J. Michael Jackson writes:
 
>The whole Gophers-Pioneers game on Sunday was kind of ugly.  We (Minnesota)
>seem to have gone back to our old habit of liking to knock opposing goalies
>over at the end of a play; they don't take serious runs at people, just
>very consistently give them a little bump after the puck is frozen.  I
>really wish they would stop that.  I'm not refering to the play where
>Wallinheimo got hurt; that looked more like he hit his head on the ice as a
>result of his attempt to draw a penalty.
 
I'd be interested to hear what CCHA, WCHA and HE followers think, but
it has been pretty clear to me in watching the ECAC that the referees
do not effectively protect the goalies. Inevitably, someone runs the
goalie, a defenseman jumps in to protect him (or retaliate, as the
case may be) and the ref assesses one penalty - to the defenseman. I've
seen it a million times. In fact, I can honestly say that I've seen
10 retaliation penalties for every one charging penalty to the guy who
runs over the goalie. Often teams take advantage of this and the ugliness
follows as the other team continues to retaliate or starts running the
other goalie. It's not something that the individual referees would
probably notice game-to-game, it's really a matter for the rules
committee or the league officials. I'm amazed that more ECAC goalies
aren't injured. Anybody else out there notice the same trend in your
league or offer a different ECAC perspective?
 
Geoff Howell
Drop the Puck Magazine
 
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