the trap and are just sitting back waiting for turnovers and then bringing the rush when it happens.

During the lock-out I watched a few of the Swedish Elite league games and they were the most boring hockey I had ever witnessed. Why? No hitting - none at all, a brush here and there but an aggressive forecheck? Forget about it. A whole bunch of floating players floating in and out of the slot and then cycling the puck up and down the boards then a shot woo... exciting .. unfortuanately I believe this is what bettman and his cronies are holding up as an ideal to strive for and I say a whole season of All-Star game hockey? no thanks.