A rule change I'd like to see for 2012

[Earle'sGaffe]

I've never liked the 2-minute delay of game penalty for shooting the puck over the boards. I get the reason for the rule, but the infraction is rarely intentional and assessing a penalty for nothing more serious than putting a little too much mustard on a clearing attempt doesn't sit well with me. Plus, it seems like a disproportionate number of these calls are made when a team is already killing a penalty, thus putting them two men down for a pretty piddly infraction.

I'm for treating shooting the puck out of play the same as an icing call. The guilty team must face off in their own end and can't change players. In my opinion that's a much more reasonable "penalty."

[flyerrod]

I've never liked the 2-minute delay of game penalty for shooting the puck over the boards. I get the reason for the rule, but the infraction is rarely intentional and assessing a penalty for nothing more serious than putting a little too much mustard on a clearing attempt doesn't sit well with me.

I personally like this rule. It has improved the flow of the game tremendously. There are too many occasions where a team can just flip the puck over the boards when they are on a penalty kill or just out of position to break the cycle up and reset the defense. The one rule I would like to see enforced more than any is the diving rule. Even if it is a review by committee after the game, start suspending and or fining the Soccer Divers that are making a mockery of the game.

[Earle'sGaffe]

@flyerrod

Agreed that diving is ruining a great game and something needs to be done. It's not easy to judge a player's intentions, though, so I'm not sure how to enforce penalties fairly. Some sort of after-the-game review seems the way to go, but even then, you'd never be absolutely sure the call was justified. All-in-all though, the problem is so bad it's time to try something. Maybe I'm a naive idealist, but I almost think the answer might lie in the way the game is taught to youngsters, rather than in assessing penalties. It should be pounded into their heads that diving is so shameful that they'll be universally despised if they try it. Either that or make offenders start wearing a dress during games.

[La Vieielle Garde]

I read an article last year praising American soccer players for not diving. It said when they get tackled roughly, they just shake it off and get back up, rather than rolling on the ground like they're dying.

I remember a Barcelona player doing that in the 2011 Champions League match against Inter Milan. The guy even peeked through his hands to see if the official was buying it. And the official did, giving the Inter player a red card! Absolutely ridiculous. Stuff like that is why Americans have been slow to embrace soccer. I don't like seeing it in the NHL. Maybe the increasing amount of European players coming into the NHL are bringing that diving mentality in from their soccer nations?

[Digityman]

I read an article last year praising American soccer players for not diving. It said when they get tackled roughly, they just shake it off and get back up, rather than rolling on the ground like they're dying.

I remember a Barcelona player doing that in the 2011 Champions League match against Inter Milan. The guy even peeked through his hands to see if the official was buying it. And the official did, giving the Inter player a red card! Absolutely ridiculous. Stuff like that is why Americans have been slow to embrace soccer. I don't like seeing it in the NHL. Maybe the increasing amount of European players coming into the NHL are bringing that diving mentality in from their soccer nations?

That could be. I've played soccer since I was four. Through Olympic development and so on. The way these players try to draw the cards by acting is a sickness in the game. I'm not sure if the cure is going to come from the players or the rules but something needs to change.