Jeremy Hall writes:
>What on earth is the "split third period".  From kap's posting, it sounds as
>if play is just suddenly stopped at the ten-minute mark, and the teams switch
>ends.  Can this be done at any time, or only in the third?  And can only the
>visiting team call for this?  Any details on this would be appreciated.
 
 
 
                         Penalty Box
                          ---------      -----------------
                          |   |   |      |  BC   bench   |
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 |                       |              |             |                      |
 |                       |              |             |                      |
 |                       |              |             |                      |
 |                       |              |             |                      |
 |                       |              |             |                      |
 |   --                  |              |             |                 --   |
 |   |                   |              |             |                  |   |
 |   |                   |              |             |                  |   |
 |   --                  |              |             |                 --   |
 |                       |              |             |                      |
 |                       |              |             |                      |
 |                       |              |             |                      |
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                         | Visitors bench |
                                         ------------------
 
 
 As you can see from my "beautiful" rendition of Kelley Rink, both benches are
 much closer to one end of the ice than the other. Normally the visitors defend
 the West goal in the first and third periods.  This means that in the final
 minute of play, if the visiting team wanted to pull the goaltender he would
 have to skate almost 1/2 the length of the ice to get to the bench.  On the
 other hand, if BC wanted to pull the goalie he would have to skate less than
 1/3 the length of the ice.  So, at the request of the visiting coach, prior to
 the start of the third period, the third period is split into two 10 minute
 halves.  At the 10:00 mark play is stopped and the teams switch ends.  Now the
 disadvantage goes to BC.  Why they spent over $30 million on such a beautiful
 facility and screwed up the placement of the team benches I'll never know.
 
 Hope this helps.
 
 
 -kap
 
 
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