Larry Latour writes:
>1. A few years ago refs used to blow the whistle whenever a puck was
>frozen against the boards... this was changed so that now the whistle
>won't be blown unless a player is down on the ice in the scuffle
>(I don't know about official rules... this is my eyesight talking)...
 
The rules say that the whistle won't be blown for the puck being frozen
against the boards, unless a player unintentionally falls on the puck.
Often when the puck is tied up along the boards, you'll hear the referee
yell, "Move it!"  He may even threaten delay of game.
 
>a. I've noticed a tremendous amount of time wasting in corners, to
>the point where it seems ridiculous... how about some sort of
>calls here... at least move the faceoff to an area disadvantageous
>to the pucker freezer.
>b. I've also noticed guys going down on purpose, just to get a call...
>Has anyone noticed the "phenomenon of referee adjustment" here?
 
This should be a penalty for delay of game, if a player goes down on
purpose.  But it isn't called too often.
 
This situation occurred twice within about one minute in the Merrimack-NU
game Saturday.  (The puck being tied up along the boards, not a player
intentionally falling on it.)  Both times, there were six players, three
from each side, right there and nothing was happening.  After several
seconds, the referee yelled for the players to keep it moving.  But no one
wanted to give up their advantage, and what happened next was that NU's
Darryl MacNair tried to knock MC's John Barron off the puck, and he got a
little out of hand while doing it, hitting Barron in the head a few times,
and Barron took exception and hit him back.  That DID cause the whistle to
be blown, and both players went off for roughing.  Of course, if the rule
had not been changed, the whistle would have been blown long beforehand and
no penalties would have occurred, but the fact that the puck must be kept
moving does not give the players the right to commit penalties to keep it
moving.  And this doesn't happen often; I think the rule is worth it to
keep the action moving.
 
Of course, if we went back to having the whistle blown for tying the puck
up along the boards, we would then have people complaining that there are
too many whistles and the flow of the game is not maintained.  You just
can't win. :-)
---
Mike Machnik    [log in to unmask]   Color Voice of the Merrimack Warriors
(Any opinions expressed above are strictly those of the poster.)    *HMN*