NHL to Consider Eliminating Trapezoid

A light schedule Monday night in the NHL as only two games were played but one story of note is that Chris Osgood accumulated six minutes in penalties a double minor for high-sticking and 2 minutes for delay of the game. Getting six minutes in penalties in a single game for a goalie who was not involved in a fight is certainly a new one on me so kudos to Osgood for pulling that off. But the delay of the game penalty for playing the puck outside of the trapezoid is worth talking about for a moment. The NHL competition committee will review that rule to consider changing the penalty because many believe it leads to injuries in the corners down low. The rationale is that players are more susceptible to major injuries chasing pucks into the corner because of new interference rules that do not allow defensemen to impede the progress of offensive players coming into the zone. The theory is that allowing goaltenders to play the puck anywhere behind the goal line will eliminate the chase to the corners since they will be able to reach the corner before either player and in doing so reducing the likelihood that either player will sustain an injury in the process.

Doing this probably would not change anything on the injury front, but what should be changed is the penalties given for taken a hand off the stick to “obstruct” one’s progress along the boards. In this situation if a player is allowed to push an opponent against the boards while the puck is close by; this would cut down on injuries and keep the trapezoid rule in place. Just remind players that grabbing and holding is not allowed and once the puck is gone he must release his opponent from the boards. What do you think should be done? Oh and as for the game itself, Dallas won 5-4 in overtime.