MacHall's Bleacher Creature Trivia, Part Seven: NHL Rules, Refs, and Regulations

Posted by Ken Armer July 23:

Computer Update:  M's computer has been going through a long rough patch.  An intervention to stop it from screwing me around took place last night amongst hard drives and other relatives, and I am now knocking on wood hoping that the peace lasts and I can finally get down to writing.  Losses included Parts 7, 8, and 9 of the Quiz along with select trivia questions.  These will be rewritten and posted ASAP.
Thank you for your patience.  M.

Due Date for answers of part seven is now tomorrow!!! Class dissmissed...

Temporary Notice:  Owing to technical difficulties, this edition of the Quiz was not published as scheduled on Friday, 11 July 2008.  It was posted Thursday, 17 July 2008 as soon as circumstances permitted.  Just like strong medicine, trivia will skip a dose tomorrow (Friday) and normal schedule will resume Monday, 21 July 2008.  Thanks to Ken Armer for posting a notice on my behalf during the quizless interim.

Summer. For the hard-core hockey nut, beautiful weather is swapped off for fast-paced sporting glory, and it doesn‘t quite seem like a fair trade. After weeks of intense Stanley Cup ups-and-downs, the months after that final game can be awfully anti-climactic.

It can seem like an unwanted four month break from ice-based madness. But really, it isn’t. Especially if you know where to look.

Welcome to Part Seven of the Quiz! Every week this summer, find new hockey trivia - and answers - here, now twice a week. Test your self and your friends, and take credit as the King or Queen of hockey knowledge. Covering various topics (and miscellany) chapter to chapter, it’s a fun and easy way to get into the game over the hot summer months. Take a journey with your fellow Bleacher Creatures and discover the stories which make up over a hundred years of ice time.

Think you can handle it? Want to prove your hockey-smarts? Grab a pen and paper, or simply type your solutions on your own Bleacher Report profile and play along. Answers for today’s questions will be listed in Monday’s edition, and links to other chapters are at the bottom of the page.

Part Seven takes a peek at the other “other side”, the laws which govern hockey and the officials who enforce them.

Regardless of whether or not you agree with them, zebras and suits tend to have the last say. Just like real life, only more zebras.

The NHL Rule Book is a thick piece of work, and has been edited, amended and rewritten almost every year since 1917. A patchwork of old and new, the modern rules and the evolution they’ve experienced reflect the growth - and sometimes regression - of the hockey entity.

Rules, refs, and regulations control hockey as best they can. In a sport where fire, aggression, and intensity are requisites, there has to be someone to keep a lid down on the powder keg. A thankless job - thanks in part to us - refereeing requires thick skin, and many think a thick head.

Armed only with a whistle and a detailed knowledge of every hockey regulation in use, the striped stiflers must make quick decisions which aren‘t always popular. A person can’t please everyone all of the time, and in hockey displeasure comes out fast and furious.

They may make the game more balanced or safe or just, but rules and officials are a constant source of contention. Fans scream at refs, disbelieve video replays, and find fault and flaw in contemporary rules. We’ve all done it, just as our ancestors did when rocks and live animals were thrown at arbitrators in the arenas of great battle. But enough about the 1950s and the Forum. On with the quiz.

1. Which NHL coach once received a Valentine’s Day card from the officiating crew which was working that night’s game?

2. Perhaps responding to growing violence, a rule was added to the Book years ago stating that a match penalty and no substitutions for five minutes would be the punishment for intentionally kicking another player. The same year, a strange rule was instituted regarding team captains. What was the unusual mandate?

3. Before hockey referees used whistles to call plays, officials had a noisemaker of a different sort. What item did refs utilise at games in the early days, and what specific reason led to an all-round replacement with the whistle?

4. What refereeing controversy from the 2004 Stanley Cup Playoffs was rumoured to have caused a last-minute officiating change?

5. During the 1950s NHL arenas became safer when the use of protective glass became mandatory around the boards. Rinks would become even more fan-friendly when netting over the end glass was required. Which building started the safety trend as the first to install protective glass, and when did safety netting become mandatory?

6. During Kerry Fraser’s first NHL game between the Leafs and Canadiens, what name did the now-veteran referee call Montreal defenseman Guy Lapointe?

7. In the late 1920s more new rules were written, intended to improve the offensive side of the game. Less than halfway through the season, however, goal scoring had more than doubled leading the League to amend one of the directives they had implemented only a few months before. Which modern regulation was born from this unprecedented mid-season rewrite?

8. What is the difference between a referee and a linesman?

9. What recent post-season event caused an emergency rule amendment at the NHL level?

10. Tie-breaking rules have varied greatly over the years, each more convoluted than the last. One system remained in use for 30 years until a bizarre occurrence forced yet another tweak. What specific set of strange events caused the milestone modification?

Bonus Question: What single addition to the game is considered by most hockey scholars as the “beginning of the modern era in the NHL”?

Photo Question: Another of the most famous images in the game, this shot seemingly depicts hockey as a violent and out-of-control sport ruled by thugs. It shows a Team Canada skater with his stick raised and swinging, threatening the referee. In fact, the story behind the photo tells more about the officials than the players. Who are the protagonists in this shot, and what has driven the player into such an infamous pose?

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