The Wake

Rule Changes

In an effort to make professional hockey more entertaining, the NHL has altered the rules to make the game more focused on offense. This season there are a plethora of new rules that make the game faster-paced and higher-scoring.

The rink dimensions have changed to make the offensive zones bigger, the blue lines have moved closer to center ice, and the goals have moved farther back. Icing is still enforced, but the team committing an icing infraction will no longer be able to make a line change for the ensuing face-off.

Goaltenders will now be limited to a trapezoid-shaped area behind the net when handling the puck. In addition, goaltender pads have shrunk in width from 12 inches to 11 this season. The blocker and catching glove have also shrunk by an inch and 2 inches respectively to allow more shooting space for forwards.

Two-line passes have also changed. In the past, if a pass crossed the blue line and the red line, the play was whistled dead. Now, the red line is unaccounted for in two-line passing situations.

Offside rules have also changed; players are now allowed to enter the offensive zone before the puck. The player must then leave the zone and reenter before receiving the puck.

Goaltenders used to be the only victims of the delay-of-game rule. The rule now applies to anyone on defense who flips a puck out of play.

There are also no more ties at the end of games. If the game is tied at the end of regulation, there is a five minute, sudden-death overtime that is played 4-on-4. If the game is still tied at the end of the overtime, a shootout involving three players from each team occurs to decide the winner of the game. If the shootout ends in a tie, one player from each team shoots until the tie is broken.

Any player who starts a fight within the last five minutes of the game receives a game misconduct and a one-game suspension. For each incident after that, the suspension is doubled. Not only is the player punished, but his coach will receive a $10,000 fine for the incident, which also doubles for each subsequent incident.

The Implications of the New Rules

Life after the strike has been a fairly cushy journey for the NHL this season, which was not widely anticipated coming into the 2005-2006 season. Attendance levels have surpassed the level they were at for the 2003-2004 season, which is quite surprising. This season, throughout the league, attendance per game is up 6.2 percent; or 17,673 fans. This shows how much fans missed the sport and being able to watch the game.

Scoring has increased dramatically. At this point in the season, the average goals per game in 2003-2004 was 4.5. This year, there is an average of 6.4 goals per game, representing a 41 percent increase.

The amount of shots taken per game by both teams has increased as well. This year there has been an average of 58.9 shots per game, as opposed to 52.3 shots per game two years ago.

Thus far, five teams have been able to overcome two-goal deficits to win. At this point in the season two years ago, only one team was able to overcome a two-goal deficit and walk away with a victory.

There have also been 70 percent fewer shutouts this season than at this point in the season two years ago.

So far 72.4 percent of the games have been free of fights, which is a significant drop.

The new rules have made a major impact on the way the game is played. There are more breakaways due to the elimination of the two-line passing rule. The nature of the game has changed to allow more goals and fewer fights, which is great for hockey fans and terrible for boxing fans.