It’s Time to Re-Examine Icing

In Wednesday’s pivotal match-up between the surging San Jose Sharks and the over-achieving Minnesota Wild, a simple play may have changed the playoff landscape for the entire league. The worst thing is, it was entirely preventable.

Minnesota defenseman Kurtis Foster was chasing down a puck behind his net, and San Jose forward Torrey Mitchell was chasing him. Mitchell had little chance of passing Foster, who was closer and had positioned himself between Mitchell and the puck.

But Mitchell, a young, fast player, hustled to keep his team from having a tired line matched up against Minnesota’s scoring line in the San Jose defensive zone during a close game. In Mitchell's process of trying to push his way past Foster, Mitchell ran him into the boards, breaking his femur.

Foster is out for the entire play-offs. At 6’5” and 220 pounds, he is one of the few players both big enough to be a force in the defensive end and skilled enough to be a key to the power play. For a team in the toughest division, top-to-bottom, in the league, this jeopardizes their chances of winning a top-three seed.

For a team already lacking in star power compared to the rest of the Western Conference, this almost ensures that even if they do, they will be overmatched.

Moreover, this impacts more than Minnesota in the playoffs. If they hang on to win their division and are upset in the first round, San Jose—the hottest team in the league—may be paired against the defending champion Ducks in the first round. If Minnesota does not win the Northwest because they are missing a key player in a tight race, the President’s Trophy-winning Detroit Red Wings will get that tough match-up.

It may also hurt the Ducks if Corey Perry is still not ready for the second round, and it hurts fans, and thereby the league, because the best match-ups are not showcased late in the playoffs.

The traditionalists, who have held the game back from reaching a broader audience for years, do not want to change rules. I respect tradition too, but if stars get hurt, it is bad for the product on the ice, and there have been many such examples, most vividly was when Bryan Marchment nearly killed Mike Modano several years back by sending him head-first into the boards going for a touch-up. 

There is a very simple compromise to be had, let the referees make a judgment call and blow the whistle for the riskier icing chases. If there are two players careening at full speed directly at the boards, blow the play dead and everyone lives to play again. If not, let play go on. 

Officials already have the trust of the league to wave off icing in certain situations, so this is no different. It could also be something that is in place only for the regular season, adding to the intensity of the playoffs. At least that way a team will not have worked for six months to see it all go down the drain in a split-second.