With the NHL now in the playoff’s, A question regarding “Icing” has come to mind. When a player ices the puck, the opposing goalie raises his arm. Does the goalie need to raise his arm to “accept” the icing call? I know he can just play the puck to avoid the call and the linesman can wave it off, but I just dont understand why the goalie would raise his arm. Also, while we’re on the subject. Can I hire someone to “take care” of Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs?
The goalie doesn’t need to raise his arm, AFAIK. He does it to signal to his defensemen rushing back that it is an icing (that it hasn’t been waved off by the linesman for some reason), and that he is not going to play it himself. Generally the defensemen are rushing back and it is easier for them to see their goalie signal icing than to look around for a linesman’s signal.
I’ll take care of Jacobs for you if you’ll take care of Canucks GM Brian Burke. Deal?
Another strange goalie ritual I’ve seen is very similar. When a defensemen chases a puck back into his zone, he has his back to the other team. To signal that an opposong player is on his ass, ready to backcheck him into the front row, some goaltenders will bang their stick on the ice. Ron Hextall did this all the time. Of course, sometimes I think Hextall was doing this in preparation for taking out the calves of one of the Edmonton Oilers.
While on the subject, anyone willing to accept a bounty on Flyers GM Bobby Clarke?
Goaltenders also bang their stick on the ice to indicate that someone is coming out of the penalty box.
In international hockey, icing is called automatically and no one has to touch the puck. The NHL was thinking of adopting this rule, but it has met some opposition.
I’m not a hockey fan, so could someone please explain the rational for icing? Not why players do it, but why do they have a rule about it. If I understand, icing is hitting the puck so that it crosses both blue lines without anyone else touching it. What’s wrong with that?
“Scissors Defeats Rock”
– The Onion
Actually, the puck doesn’t have to cross both blue lines. It just has to be shot from back of the red line over the goal line and then has to be touched by a player other than the goalie. The linesmen will wave off icing for various reasons which aren’t important.
The rationale for it is that it penalizes a team that can’t get the puck out of its own end by passing or skating. If icing were legal, team A would skate down the ice, try a few shots. Team B would get a rebound and then shoot it the length of the ice and everyone on the ice would go chasing after it at the other end. Then repeat this going the other way again.
This would be very boring to watch for 60 minutes.