Player Reactions and a Brief Glimpse on the Face-Off Change

The NHL has decided that it wants to start cracking down on a rule that has been on the books for quite some time. Cheating during a faceoff has been common place for years in the NHL and they have made it clear that they are no longer on board with the rule(s) not being enforced. The NHL implied that the intention is to make it safer for players and linesmen by stepping back into the past to get things back to where they were when this rule first came into effect, roughly twenty years ago. The rule in question per the NHL Rule Book is as follows (The YouTube video is a great breakdown of the face-off rule):

“When at least two face-off violations have been committed by the same team during the same faceoff, this team shall be penalized with a bench minor penalty to the offending team. This penalty shall be announced as a “Bench Minor Penalty for Delay of Game – Face-off Violation.”

Players have spoken out with measured responses and venom alike, with Brad Marchand of the Boston Bruins spearheading the pushback:

This seems to be the general consensus among players. They have become so accustomed to “cheating” that it hasn’t been considered cheating – especially by the players – for quite some time. Despite the fact that there has been little – if any – public acceptance of the change, one would have to assume that there are centers around the league that are in favor of it. It is a logical assumption that there are centers that have become so accomplished under the old “rule” (e.g. falling over the designated area for the puck and swinging their skates well outside the designated areas) that it should push the needle back the other way.

Meanwhile, Henrik Zetterberg was as forceful but more measured in the word choice when speaking with Ansar Khan of MLive.com:

“Brutal,” Zetterberg said Thursday. “I haven’t played, so I can’t really put my own experience on it, but what I’ve heard and what I’ve seen makes no sense to me why they do it. It’s slowing down the game, it’s almost mocking the game.”

As I mentioned previously, cheating on the face-off has been so widely accepted that most of us either don’t remember or never knew anything different; it has just become a part of the game. It is entirely plausible that this could create numerous issues and errors that could impact games in a large way. That said, the players and referees are professionals and will likely figure out how to co-exist with these changes. I believe that the NHL is looking for a way to increase the viewership of younger fans, without alienating traditionalists (completely); the best way (outside of the technology suggestions in the linked article) to do so is to increase the number of goals scored and/or the dramatic happenstances. By increasing the number of power plays the NHL would likely accomplish both of those goals.