NHL: A New Rule Change Proposal That I Actually Agree With

As I was reading through some hockey articles here on Bleacher Report from the past week, I saw one that caught my attention. It was written by James Breithaupt, and it was about why a new rule change proposed by Bob Gainey of the Montreal Canadiens was a joke and should not be allowed.

This new rule, proposed by the Canadiens General Manager, suggested that a minor penalty be given out to any player who "doesn't have at least one skate blade on the ice when blocking a shot." In simpler terms, a player would receive a penalty if they dove to block a shot.

At first I thought the idea was preposterous. I was even in agreement with Mr. Breithaupt for a short while, until I got to thinking that this rule could do some good.

As General Managers around the league go to meetings and propose ideas, it is well known that Bob Gainey has been trying to increase scoring through numerous different ways. The obvious being making nets bigger with oval edges, and of course decreasing the size of goalie equipment.

This new rule would make sure that since no player can dive to block a shot, more shots will be getting through, and thus more goals will be scored. But I say quite the contrary.

The majority of goaltenders in the NHL are masters at what they do. They have been goalies for years, and their physical strength along with mental ability are stronger then ever before. Because of this, the cleaner the shot is, the easier it will be to stop.

And what's the one thing that can make a shot un-clean? That's right, a full body shot block.

There's an old saying that goes, "If I can see it, I can stop it." And allthough most of the time a player diving to block a shot is successful, there's always that one time when it isn't. This makes it more difficult for the goalie to make a save.

By blocking the shot with a dive, the puck go out of sight. But if the player is not successful, the puck can drastically change direction, leading to more goals.

With this new rule, the NHL is not saying that blocking shots is illegal. Instead, it is saying that leaving your feet to do so is illegal, which was how it was never done in the past, in the old NHL.

It wasn't until the mid-nineties that players regularly began to leave their feet to block a shot. Before that, you would just jump in front, which is the best way. Or, you could use the method the Russians perfected: Dropping down to one knee for a shot block.

Coaches hate when players leave their feet anyway, because if the player winding up for a shot was faking, the player on defense just took himself out of the play.

So there you have it: his argument and mine. It's time that you decided for yourself. I for one, am in full agreement with this rule proposal and even though I doubt it will ever come to fruition, it's one of the best rule change proposals the NHL has had in the last few years.