20 replies to this topic

[Wings_Dynasty]

The no goal due to a skate in the crease rule was eliminated.

If a goalie is outside of a the crease and is "interfered" with (as Wings fans are well aware happens when certain Nordic players venture too close) the goal can be waived off.

If a goalie is bumped in the crease the goal is waived off.

If a player is in the crease and a goal is scored by him or someone else than the goal stands if it is deemed he did not interfere.

So, is the only purpose for the crease just the "glove over the puck rule" and "wait until the shooter touched the puck on the shoot-out" ?

I think it is time to get rid of this thing. If a skater closes their hand on the puck anywhere while it is on the ice surface, 2 min for delay of game. And make it so the goalie has to be touching the net when a shooter begins skating during the shoot-out. Crease eliminated.

OR

Keep the crease, make it a little larger, and make it so if a goalie is in the crease he cannot be touched. If he is out and not in the trapezoid, fair game.

[Sycsa]

Interesting, but I'd get rid of the trapezoid rule first. Also, the crease kinda looks aesthetically presentable to me, the rink would look weird without it.

Edited by Sycsa, 22 May 2012 - 05:16 AM.

[cnot19]

The most important thing about the crease is that it tells goalies where they are in the net. It helps them with angles and how far they should come out to challenge the shooter.

[cusimano_brothers]

It's not so much the crease as it's the on-ice officials; a lot of "rules" suffer from this malady.

[DangleDangleBeach]

i would be more then lost without my crease. taking a crease away would almost be like taking the goalies stick away. as you move as a goalie your crease is kind of like your map where you always have a sense as to where you are relative to the net, by where your crease is under you. you would have to take it out in youth hockey and wait to enforce it in the nhl once all the old timers who were accustomed to the crease are gone. to just take howards crease away tomorrow would throw his entire game off, i promise.

[puckbags]

I think the crease is there solely to keep Homer's ass directly from touching other goalies faces.

[GMRwings1983]

i would be more then lost without my crease. taking a crease away would almost be like taking the goalies stick away. as you move as a goalie your crease is kind of like your map where you always have a sense as to where you are relative to the net, by where your crease is under you. you would have to take it out in youth hockey and wait to enforce it in the nhl once all the old timers who were accustomed to the crease are gone. to just take howards crease away tomorrow would throw his entire game off, i promise.

Then the league should take the crease away in order to increase goal scoring.

It'll offset all that giant equipment goalies wear nowadays. Seems only fair since goalies are better trained now than they've ever been in the past. They have all the advantages right now.

[Nightfall]

Then the league should take the crease away in order to increase goal scoring.

It'll offset all that giant equipment goalies wear nowadays. Seems only fair since goalies are better trained now than they've ever been in the past. They have all the advantages right now.

No love for us goalies? Thats sad.

The goalie equipment really has been slimmed down already. If they want to increase goal scoring, it will take a major change in the league to make it happen. Removing the crease won't solve much.

[HelmFan]

Then the league should take the crease away in order to increase goal scoring.

It'll offset all that giant equipment goalies wear nowadays. Seems only fair since goalies are better trained now than they've ever been in the past. They have all the advantages right now.

That's not a bad idea. I'm curious to know if it's ever been considered by the league.

[DangleDangleBeach]

No love for us goalies? Thats sad.

The goalie equipment really has been slimmed down already. If they want to increase goal scoring, it will take a major change in the league to make it happen. Removing the crease won't solve much.

yeah i tend to agree here. though i must say... playing without creases i think would increase goal scoring (at least if i was the goalie, lol). i think the shrinking of the pads from 12 to 10 inches and the rules on bulky chest protectors / jerseys etc have kept the goaltending in check to a certain extent and at least have made it.

yes, i agree goalies have adapted and are probably the best today then they have been ever... but its not like the players arent bigger, stronger and faster then they were in previous years. as goalies get better, so do the players (they have to) and when guys can shoot well over 100 mph i think the goalies have enough to worry about without taking their creases away.

just my 2 cents, dont mean to step on toes

[GMRwings1983]

yeah i tend to agree here. though i must say... playing without creases i think would increase goal scoring (at least if i was the goalie, lol). i think the shrinking of the pads from 12 to 10 inches and the rules on bulky chest protectors / jerseys etc have kept the goaltending in check to a certain extent and at least have made it.

yes, i agree goalies have adapted and are probably the best today then they have been ever... but its not like the players arent bigger, stronger and faster then they were in previous years. as goalies get better, so do the players (they have to) and when guys can shoot well over 100 mph i think the goalies have enough to worry about without taking their creases away.

just my 2 cents, dont mean to step on toes

The butterfly style of goaltending has made goalies better. Watching videos of vintage games, lots of goals were scored from long shots with no screen. Now they swallow those up every time. Seems like teams can find scrubs out of the minors who are already well trained and can steal games left and right in the NHL. Even 15 years ago, there weren't so many journeymen goalies coming out of the minors or junior leagues with so much training and ability.

I've joked before that goalies should be forced to play stand-up style again, but I don't see the league realistically mandating that.

Edited by GMRwings1983, 22 May 2012 - 12:45 PM.

[MabusIncarnate]

I think taking away the crease would be like taking away home plate from a pitcher. I played a few years as goalie for my high school hockey team, and I relied heavily on the crease to figure out my dimensions. I think it would be catastrophic to introduce this and especially toward veteran goalies it would present a very steep challenge. The crease, even if it has no standing with the current rules, is an essential guideline for any NHL goalie and it would be too significant of a change for it to be removed. You need to maintain some kind of regularity not only for the integrity of the sport, but keeping a balance in the record books and not changing too much from the game how it used to be played to the current layout.

[NeverForgetMac25]

Then the league should take the crease away in order to increase goal scoring.

It'll offset all that giant equipment goalies wear nowadays. Seems only fair since goalies are better trained now than they've ever been in the past. They have all the advantages right now.

While I understand your sentiment, its not as though the rest of the skaters aren't better trained now than they ever were in the past either. Every player from top to bottom is.

....And this is coming from a guy that's always played Center.

[Rivalred]

Point of interest, helps with positioning, serves as a perimeter, a guide for location to the net....

[GMRwings1983]

While I understand your sentiment, its not as though the rest of the skaters aren't better trained now than they ever were in the past. Every player from top to bottom is.

....And this is coming from a guy that's always played Center.

But goal scoring is way down from the 80's and early 90's, even though the skaters are bigger, faster and better trained than they used to be.

Pretty obvious the goalies have progressed faster than the skaters. They're dominating the game right now.

[NeverForgetMac25]

But goal scoring is way down from the 80's and early 90's, even though the skaters are bigger, faster and better trained than they used to be.

Pretty obvious the goalies have progressed faster than the skaters. They're dominating the game right now.

So the solution to that is to make things harder on the goalie rather than force the skaters to elevate their game? That wouldn't be my answer.

Skaters have been given plenty of advantages themselves since the lockout (Eliminating the two-line pass, no-play trapezoid, etc.).

[GMRwings1983]

So the solution to that is to make things harder on the goalie rather than force the skaters to elevate their game? That wouldn't be my answer.

Skaters have been given plenty of advantages themselves since the lockout (Eliminating the two-line pass, no-play trapezoid, etc.).

What do you mean by "elevate their game"? I don't think there's anything shooters can do to put up numbers like we saw 15 or 25 years ago. The rule changes have made games a little more open, but it hasn't resulted in higher goal scoring because the netminders are too good.

So I don't think the skaters need to up their game or that there's not enough great players in the league nowadays, because there are. Fact is, guys like Gretzky or Lemieux would still dominate today's NHL, but there's no way they'd be scoring 175 points in every season.

So yeah, I would make things a little harder on the goalie. I don't know if that means reducing equipment size again, or taking away the crease. However, I'm not willing to go too far to compromise the game (like having bigger nets).

[Shoreline]

It isn't just the goalies that have resulted in less 150+ point player performances, it's the higher speed and more disciplined/attentive defence.

I think the league has done enough to open up the game. It doesn't need to, rule by rule, implementation by implementation, turn the league into a home run derby on ice just because the league-wide defensive skill level is that much higher. Not to take away from what they did, but Gretzky, Lemieux, Orr, and Yzerman early on, played in a different league as far as skill level is concerned throughout the NHL. To achieve what happened in that era the league would need to either un-do the defensive skill that's evolved over the years, or turn the league into a circus.

As for the OP's issue, it was answered in post #3 so no need for me to further comment.

Edited by Shoreline, 23 May 2012 - 05:54 PM.

[cusimano_brothers]

Uncle Gary says "Goals sell tickets".

[Seraph]

Scoring dropped after the emergence of the Patrick Roy style of butterfly which was then imitated by a the majority of goalies following him. That, and the Giguere Michelin man strategy, which unsurprisingly was an exaggeration of what Roy was doing too. Look how much more shooting space there used to be.



I don't think eliminating the crease is the answer though. Eliminating the crease takes out the technicality from the position. It makes it more up to chance and less up to skill, which is no good. People like athletes that can do amazing things because they have developed their skills. I am a big fan of a hard fought, defensive 2-1 win any day of the week, but I do think some sort of adjustment should be made to open up the game a little. So many of these series seem to revolve around creating a big traffic jam in the middle of the ice, force players to the outside, and use the goalie's size to stop the shots, a la how the Coytotes rode Mike Smith's giant 6 foot 4 inch body three rounds into the playoffs.