Hockey Offsides: Mastering the Rules for Better Play
NHL Offsides Should Be Simpler
There can be any number of reasons for being confused when a goal is overturned due to delayed offside – not always possessive of possession either!
The National Hockey League could do with revising its rulebook for greater clarity, with one suggestion being the suspension of offside rules as a key feature. Here is why: 1. They’re confusing
The Position of the Skates
Offsides in the NHL can be more complex than expected due to how its rulebook is written; its lack of definition for “possession” and potential delayed offside calls even when no player touched the puck has only added to this complexity.
On Tuesday night, Cale Makar scored for the Avalanche against the Oilers after receiving an unclear call that allowed his goal to count despite its evident offside nature – only later being overturned after lengthy delay while referee reviewed each frame to determine if Makar’s skate had crossed over one millimeter past the blueline at time of initial pass.
Elliotte Friedman attempted to argue that Makar did not touch the puck, leading to further confusion regarding this call. Although technically correct, such reasoning misses the purpose of reviewing such situations in general.
Fact is, there are numerous times when delayed offsides should be reviewed. Players put themselves into dangerous positions near the blueline to gain an advantage on entries; so we need reviews. But perhaps a more sensible solution would be eliminating offsides altogether; though this might lead to teams simply staying in offensive zone longer, but would also open up play by allowing players to enter freely whenever they choose.
The Position of the Puck
The NHL is no longer the soaring league it once was and would benefit from adopting more straightforward regulations – perhaps starting with eliminating offside.
The rule for entering the offensive zone before the puck is pretty straightforward; however, interpretation varies widely and frequently results in endless reviews by officials to assess whether a player was just millimeters off the blueline when contact occurred.
On Tuesday night, Avalanche forward Cale Makar scored what appeared to be an offside goal and Oilers challenge it. Although NHL got it right this time around, this issue highlights an outdated rule which must change immediately.
One compelling argument in favour of eliminating offsides is speeding up the game. Without offsides to protect them from, teams might leave players waiting in neutral zone waiting for a breakaway; though that seems counterintuitive considering scoring rates are at record-highs. Furthermore, eliminating offsides would allow faster-paced action on an Olympic sheet instead of an 85’x 200′ one used in NHL competition.
The Position of the Stick
The NHL’s offside rule can be complicated and confusing, but it doesn’t need to be. At first glance it seems straightforward: no player may enter an offensive zone before receiving the puck; however, its application becomes more challenging when multiple players enter an attacking zone at once; then you need to consider where each stick lies within its own offensive zone as well as whether or not its location override the blueline of an opposing team.
Sportsnet commentators Chris Cuthbert and Craig Simpson seemed uncertain as to the offsideness of Cale Makar’s goal against Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night; Valeri Nichushkin left his zone first before touching it; yet as long as his stick went over the line before Makar, it wasn’t offside.
One reason the removal of offsides on zone entries might make things more confusing is that teams could simply set their players in the neutral zone and wait for breakaways – no matter if their feet cross over or not. But this would slow the game considerably as teams could spend minutes or even hours just resetting their blue lines in hope of scoring opportunities.
The Position of the Players
Offside rules are simple in concept: no player may enter his team’s zone before receiving the puck. While this should be straightforward to enforce in practice, confusion often results from interpretation issues within NHL rules themselves and how officials interpret them.
Take this play from Tuesday night’s Oilers-Avalanche matchup as an example: Oilers center Darnell Nurse moves the puck up the boards and into Avalanche territory; when Valeri Nichushkin enters ahead of it – according to Rule 83.3 this should have been considered an offside penalty.
But the linesman didn’t raise his arm, and play continued without being penalized due to Nichushkin being close to clearing the zone and incurring a delayed offside penalty.
Problematically, this interpretation of the rule creates confusion for players and fans, creating unnecessary replay reviews attempting to ascertain whether Nichushkin was just millimeters over the blue line at the time of his goal. Instead, it would be much simpler if players entering their own zone were penalized accordingly and clear guidelines existed as to when this should take place.