Ice Hockey

There are many, many, many debates and arguments ice hockey fans can get into, but amongst every fan, player, parent, and coach of the sport lies a consensus: goalies are freaking insane. Of every position to choose from, they picked the one where they get pucks shot at them at 90 plus miles per hour, and they enjoy it. They’re almost a different breed of human.

Yet, crazy as it may be, goaltending is the most respected position in ice hockey—and possibly in all of sports.

Unlike the forwards and defensemen, goalies are alone. They can’t distribute blame, they can’t rely on somebody else, and they can’t afford to make mistakes because when they do mess up, everyone watching the game sees it and often calls them out on it. They are hockey’s truest individuals. But with that individualism comes the power to control the game. One goalie’s performance can completely tilt the ice; bad teams can win with a great goalie, and great teams can lose with a bad one.

When a goalie metaphorically stands on his head and seemingly stops anything and everything thrown at him, it is a spectacle to behold. Yet, no matter how incredible a performance like that is, it’s their job.

See, goalies live in a blue painted region known as the crease. The crease is their office, a small semi-circle that stretches a few feet beyond the net that nobody but they are allowed in. While they are in the crease, goalies can electrify fans with stellar saves and enrage them with horrible misses. But if they leave that crease, they can bring people to their feet in shock, fear, and pure adrenaline.

The only problem is they can’t—at least not to a great extent.

Currently in the National Hockey League (NHL), goalies only have access to less than half the surface of the ice. Everything below the center red line is fair game except for an area in each of the corners down by the net I like to call the Dump Zone.

The NHL has set up boundaries—lines of red paint scratched onto the ice to deter goalies from playing offense. Let’s erase them.

I’m your host Logan Boal, and welcome to Rules Rule, where today I’m going to tell you why NHL goalies need unrestricted access to play offense.

(“All That” plays)

Thank you, bensound.com, for that jazzy sax.

The first area goalies need access to is beyond the center red line. According to Rule 27.7 of the NHL rulebook (2019), “If a goalkeeper participated in the play in any manner (intentionally plays the puck or checks an opponent) when he is beyond the center red line, a minor penalty shall be imposed upon him. The position of the puck is the determining factor for the application of this rule.”

If you’ve ever watched hockey, you’re probably wondering how any goalie could possibly even make it to the red line with the puck. But it’s happened.

A 2017 article by Scouting the Refs, an NHL news source dedicated to officiating, detailed what I would call one of the most historic plays in hockey history. The Colorado Avalanche were at home playing the New York Rangers on a blustery November 16, 1997. The Avalanche were down 4-1 late in the game, and goaltender Patrick Roy decided to take matters into his own hands. Roy carried the puck up the ice, and everyone stood still. The hockey world was totally confused. And it got better. Wayne Gretzky skated towards Roy, expecting him to pass it. But Roy held on, making a headfake and deking around the superstar forward, continuing to advance the puck beyond the blue line. Another Ranger challenged Roy, and this time Roy made a complete spin-o-rama—a 360 fakeout around the forecheck, moving forward with a blistering intent until—

(A whistle blows)

The play ended. Referee Paul Devorski had assessed Roy with a minor penalty as the goaltender looked on with arms outstretched in disbelief. Every single person in the stadium though—including Roy’s coaches—were standing in pure amusement. Even Devorski was laughing while heading over to the penalty box. It was the epitome of hockey joy. Let’s listen to the play in real time, courtesy of Scouting the Refs.

[Commentator One] “Three and a half minutes to go. Third period. Rangers with a 4-1 lead—

[Commentator Two] “Look at Patrick.”

[Commentator One] “Look at this!”

(Commentator Two laughs hysterically)

“What is this?”

[Commentator Two] “He’s out of his mind. There’s a penalty now, he carried the puck over center ice. You can’t do that as a goalie. He doesn’t realize it.”

[Commentator One] “That is incredible!”

[Commentator Two] ”Patrick’s nuts! Look at Devorski! (laughs hysterically) And the fans love it. You cannot as a goaltender carry the puck over center ice and Patrick—Mark Crawford right now probably wants to have a one-on-one.”

[Commentator One] “I thought he was gonna break right for the net.”

(Commentator Two laughs hysterically)

[Both Commentators] “That’s incredible.”

The most incredible part of this story is the sheer star power. Wayne Gretzky, the Great One, the man who has the most goals, assists, and points in NHL history, the only man who’s number was retired league wide, the greatest offensive weapon in the game’s history, went up against Patrick Roy, the man with four Stanley Cups, three Vezinas for being the league’s best goalie, three Conn Smythes for being the most valuable player of the playoffs, and who was arguably the greatest goalie to ever take the crease.

And Roy deked him. Juked him. Faked him so hard Gretzky looked silly. Roy, a goalie, skated around the greatest goal scorer the NHL has ever known.

Plays like these are rare, but they’re what fans love. And just like every other sports league, the NHL is a business: it can’t survive without fans. If the NHL wants to bring in more fans, they need to allow for more rarities in the game, and giving goalies unrestricted access to the ice would stir that.

Another area goalies need access to is the Dump Zone. The Dump Zone is a term I created to describe the area of the ice in all four corners of the rink where goalies cannot retrieve dump-ins by the offense. A dump-in is when the offense shoots the puck into the offensive zone so they can chase it down and move the play up towards the net. The Dump Zone is the sweet spot. If a forward sends the puck into Dump Zone, the defense has to turn around and go get it, allowing the offense to take strong offensive position.

The Dump Zone sits below the goal line and is outlined by the corner of the end boards and a two inch thick red line about halfway to the net. More commonly talked about than the Dump Zone, though, is its complement: the trapezoid.

The trapezoid is what defines the boundaries of the Dump Zone. According to rule 1.8 of the NHL rulebook (2019), “A restricted trapezoid-shaped area behind the goal will be laid out as follows: Seven feet outside of each goal crease (eight feet from each goal post), a two-inch red line shall be painted extending from the goal line to a point on the end of the rink ten feet from the goal crease (eleven feet from the goal post) and continuing vertically up the kick plate.” Rule 27.8 adds to this by saying that a minor penalty will be imposed if a goalie plays the puck behind the net outside of the trapezoid, AKA the Dump Zone.

I spoke to Ron Helwig over the phone about his opinion on the trapezoid rule. Helwig has been coaching ice hockey for over twenty years, including coaching Junior and collegiate level teams. He proposed that the trapezoid’s removal would indeed foster offense, saying, “You’re gonna get goalies that are gonna venture outside of that trapezoid area and where they’re gonna end up losin’ the pucks to hard forechecking offenseman. On the other hand, good goalies can stir offense by getting the pucks out of the corner and passing them up the ice. With them [the NHL] getting rid of the two-line pass, it allows them [goalies] to play the puck up even further.” Helwig then had this to say about the trapezoid:

[Ron Helwig] “It’s one of those rules where it really restricts a player from playing to the best of their ability. Some goalies thrived on going to the corner and getting the puck. So you’re losing that element of the game by creating that rule. And really, to me, what was the purpose of the rule? What was it supposed to achieve?”

Indeed, what was the purpose? According to a 2015 article by Joseph Robin of the news site The Hockey Writers, the trapezoid rule was part of a packaged bundle of new rules instituted after the 2005 NHL lockout designed to bolster offense and increase fan excitement. Yet, the trapezoid rule does the opposite of that. As Helwig mentioned, one rule that was actually abolished during this New Deal of hockey was the two-line pass, a rule which limited stretch passes to within one zone, forcing teams to play closer and more clumped together. By taking away the two-line pass, teams could much more easily sling odd-man rushes down the ice. Except, with the installation of the trapezoid, goalies weren’t allowed to contribute. If anything, as Helwig said, goalies playing the puck creates more offense.

Consider the following three scenarios:

1. A good or bad puck handling goalie who doesn’t like to play the puck

2. A bad puck handling goalie who likes to play the puck

3. A good puck handling goalie who likes to play the puck

All three of these scenarios create some form of offense.

In case one, if a goalie doesn’t play the puck on a dump-in—regardless of their skill set—the other team has the offensive advantage from a hard forecheck. The responsibility to get the puck out of the zone then becomes the defensemen’s job, but as any hockey player can confirm, turning a dump-in into a full rink counterattack without help from your goaltender is difficult.

Scenarios two and three are a little more complicated. In scenario two, a bad puck handling goalie who likes to play the puck is going to make mistakes. And in the NHL, mistakes result in turnovers. When a goalie turns the puck over behind the net, it is pretty much a guaranteed goal for the offense. But maybe they don’t turn the puck over and they try to make a long stretch pass. Well, according to that article by The Hockey Writers, there have been nearly twice as many penalties called on goalies for shooting the puck over the glass than penalties called for playing the puck in the Dump Zone since the rule’s inception. Even when they aren’t turning the puck over, bad puck handling goalies are committing more infractions when they play the puck than what the trapezoid alone causes.

Scenario three was the inspiration for the trapezoid in the first place. In the few seasons leading up to the 2005 lockout, the New Jersey Devils were the most dominant defensive team in the NHL. Part of the reason was because of their goaltender, Martin Brodeur. Brodeur is a Hall of Fame goaltender who is often argued as the best to play the game right beside Patrick Roy. But he is also known for his incredible puck handling skills. The trapezoid is Brodeur’s rule. In 2005, the New York Times did an interview with Brodeur after the trapezoid rule had been announced. Brodeur told them, “You can't be happy, taking away something I've worked on all my life to do and help my teammates and help my defense. It's just part of me, playing the puck. So, definitely, you can't be happy. [. . .] It's going to reward bad dumps and a lot of different things that the NHL wants to get rid of.” Brodeur was so adept at playing the puck outside the crease that he was essentially a third defenseman on the ice. But with the trapezoid now limiting him, the NHL stagnated the offense they were trying to inject into the game.

In fact, the NHL seemed to forget that goalies can score points too. According to QuantHockey (2019), good puck handling goalies score an average of 6 points every 50 games they play. That may not seem like a lot, but if one third of every NHL team can hit this average, that’s 60 points in 50 games from just goalies. That is a lot of offense being generated, but it is mostly being squandered by the trapezoid.

Another thing being squashed by the trapezoid: goalie goals. According to QuantHockey (2019) there have only been 11 NHL goaltenders credited with scoring a goal. In order for a goalie to score a goal, the other team has to have pulled their goalie for an extra attacker, and the remaining goalie has to corral a dump-in and fire it back the length of the ice over everyone’s heads and into the open net. It’s a lot of setup, but it’s happened. And when it does—well let’s listen to when Martin Brodeur scored his first career goal in the NHL.

[Commentator One] “Brodeur. Controlling. The net is empty! He throws it down and in! He scored a goal! Martin Brodeur.”

(The crowd cheers loudly as the goal horn sounds)

That is the sound of pure excitement. That is a sound the NHL will forget if they continue to restrict goalies to a painted semi-circle.

(“Semi-Funk” plays)

The NHL redesigned the rule book in 2005 to stimulate offense and energize fans. But there are still two rules that hinder that objective. Bounding goalies to one half of the ice takes away the rarity in the sport, the what-if moments that propel fans to instant excitement even if they just almost happen. The trapezoid takes that away too, and it diminishes the potential amount of offense the league could produce. Hockey is a sport for the players and the fans; these rules profit neither.

According to The Hockey Writers (2019), the NHL expanded the trapezoid in 2015 to spur more offense. Why not just get rid of it?

I’m Logan Boal for Rules Rule, and thanks so much for listening.

(“Acid Trumpet” plays)

REFERENCES

[lonnieman]. (2008, May 31). Patrick Roy Over The Red-Line [video file]. Retrieved March 7, 2019, from https://youtu.be/429QFwN8Yy4

[pjstock20]. (2013, April 1). New Jersey Devils goalie Martin Brodeur scores his first NHL goal - Feed 2 [video file]. Retrieved March 7, 2019, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyTCTAXL6zM

Bensound. (2019). All That | Chill Hop Royalty Free Music. Retrieved from https://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music/track/all-that-chill-hop

Incompetech Music Search. (2019). Retrieved from https://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/music.html

National Hockey League. (2019). Official Rules [PDF file]. Retrieved March 7, 2019, from http://www.nhl.com/nhl/en/v3/ext/rules/2018-2019-NHL-rulebook.pdf

QuantHockey. (2019). NHL Goalies ‑ All-Time Goals Leaders. Retrieved March 7, 2019, from https://www.quanthockey.com/nhl/records/nhl-goalies-all-time-goals-leaders.html

QuantHockey. (2019). Most Points in One Season by NHL Goalies. Retrieved March 7, 2019, from https://www.quanthockey.com/nhl/records/most-points-in-one-season-by-nhl-goalies.html

Robin, J. (2015, October 13). Blurred Lines: Why the Trapezoid Does More Harm Than Good. Retrieved March 7, 2019, from https://thehockeywriters.com/blurred-lines-why-the-trapezoid-does-more-harm-than-good/

Scouting The Refs. (2017, January 10). Rulebook: Rule 27 Puts Goaltenders in Their Place. Retrieved March 7, 2019, from https://scoutingtherefs.com/2017/01/16841/rule-27-puts-goaltenders-place/

The Hockey Writers. (2014, September 16). Breaking Down the NHL's 2014-2015 Rule Changes. Retrieved March 7, 2019, from https://thehockeywriters.com/nhl-2014-2015-rule-changes/

The New York Times. (2005, September 16). Brodeur Feels Defanged by N.H.L.'s New Rule. Retrieved March 7, 2019, from https://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/16/sports/hockey/brodeur-feels-defanged-by-nhls-new-rule.html