Friday, August 6, 2010

I Take That Back. It Is The Goaltender Rules.

The milestone: I'm almost done with all the major rules in the IIHF Rulebook, save for annexes and signals.

Ok, so what's next? The NHL's collective bargaining agreement and the business of hockey. Darned if I know the difference between unconditional waivers and waivers, or why Chicago had to dump their entire Stanley Cup roster to make the salary cap, but I'm about to find out. And, for Portland Winterhawks' fans a new community blog on oregonlive.com. Stay tuned. That will be up and running in late August. Look for a dispatch or two from training camp to kick it off.

The rules: Section 5, Penalties. Other Penalties. Rule 594, Goalkeeper Dropping the Puck on the Goal Netting. Rule 595, Protection of Goalkeepers.

594: If a goalkeeper deliberately drops the puck on the goal netting to cause a stoppage of play he shall be assessed a minor penalty.

595.a: In all cases in which an attacking player initiates any contact with the goalkeeper, other than incidental contact, when the goalkeeper is inside the goal crease and whether or not a goal is scored, the attacking player shall be assessed the appropriate penalty.

595.b: A goalkeeper is not "fair game" just because he is outside of the goal crease. The penalty shall be assessed in every case where an attacking player makes unnecessary contact with the goalkeeper (see Rule 522). Incidental contact shall be permitted when the goalkeeper is in the act of playing the puck outside his goal crease provided the attacking player made a reasonable effort to avoid unnecessary contact.

Morals of the story:

The game: Goalkeepers are damned if they do, damned if they don't when it comes to coming out of the crease. But every once in a while they get a break. Like Protection of Goalkeepers. It's not much, but it's better than nothing.

Life: In life, we try to protect what is ours...our homes, our lives, our cars, our children...but one way or another something or someone always crashes the crease. Twits on crackberries in their cars bump us from the rear when they don't notice the light changed while they were tweeting what they had for lunch; burglars get in and out of your house with a laptop or other gadget before the police answer that fancy alarm you installed; the nanny turns out to have a questionable history the background check didn't find. Whatever, the point is that you can punish crashing the crease in life, but you can't always prevent it. Well, you could, but living life in fear of what might happen isn't life. So get out there and crash the crease, leave the crease, make contact. In other words: Live, learn, repeat.

Next up: Birthday greetings to Sidney Crosby and Annex 1, Advertising Regulations.

2 comments:

  1. Way off topic, but please check your email.

    P. Kukla

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  2. It's not everyday we find people who incorporate sports in life, but we know that the two has a big connection. You just have to focus on it and you will see. Sports teach us a lot about perseverance, hard work, and getting up each time you fall. These are important lessons in life that everyone learns through their own experiences. And I like that you tackled this connection here, Samantha. Thanks for the good read!
    BradFord's Goal Academy

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