Last night I went to an NHL hockey game for the first time in a long, loooong time, and I noticed quite a few changes from what I remember back then. So, I have several questions.
Has the game become cleaner? There were only 2 penalties and no fights. I seem to remember more.
Very few icing calls. Has this changed?
I had never paid attention before, but I noticed the line changes were quite frequent. Then I noticed that they posted average shift times, which were in the 45 to 50 second range. Is this consistent over NHL history, or have shifts become shorter over the years?
There are now 4 referees vs the 3 I remember. (The organist used to play “Three Blind Mice” when the refs came onto the ice.) When and why did the league make this change?
There used to be a red light behind each goal net that would come on when a goal was scored, but it is no longer there. When did they eliminate it, and more importantly, why?
It seems to me that goalies’ sticks used to be wider, or is this just my imagination?
In addition to the Zamboni resurfacing between periods, they now shovel off the ice several times during the period. This one I figured out myself. I suppose now all games are televised, so they do this during commercials.
Finally, I imagine there are even more changes that I didn’t notice. Can you name any other changes in rules or other aspects of the game and tell me when and why the changes were made?
Penalties last year averaged about 7 per game, so you saw a fairly clean game. Fighting is way down and has been for years. The NHL has made a concerted effort to remove most fighting from the game.
There was a change in the 2005 season that prevented a team that committed icing from switching out players on the stopage of play. That removed a big incentive for icing to take a break and get a clean line change.
That seems about right to me, I don’t think they were ever appreciably longer although situations may dictate a longer shift from time to time.
They introduced the extra ref in the 1998-99 season. So there are 2 refs and 2 linesmen.
The light is still there. You may have just missed it from your angle. It may be up higher than you’re used to.
I don’t think they’ve made the sticks smaller, but the rules have made all the pads smaller to stimulate more goal scoring, so maybe they changed the stick as well.
There have been major changes to overtime, with 3 on 3 play before the shootouts.
Yeah, teams can’t afford to carry a goon these days. The physical players who get in the most fights are still talented hockey players. I think the death of Derek Boogaard put the nail into the pure goon.
Two refs were an experiment around the 2000-2001 season or so and adapted soon after. I don’t particularly like it, but it’s here to stay.
It is ok now to use “the crutch”: placing the blade of your stick between an opponent’s legs and then lifting up, HARD, with a vigorous sawing motion.
The One-time-being-allowed-to-birdflip-the-ref Rule.
You may hold down a goalie from getting back up again in a scramble if one of his teammates is in the blue paint.
Flying Brian Trottier boarding slams on defensemen are allowed again in icing chase-downs.
In overtime you can incur a two-man penalty infraction (making it 3 on 1) if you can pass a quarter under the curve of your blade.
The Pylon Rule: if both your goalies get injured in the same game, just stuck a pylon in front of the net as a target. (If no pylons, the team’s owner has to dress up.)
There’s now video review. I think referees can review anything they want, at any stoppage (but don’t quote me on that) Which allows referees to get over the line calls more correct, etc. Controversially, they can also review whether the initial entry leading to the goal was offside, even if it happened long before the goal.
Coaches can initiate video review (for a set of potential issues), but I think if the play is not overturned, their team is assessed a minor penalty.
As far as I know, true, however, if it’s a coach’s challenge: (from link)
Other than that, though, I’ve seen reviews after many different stoppages, like reviewing if a player (while in his own zone) sent the puck over the glass (I’ve been meh over that one, sometimes) or if the goalie played the puck outside the trapezoid, etc.