Rules changes hamper defense

By TOM JONES
Published October 10, 2005

TAMPA - The NHL's plan was simple.

Take out the red line. Move back the nets. Move out the blue line. Clamp down on obstruction penalties.

The intent: to create offense.

While the cosmetic changes of moving and removing lines on the ice might have some effect on the game, that is nothing compared to the mandate to stop all the hooking, holding, tripping and interference.

So things are easier for the forwards. But the law of chain reaction means it is harder on someone else.

"Tell me about it," Lightning defenseman Dan Boyle said during training camp. "The league has made things tough on defensemen."

Boyle saw what was coming.

Little speedsters such as Marty St. Louis and Pavel Datsyuk could dart around the ice and the defense could do little to stop them. Big power forwards such as Joe Thornton and Keith Primeau could bulldoze their way to the net and the defensemen were defenseless. Stick-handling magicians such as Jaromir Jagr and Alex Kovalev could zig and zag around the net and the defense could only watch.

For defensemen in the new NHL, trying to stop offenses is like trying to stop a train with a fly-swatter.

"They don't allow you to do much," Lightning defenseman Pavel Kubina said. "It's hard."

In the Lightning's 2-1 victory against the Panthers on Saturday, 20 penalties were called. Of the 20, 14 were the type of penalties the league is cracking down on, and of those 14, 13 were called while a team was in its defensive zone. Of those 13, eight were against defensemen.

"They're really keying on defenseman," Lightning defenseman Cory Sarich said. "They're really looking for the stick play and the little things you used to be able to do in the corners, such as a little clutching and grabbing. They've pretty much totally eliminated that."

In the old days (well, the last time hockey was played), defenseman could hold up forwards in the corner with a little tug on the jersey or even an old-fashioned bear hug. They could give a clothesline on a forward barreling down the wing. A good whack across the wrists slowed a forward moving to the net. If a defenseman needed to clear out the front of the net, he did it with a mean cross-check to the back.

Sometimes they were penalties. Often they were not.

"You just have to be a lot better with your position (on the ice)," Kubina said. "Now you have to skate much more."

Three scenarios have made playing defense tougher.

Scenario No. 1: A player gets the puck and flies down the wing. The defenseman used to skate backward then put his stick or body in the forward's path. Now?

"You have to just turn and skate," Sarich said. "It's not even worth skating backward. You have to hope to get him before he gets to the net."

Scenario No. 2: A player drives to the net with the puck.

"The only thing you can do is get a stick on the puck," Sarich said. "When they go to the net, there's not a lot we can do. We used to be able to put two hands on the stick and ride the guy into the corner. Now we can't. I think you'll see more collisions with the goalie."

Scenario No. 3: A scramble in front of the net with offensive players whacking away at the loose puck.

"You just don't have that ability to clear guys out of the front of the net," Sarich said. "You just can't give him that extra shove."

Boyle, Kubina and Sarich understand the old way of doing things won't work anymore. The league has changed. They have to change with it.

"The league is trying to create offense, make the game better," Kubina said. "We have to adjust. It will be hard, but it's just something we have to do."

[Last modified October 10, 2005, 01:19:14]