On Jan 4, 15:08, Joel Mack wrote:
>Situation:  UNO is skating on the power play when Bowling Green sends a
>clearing pass down the center of the ice.  UNO goalie Jason Mitchell
>skates out into the slot area, ostensibly to get the puck back up ice and
>try to catch BG in a change.  Mitchell whiffs on the attempt, the puck
>sliding between his skates. With a BG skater bearing down on him, he drops
>and covers the puck.  The referee calls him for delay of game, I'm
>assuming because he was out of the crease when he did it.  Is this really
>the rule?  Was he really supposed to try and out-stickhandle the guy with
>the far less cumbersome gear and stick?  How does the actual rule read?
 
I don't have the actual rule, but when the goalie is outside either the crease
or the protected area (which is a box formed by connecting the two faceoff dots
in the defensive zone and extending lines straight back to the back boards from
those dots), he's "just another skater" and thus cannot legally freeze the
puck. If it had been a defenseman or forward in that situation who had whiffed
on the clearing attempt and then had covered the puck, there would have been a
delay-of-game call as well.  If the goalie wants to play the puck away from the
crease/protected area (whichever one the rule specifies), then he's going to be
under the same rules as anyone else.
 
I've seen this happen before, including once to Cornell's beloved Jason
Elliott. There are junior leagues in which it is legal for the goaltender to
range far from his crease and freeze the play like that, but it's not legal in
college hockey.
 
--
Disclaimer -- Unless otherwise noted, all opinions expressed above are
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Bill Fenwick
Cornell '86 and '95                                             DJF  5/27/94
LET'S GO RED!!                                                  JCF  12/2/97
"This can't be right.  Terry Felton started the game, and now they've got him
 relieving himself on the mound."
-- Fred White, Kansas City Royals radio announcer, on a wire-service report
   that erroneously listed the same pitcher starting and coming in from the
   bullpen
 
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