Avoid the trapezoid!

September 26, 2005 4:47 PM

What's the motivation behind the new NHL rule about 'the trapezoid': The newly-delineated area right behind the goal the goaltender is allowed to play the puck in?

The only verbiage I've seen about it so far has been the rule itself: "Goalies may play the puck behind the goal line only in a trapezoid-shaped area defined by lines that begin six feet from either goal post and extend diagonally to points 28 feet apart at the end boards.". That's clear enough, I'm not confused about the mechanics. But I don't understand why. My google-fu has failed me, and after 2 pre-season games now I'm just as baffled as I was before I saw a game.

Basically all this rule does is create two patches of ice, in the corners, where the goaltender can't play the puck. But the goaltender rarely ever played the puck there -- It's way out of position, and if you saw him go behind the goal line at all it was to go directly behind the net (where he's still allowed to go) to stop the puck as it swung around, usually in a dump-and-chase attempt.

I'm a big fan of almost all the new rules (still thinking about the shoot-out), but this one has me at a loss. What will change as a result of this, or rather, what is it that they're attempting to change?

posted by wolftrouble to society & culture (11 comments total)

It is an attempt to speed up the game, by keeping goalies (who are, for all intents, inviolate when on the ice) from slowly playing the puck. Goalie interference means that if you touch them, you'll get called. In recent years, I've see goaltenders go from gathering and flipping to a defender behind the goal line to gathering the puck, move it halfway to the blue line, and pass to a forward.

To me, it's the wrong answer. The right answer is draw a 10' circle around the crease, and if the goalie's outside that circle, goaltender interference doesn't count. Two or three checks later, the problem is solved.
posted by eriko at 5:02 PM on September 26, 2005

It's also to try and encourage more play from end to end.

If the goalie can just go collect the puck and flip it up to the neutral zone, then there's not going to be a lot of play on the boards and it drastically decreases the potential payoff of effectively forechecking. So in effect it's a way to extend the ice surface.

I agree with erico though that it's not the right answer. If a goalie CAN play the puck (not that many can, really), they should not be artificially constrained from doing so. I also agree though that a goalie who wants to be a skater should be treated like a skater in every way.
posted by mikel at 5:14 PM on September 26, 2005

Have you watched the video? I can't remember whether they explicitly spell out the trapezoid you're describing, but it's worth a look for a quick intro to the new rules and the slightly amusing wooden narrator-dude.
posted by statolith at 5:28 PM on September 26, 2005

Very simply it stops goalies (like Brodeur, mainly) from playing defense and shuffling the puck up to mid-ice during power plays or line changes, when the other team's short on players and therefore vulnerable. It therefore encourages more end-to-end play, which is generally more exciting than watching the Devils score on power play (again).

Frankly, I'm with eriko and would like most goalies, like Brodeur, to see more checks outside of their zone.
posted by Rothko at 6:08 PM on September 26, 2005

I agree with eriko et al. A goalie should be open season outside the crease, period.* I think he should be allowed to play the puck all he wants, but if he is behind the goal line (from where it is impossible to score directly), he should no longer be considered the goaltender and be treated like any other player.

*If it were up to me, though, the crease for the purposes of where the goalie is untouchable would be extended to be a semicircle centered at the middle of the goal line and tangent to the faceoff circles.
posted by Doohickie at 7:01 AM on September 27, 2005

Obviously none of the comments come from fans of a team with a puck playing goalie.

To answer your question as to the motivation, it is simple. Goalies who play the puck act like a third defenseman and can effectively kill most of the dump and chase forechecking attempts before they start. However, a well placed dump into the corners would always work so I don't see how this changes anything. The simple fact is the number of goalies who can play the puck effectively is very small (I can think of four off the top of my head Brodeur Turco Belfour DiPietro). This means that there are around 26 general managers who have to worry about playing these teams because they must change their style around these goalies' skills. To me it's not much different than playing say, Kovalchuk and adapting by trying to keep a man on him at all times. This rule only limits those with greater skills like saying after your 40th goal you can only score on the backhand, not many will be affected but those that do not have 40 goal scorers would be in favor of it. Since its the GMs that make the rules, this was a good opportunity for them to form a coup and limit skill players.

To be honest though, I don't think it will make any difference. On penalty kill icings the goalies will just get to it before it crosses the goal line, the goal line has been moved back two feet making it easier to stop the hard around, and like i said, the soft dump ins to the corners always worked. This rule is confusing by definition and will be gone next year when the rules committee reevaluates.

For those that want goalies to be fair game, I suggest you rethink that position because nobody wants Tie Domi taking a run at their goalie if he's close to the edge of this "goalie zone."

I also don't see how this will promote end to end hockey because dump and chase forechecking and end to end hockey are not the same thing.

Sorry for writing so much, this rule is something that really gets me, hope this helps.
posted by crashlanding at 9:21 AM on September 27, 2005

It seemed to me that even goalies who can hardly skate (*cough* Hasek) would at least stop the puck in the corners, dropping it off for the defensemen to carry up ice. So I guess this rule stops even the weak goalies from doing that.

That said, this reduces but does not eliminate the affect someone like Turco has. I've seen him play the puck from the face-off dots or even the top of the offensive circles, passing to a defenseman in stride in the neutral zone. The guy is an awesome puck handler and this rule is only going to stop a few cases where he acts as a third defenseman.

All that said, I went to the exhibition game between the Stars and Red Wings last week and the game was a lot faster. Much more fun to watch, though they weren't really hitting each other much.
posted by therealadam at 9:38 AM on September 27, 2005

Thanks for all the responses, folks. Honestly all of them are fantastic, I couldn't pick even 3 of them as best so I'm going to just give you all kudos all around. :)

I'm guessing that yeah, this rule will probably disappear next year when it's found to be more confusing than useful. That being said, I'm curious as to what, if any, side effects it's going to have.

In the exhibition games I went to so far this year, by the way, the action was MUCH faster and MUCH more end-to-end than any NHL games I've ever seen. I believe it was due more to the elimination of the red line for two-line passes and crackdown on clutch'n'grab than the goalie rules, but whatever the reasons, man oh man has it been fun hockey to watch so far. (Then again, ANY hockey is fun hockey to watch after a year without the NHL, and living in an area where college/minor league teams are either scarce or not that much fun to watch.)

Here's to a great season!
posted by wolftrouble at 10:05 AM on September 27, 2005

I am in full agreement with crashlanding. This rule doesn't seem to combat anything in particular. It's like they listened to five or six suggestions on how to prevent teams from using the trap, and instead of choosing the best of the lot, they chose them all. It is an arbitrary and artificial fix to an ill-defined problem. I hope it will be repealed next year along with the silly rule about changing players on an icing.
posted by Succa at 10:27 AM on September 27, 2005

Succa, I would have to disagree about the icing rule. Along with the new penalty for tossing the puck into the stands, I think it creates a good incentive to keep the game moving.
posted by therealadam at 10:54 AM on September 27, 2005

Having seen them in practice, the new NHL rules rock. We're seeing playoff-style hockey in October and November.
posted by Doohickie at 2:57 PM on November 15, 2005