Pitkanen stretchered off ice - Hybrid Icing Debate Revisited

[hf101]

Add this clip to the list of arguments for hybrid icing:

It doesn't look like Brouwer did anything to endanger Pitkanen however he probably wouldn't have left the game on a stretcher if the hybrid rule were in place.

The AHL tested the rule over 564 games. Do you think they need to make the rule in both the AHL and NHL?

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[fishbulb]

I don't see why they shouldn't change the rule... I don't know the stat, but how many races are actually won at that last second. You see it every once in a while, but if you can save one broken leg per season? Worth the change imo.

[jammer2]

@fishbulb Geez, Don Cherry has been on a tirade about this for literally decades. What will it take to get this changed?

[fishbulb]

Maybe it's b/c I watch so much international hockey (world juniors, spengler, etc.) that I don't see the big deal... Is a race for the icing REALLY that exciting?? I just picture that happening to our players... no thanks.

[jammer2]

@fishbulb The rule change would be great for the Flyers, our d gets beat to the puck by opposing forwards all day long....ha ha.

[ruxpin]

I guess I don't rarely care one way or the other. I lean toward the "don't change it" camp because I'm increasingly frustrated with hockey turning into the Ice Capades. I really don't think the injury happens all that often. And if I actually do enjoy the occasional race and extra effort by the forward trying to erase an icing, I don't think that makes me worse than someone actually liking a team game being decided by three guys on a goalie in a skills competition (that is NOT intended as a swing at HF101. I'm just saying).

It's the little things that make this game exciting. Yes, there's some injury risk, but that in itself makes the game more exciting. Hell, there's the chance that a fist hits a nose wrong and there's serious damage, but I still love the hell out of a fight. And 20K people standing during the fight at the WFC seem to share that opinion.

But we're systematically, over time, watching a lot of the little nuanced things taken out of the game. When can you hit in open ice and when can't you? That seems to change by the hour. Body checks on the boards are now affected by some moron who thinks Mecca is on the other side and suddenly turns and faces the boards and puts his ass up in the air. You can't knock someone's head off for running your teammate or you get 19 minutes of penalties. etc. etc. etc.

I'm sorry. I know hockey is also a speed and finesse sport but what makes it more interesting than a speed skating event (zzzzzzz) is the violence innate to it. You take the roar and bite of the lion away, you just end up with one big boring pus sy.

[ruxpin]

On the other hand, I do appreciate these are real people with real lives and a real career. So, like I said, whatever. Maybe they should just make the boards out of pudding.

[fishbulb]

On the other hand, I do appreciate these are real people with real lives and a real career. So, like I said, whatever. Maybe they should just make the boards out of pudding.

Pudding?... I say make the boards out of Coburn... he's the softest thing I know.

[AlaskaFlyerFan]

I voted no for the use of Hybrid icing because it doesn't work.

For those that don't know what it is, Hybrid icing is a mixture of touch and no-touch icing. It gives a linesman the discretion to blow his whistle and stop the play if he believes a defending player will reach the puck first. If the linesman believes the attacking player has a chance to reach the puck first, he lets the race to the puck play out. The linesman always will side with the defending player and will blow his whistle if he feels the race is a tie by the time the players reach the faceoff dots.

The AHL was using Hybrid Icing this year until the NHL lockout ended and they scrapped it. Here is their *public release* reason: "We believe that 564 games has been a sufficient test period for 'hybrid icing,' and that the application of the rule has been positive for the most part," AHL president Dave Andrews said in a statement Tuesday. "But because we have more than 300 players recalled to the National Hockey League each season, it is our view that these players should have the benefit of a consistent application of the icing rule in both the AHL and NHL." The problem was the rule and it's application was very confusing. The players were confused because there is too much subjective judgement on the icing plays and no consistency to the calls. Players were always questioning/arguing with the linesmen after the calls.

The only way to prevent the injuries in to use the same icing rule that is used by youth hockey & the NCAA...No Touch Icing. When the puck crosses the icing (goal) line, the whistle blows.

Edited April 4, 2013 by AlaskaFlyerFan

[ruxpin]

@AlaskaFlyerFan

I don't think I'm in favor of changing the rules, but if they are going to change for safety sake, I would go with the straight up No Touch Icing. It takes the subjectivity out of it. And it's one thing at the AHL, but you do the hybrid thing at the NHL level and it's up to a linesman and he blows it or it's at least questionable? There's too much money at stake and too many fans already think the whole thing is fixed.

Just go to the non-touch and be done with it. It's a bit more cut and dried.

[Vanflyer]

It doesn't look like Brouwer did anything to endanger Pitkanen however he probably wouldn't have left the game on a stretcher if the hybrid rule were in place.

It's a hockey play. Nothing more, nothing less. Pitkanen injured himself and had nothing to do with "icing".