Steve Moerland:
 
>   I'm not sure, but I think that, at least in the Olympics, each team was
>required to put defensemen into their rotation
 
Administratively, there is no such thing as a "defenseman". The people who
participate in a hockey game are categorized as "players" and
"goaltenders". At least in the ECAC, where I've been a scorekeeper for 10
years, there is no requirement that a coach designate any player as a
defenseman, a forward, a center, whatever. Just up to 18 players, and 2 or
3 goaltenders. Six of them, including a maximum of one goaltender, must be
designated as starters. The assignment of the traditional positions (LD,
RD, C, LW, RW) to the starters is exactly that, traditional; it is not
required by the rules.
 
So this distinction, even if it existed in the Olympics, which I would tend
to doubt, would not make sense, as the proposed category doesn't exist.