Thought experiment: What if offside rule was changed to....

[PistolPete]

Simply you can't pass from behind own defensive blue line across offensive blue line into offensive zone?

So passing across red line into NZ would still be allowed

The difference:

Once the red line is gained, the entire offensive half of the red line is open.


The one issue I can see is teams backpedaling towards the red line to regroup. Perhaps a caveat to the rule would be no passing or carrying the block back over the blue line after entry.

TO BE CLEAR I AM NOT ARGUING this should be the new rule, just a little game and thinking how a tweak in a rule would alter the game (I've always been fascinated by the butterfly effect a simple rule change can cause)

 

[ole ole]

Simply you can't pass from behind own defensive blue line across offensive blue line into offensive zone?

So passing across red line into NZ would still be allowed

The difference:

Once the red line is gained, the entire offensive half of the red line is open.


The one issue I can see is teams backpedaling towards the red line to regroup. Perhaps a caveat to the rule would be no passing or carrying the block back over the blue line after entry.

TO BE CLEAR I AM NOT ARGUING this should be the new rule, just a little game and thinking how a tweak in a rule would alter the game (I've always been fascinated by the butterfly effect a simple rule change can cause)

Floating blueline would be way ahead of this.

 

[SEALBound]

Jesus. No.

Leave off-sides alone. Of all the problems the game and league has, off sides isn't one.

That goes double for the offsides review whiners.

 

[wetcoast]

Simply you can't pass from behind own defensive blue line across offensive blue line into offensive zone?

So passing across red line into NZ would still be allowed

The difference:

Once the red line is gained, the entire offensive half of the red line is open.


The one issue I can see is teams backpedaling towards the red line to regroup. Perhaps a caveat to the rule would be no passing or carrying the block back over the blue line after entry.

TO BE CLEAR I AM NOT ARGUING this should be the new rule, just a little game and thinking how a tweak in a rule would alter the game (I've always been fascinated by the butterfly effect a simple rule change can cause)

I'd much have the floating blue line back to the red line after it's gained like in ball hockey it would give teams more room to recycle on offense and make it harder for defenders to just clear the blue line.

While we are at it 3 on 3 no team can take back behind the red line it sucks as does 3 on 3.

 

[Oilslick941611]

its a tough problem to solve, but i hate that toe cap over the line kills the play. Offsides has grown into a nuisance call.

The only answer i can think of is to give the refs and linesmen more discretion on whether or not a player gained an advantage by being over the line... and thats not ideal, because already have issues calling the rule as it stands now.

It should be a full skate length over the line for an offside call. Calling a goal off because a player entered the zone a millisecond or two before the puck on the opposite side of the play is not good for the game.

 

[PistolPete]

Jesus. No.

Leave off-sides alone. Of all the problems the game and league has, off sides isn't one.

That goes double for the offsides review whiners.

Miss the original post?

Wasn't asking if it should be done or not but as a thought experiment because I am intrigued by the butterfly effect a rule change can have and was curious what people envisioned with such a definition

Having said that, the current offside rule is indeed a horrible rule that ruins the game ( not really but I just wanted to indulge the HFBoards hyperbole fornshitsnand giggles- but it is a lousy rule)

 

[PistolPete]

I'd much have the floating blue line back to the red line after it's gained like in ball hockey it would give teams more room to recycle on offense and make it harder for defenders to just clear the blue line.

That is one aspect of the offside rule I do like. I hate the backtracking in any sport.

 

[DaveG]

its a tough problem to solve, but i hate that toe cap over the line kills the play. Offsides has grown into a nuisance call.

The only answer i can think of is to give the refs and linesmen more discretion on whether or not a player gained an advantage by being over the line... and thats not ideal, because already have issues calling the rule as it stands now.

It should be a full skate length over the line for an offside call. Calling a goal off because a player entered the zone a millisecond or two before the puck on the opposite side of the play is not good for the game.

The only aspect of the offside call that I currently don't like is that players going off for a change that had absolutely nothing to do with the play will negate an otherwise perfectly good goal simply because of where the bench doors are located, which we've seen happen dozens of times. And even that's just as much on the offending player usually for simply being slow getting off the ice.

 

[qcal1427]

As you note yourself in the last part of the post the problem with any offsides change is that the point of the rule is as much to constrain the space to play in-zone as it is to prevent cherry-picking/slow rush offense.

 

[PistolPete]

As you note yourself in the last part of the post the problem with any offsides change is that the point of the rule is as much to constrain the space to play in-zone as it is to prevent cherry-picking/slow rush offense.

A comparison perhaps is the NBA? The offensive team isn't allowed to backtrack but otherwise no offside rule.

One thing that would be interesting is thr effect of an offside variation that disallowed backtracking but if the defensive team merely dumped it out, offside rules would be waived for immediate re-entry of the offensive team

 

[qcal1427]

A comparison perhaps is the NBA? The offensive team isn't allowed to backtrack but otherwise no offside rule.

Yea I think something like this would be interesting to try

One thing that would be interesting is thr effect of an offside variation that disallowed backtracking but if the defensive team merely dumped it out, offside rules would be waived for immediate re-entry of the offensive team

As soon as you bring in any judgement call like this though it would just 10x the amount of complaining about refs. I prefer rules to be black and white whenever possible

 

[PistolPete]

Yea I think something like this would be interesting to try

As soon as you bring in any judgement call like this though it would just 10x the amount of complaining about refs. I prefer rules to be black and white whenever possible

It would be relatively black and white since it's be determined by the defensive team touching the puck and shooting it out. There would be some trickier moments but I suspect the former would account for 90% of the time (just pulling a beat guess outta my ass on that one lol)

 

[Mandar]

why not just get rid of the blue lines completely? Keep the center red line, and that is also the line determining offside calls.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

Simply you can't pass from behind own defensive blue line across offensive blue line into offensive zone?

So passing across red line into NZ would still be allowed

The difference:

Once the red line is gained, the entire offensive half of the red line is open.


The one issue I can see is teams backpedaling towards the red line to regroup. Perhaps a caveat to the rule would be no passing or carrying the block back over the blue line after entry.

TO BE CLEAR I AM NOT ARGUING this should be the new rule, just a little game and thinking how a tweak in a rule would alter the game (I've always been fascinated by the butterfly effect a simple rule change can cause)

That would be awful

 

[Barrie22]

Would like the back court violation to be a rule in the nhl. Once the blue line has been crossed the offensive team can't retrieve the puck behind that line unless the defensive team was the reason it went back over the line.

 

[PistolPete]

That would be awful

Why?

 

[PistolPete]

why not just get rid of the blue lines completely? Keep the center red line, and that is also the line determining offside calls.

I like the containment of the blue lines myself. I hate when teams backtrack. My own preference though and it allows the defense to apply pressure if opponents can't just skate all the way back to the red line

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

Why?

Because It's a completely worthless change.

It does NOTHING to improve the product

 

[PistolPete]

Because It's a completely worthless change.

It does NOTHING to improve the product

Why not?

 

[Golden_Jet]

Jesus. No.

Leave off-sides alone. Of all the problems the game and league has, off sides isn't one.

That goes double for the offsides review whiners.

Ya it’s perfectly fine as is.

 

[Planetov]

Jesus. No.

Leave off-sides alone. Of all the problems the game and league has, off sides isn't one.

Agreed, offside is not a problem. It’s perfectly-implemented as-is.

That goes double for the offsides review whiners.

Offside review is abominable, blatantly spits in the face of the spirit of the offside rule, and should be immediately eliminated.

 

[tarheelhockey]

I swear some people seem to reflexively say “no” to rule changes without thinking about them at all.

The concept behind this isn’t totally crazy. It would be a radical change to make the game much more “vertical” in flow and spread players out over the ice. That’s not inherently a bad thing, but I would have a couple of concerns:

1) The concept of the “line to gain” offsides that we currently have is based around the idea that we want players to enter the offensive zone as a unit. Moving to the proposed system would allow players to spread all over the ice once the defending blue line is gained… basically it would look a lot more like lacrosse or basketball. And much like in those sports, the defense would be forced to spread out and cover them. So you end up with a game that is no longer about line rushes, instead focusing on a series of 1-on-1 puckhandling moves by unsupported skaters. This would generate some highlights, but I’m not sure it would be fun to watch something this disjointed for very long.

2) Currently, offensive zone drama is largely predicated on trying to keep the puck inside the zone and intercept clearing attempts. With another 20 feet to work with, there would be less incentive to press the attack deep in the zone. Just as well to bump the puck back to the point (near the red line) and re-start, similar to what we see in 3v3 now. That creates more offensive possession time, but also alleviates a lot of pressure. The feel of the game would be more soccer-like in terms of teams being content to fiddle around with the puck in non-threatening areas, and defenses content to allow this stalling while waiting for a serious approach to the net. We have seen similar dynamics with the wide rinks in international hockey, where the effect is mostly to give wingers a bunch of space to skate without any pressure, leading to fewer hasty decisions and ultimately a slower paced game.

It’s worth a shot and would be fun to see something like this in a minor league, just to see how the teams react. There really should be more experimentation with the rules. They’re not written on stone tablets.