It’s that time of year again. The postseason is upon us, and with it, a new set of rules and regulations. You might be wondering what these are, and how they affect you as a hockey player. We’ve got you covered on this front. Here’s a quick overview of the most important things to know about the new rules and how they’ll affect you this year.
Table of Contents
Overtime
Overtime has been shortened to 17 minutes with no extra skaters. Previously, the duration was 20 minutes, and there were five skaters per team on the ice during that time. That means a lot less ice time for your favorite players. It also means more chances to succeed in the overtime period for your opponents.
The reason behind this change is quite simple. The NHL wants to cut back on the length of games and increase the speed at which they play. Thus, the league decided that the quicker games, the better, and they made the overtime shorter to encourage more action. In regular season games, teams are only 1-0-1 in the overtime period, so this rule change should have little impact on the overall outcomes of games.
Penalties
Just like the title suggests, this rule change focuses on penalties and how the officials will call them. Gone are the days of hooking, holding, and body-checking, at least for now. The new guidelines are much clearer and should make penalties easier to call. You will no longer have to guess whether or not a foul was committed. Instead, you’ll know exactly what type of infraction took place.
The key takeaway from this rule change is that players should be held accountable for their actions on the ice. While a certain level of skill is required to be able to play the game, it doesn’t mean that no fouls should be called. Especially when a coach or manager is watching the game and calls out a specific player for getting a certain number of penalties, it’s clear that there’s some inconsistency in the system. This rule change seeks to address that issue by holding players accountable for their on-ice behavior.
Goalies Are The Unsung Heroes
While players are busy hoisting the Cup in June, the real heroes are the goalies. It’s no secret that they face a lot of pressure this time of year, and they’ve done a fantastic job of keeping their teams afloat. In fact, according to hockey statistics website Ice Hockey Quest, goalies prevented 77.2 shots per game this year, an increase of 2.2 percentage points from last year. This is the highest figure since 2008-2009, and it’s likely due to a combination of factors, including the shortened length of games and increased usage of high-sticking techniques.
Thanks to a combination of these factors, goalies are no longer just spectators in the game. They’re playing a crucial role in the outcomes of games, and that requires some serious attention from the coaching staff and front office. This year will be the first time that goalies have had an off-season in which to rest and recuperate, so they’ll need all the help they can get.
When considering the amount of attention that goalies get this time of year, it’s easy to see why they don’t get enough appreciation from the hockey community. After all, they don’t get the press that coaches or players get, and it’s easy to understand why. Just check out the stats listed below:
- There were 81 goals scored in the 2016 playoffs, an average of 1.62 per game. Of those, 51 were scored in the first round alone, an average of 1.10 per game. That’s more than one goal every two games during the playoffs. In the regular season, teams scored an average of 0.83 goals per game.
- Entering the playoffs, the average goalie had played 29 games, started 35, and had a save percentage of 0.913. In the first round, they started zero games and had a save percentage of 0.963. That means they almost beat the odds and had a great run in the face of the odds. In the second round, they started one game and had a save percentage of.889.
- The average game in the 2016 playoffs lasted only 3 hours and 36 minutes. That’s an hour and 22 minutes shorter than the average game in the previous year. In the regular season, games lasted for 3:29.
- The number of penalties called in the 2016 playoffs increased by 12% from the previous year, jumping from 82 to 94. There were 96 fights in the regular season, an increase of 5 from 2015. Only four fights were ended in penalties, and all of them were suspensions.
- The number of quality scoring chances that were allowed in the 2016 playoffs increased by 10% to 16%, depending on the quarter and round. For example, in the first round, there were 397 scoring chances, an increase of 25 from the previous year. In the second round, there were 338 scoring chances, an increase of 20. In other words, you have to be accurate more often than not to keep the puck out of the net.
- Only six teams scored a goal on a par with the NHL average (8.3 goals per game) in the 2016 playoffs. That’s better than the league average, which is 7.0 goals per game. The other 30 teams scored below the average, with 21 teams scoring below 5.0 goals per game.
More Exciting Comebacks
Another important change is that there are now more exciting comebacks in hockey. Previously, you would’ve never seen a comeback in which the team was up by four goals with under a minute to go in the game. But now, comebacks in hockey are pretty common, and that’s thanks to the shorter games.
Take the Blues, for example. They were down by a goal with only eight seconds remaining when veteran defenseman Alex Pietrangelo picked up the puck and skated it to the net. He fired a hard shot on the short side that made it through to hit the goalie, giving the Blues a shocking and unforgettable comeback victory. If that puck had been allowed to slide in, it would’ve been a perfect game-winning goal, because the goalie had already been touched by a player.
It’s exciting to see comebacks like that because you know that the puck didn’t touch the ice in an unauthorized manner. For that reason, the referees have been reined in, so there’s less contact between players. This change promotes skill over sheer strength, so you’ll see more goals and more exciting comebacks.
And it doesn’t stop there. The rule changes for 2017 seek to increase puck possession and create more chances for scoring. Teams will have more possession of the puck in this coming season, leading to more scoring chances. This is great for the game’s bottom-line, as well. More goals and more exciting comebacks mean more opportunities to sell more tickets and increase TV ratings.
Faster Skates
Speaking of TV ratings, there’s also a change coming in how viewers watch hockey. In the past, goalies were only focused on the puck and didn’t get involved in the play. As a result, viewers could usually see the puck and the goalies’ face clearly. This is why, when a goalie does give the camera a quick glance as he’s being mobbed by teammates after making a big save, his entire face is usually visible.
Now, with the faster skates and more agile players, viewers can’t help but get a better look at the action. This leads to more goals and more exciting plays. While this change is largely a positive one, as it brings increased scoring and viewer engagement, it also means that puck touches will be even more vital to maintain possession of the puck.
In other words, it’s a bit of a catch-22. To increase the excitement in hockey, the rules have to change. But to keep the excitement going, the rules have to change back. That’s the nature of the game, and it’s why J.D. Power and Associates named it an “unavoidable pain point” for fans of the sport.