Rule change idea: allow changes after an icing, but from the bench at the whistle

[Kane One]

As we all know, the defending team is not allowed to make a line change after an icing (except for injured players). What if you are allowed to make a substitution, but the replacement player starts by the red line?

The rule change to disallow line changes was made after the 2004-05 lockout so this isn’t some sacrilegious tradition, and you might think that this idea would reverse the benefits of more goals. However, this will cause a lot more randomness, and debates such as “should he have been taken off the ice” where you’d have to weigh the pros and cons of being short a player for a few seconds until the player makes it into the defensive zone.

Thoughts?

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[Bender Duster]

Sure. But you have to change all five players at once.

 

[jbeck5]

And the goalie has to start in the corner.

 

[TKB]

As we all know, the defending team is not allowed to make a line change after an icing (except for injured players). What if you are allowed to make a substitution, but the replacement player starts by the red line?

The rule change to disallow line changes was made after the 2004-05 lockout so this isn’t some sacrilegious tradition, and you might think that this idea would reverse the benefits of more goals. However, this will cause a lot more randomness, and debates such as “should he have been taken off the ice” where you’d have to weigh the pros and cons of being short a player for a few seconds until the player makes it into the defensive zone.

Thoughts?

You can't do that because you are "giving" the offending team 40 to 60 feet of free ice. Defending team wins the draw, blasts the puck down.

 

[kingsholygrail]

But they have to do two laps around the rink.

 

[Toby91ca]

But they have to do two laps around the rink.

No, 2.37 laps sounds about right though

 

[Pablo El Perro]

Only if they have to play with off-hand stick curves, if we're throwing detritus at walls

 

[CaptainShark]

Counter proposal:

Allow teams to change after an icing.

Instead of no line change, for every icing the other team gets a power-up-card. Once a team has been awarded 4 cards, that allows the team to employ a Bull on skates in the other teams zone for 1 minute at any point in the game. He can be used to set picks or screens… but if the Bull injures an opponents player, that’s a 2 minute penalty on the deploying team.

Randomness: check
Debates (even with PETA): check

 

[MadLuke]

with the allowed 2 lines pass, if I am down a goal late in the third, not sure if this is not something I would like to do having the option (if you decide to not change you can put someone at the red line after an icing....) instead of an penalty. If you win the draw and ice the puck, seem almost automatic your red line player will win the race and break it.

 

[benfranklin]

No

 

[tarheelhockey]

The rule change to disallow line changes was made after the 2004-05 lockout so this isn’t some sacrilegious tradition

In a few years, this rule will have lasted as long as the Original Six era.

 

[MadLuke]

I reject the fact that Connor Bedard was born after that rule change.