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Prior to the Declaration of War by the United States on Japan, President Franklin D. Roosevelt initiated a plan to send ships, planes, tanks, guns, ammunition and other desperately needed war supplies to Great Britain.
FDR sold the plan -- not-so-coincidentally numbered Bill # 1776 -- by virtue of a story he told to Congress about his neighbors house being on fire, having a hose nearby to help fight the fire and only wanting the hose back after the fire is out. It's about using wisely your assets for the good of each individuals house. Simply put, the proposal was called the Lend/Lease Act.
Borrowing upon this concept in the context of hockey and knowing what officials go through during playoff times, I watched Game 1 of the Washington-Pittsburgh series last night and felt the inspiration to write today's blog based on events late in the game.
As the Caps tried to get a sixth attacker into the flow and put the puck on net in the Pens end, a controversial sequence ensued. As Pens player headed to the bench, still a good 10 feet from the bench and not skating with any vigor, his replacement jumped onto the ice early, a good way up the bench. Thus, the Penguins gained 20 feet of ice defensive ice. Slightly bumping the puck carrier caused the Cap to have to slow down.
It was a good example of "too many men" via premature line change. Had it been called a penalty, it would have given The Caps a 6-on-4 power play with a chance to tie the game. Ah, what "might have been." Of course, the loose line change afforded the chance for the experts behind the mics and in front of their TV sets at home a prime opportunity to question the on-ice officials' judgement and call, and for the conspiracy theorists out there to break out their "See? The Penguins get all the calls" shtick.
My two cents: Was it close to a penalty? Somewhat. Would it be a penalty that I would like to have called? Not really! Would I have called it? Yes. Then again, I despise that penalty because it goes against what all officials prefer to have happen in a game: Let the players decide without ticky-tack "housekeeping" or "automatic" penalties.
This is not a criticism of the on-ice crew. Things happen fast out there on the ice; much faster that it looks on TV. Enough on that subject. I think last night's controversy is a good opportunity to initiate some Lend/Lease thinking.
For those of you familiar with box lacrosse, a game that is played on a Hockey rink without the ice and very popular in Canada, there is a solution for the vagueness of line changes on the fly and too-many-men requirements for a penalty.
In front of each team's bench, there is a rectangle. If you are the player leaving the playing surface, you must have your feet in that rectangle before your replacement teammate can leave the rectangle and get into the play. If those simple aspects are not satisfied, the call is a penalty for "too many men!"
When I was an active referee, my rule of thumb was that if there was an advantage gained from the early substitution by the offending team or there was an advantage lost by the non offending team, that would be a whistle upon change of possession and a face off for premature substitution, a penalty or a penalty shot depending on the circumstances and time in the game.
Hockey helping Baseball
Aren't you tired of ball players going after each other when they slide into second or a pitch hits the batter purposely or by accident? I think of these players actually trying to fight to right their wrong when the benches and bullpens empty.
Specifically, I vividly recall a long-ago incident with Red Sox pitcher Bill Lee getting dumped on his shoulder and missing games, or of Don Zimmer at age 100 or whatever he was trying to fight a guy who was 50 years younger. Then with a teary apology to ball fans everywhere, he ask us to forgive him for this embarrassing moment in his life and the game. It was awful to watch and awful to reason that as the third base coach, he was trying to fight.
There is no crying nor should there be any fighting in baseball. Not then, not now.
Hey baseball, how about taking a hockey rule and adapting it to your sport? If you leave your position, on the bench, bullpen, mound, plate, base path and then engage in fisticuffs, you are ejected and suspended 10 games. End of bench clearers.
Back to hockey. It was 3-0 Golden Knights over The Sharks early in the first period. The Sharks were killing a penalty when a Sharks D-man swatted a puck out of the air and it just about cleared the glass. There was zero intent, zero purpose by the D man to delay the game but now the Knights had a two0man advantage and essentially if they are scored on, this game is over at 4-0 with 40 + minutes to play. It's a brutal rule that should go back to being a judgement call by the officials.
Borrowing from Basketball
Here's something we can borrow from basketball: Not a foul, no free shots. Just a whistle and start the play with an in-zone face off.
One more pet peeve: Icing.
In the Caps game, in the last three minutes, the Pens iced the puck at least 5 times. What a bore and a waste of possible excitement by seeing shots on the net and continuous flow. This becomes a legal form of game-delay.
I remember back in 1996 when the Florida Panthers used icing the puck -- back in the days when the offending team could still change lines -- a dozen times a period as a way to prevent more offensively talented teams from getting into a rhythm. It got even worse when Florida had a lead of any sort. Icing after icing after icing. It was dreadful hockey. Did it work? They reached the Stanley Cup Final.
My remedy: Rewrite the icing rule. Have a clock that tabulates how many times a team ices the puck during the game. If the offending team has three icing calls against them, that would then call for a minor penalty for delay of the game. The clock is then reset each period.
If the offending team ices the puck in the last two minutes and hits the magic three mark: PENALTY SHOT!
FDR said, "We have nothing to fear but fear itself." It's time for some NHL Rules Lend/Lease!
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Paul Stewart holds the distinction of being the first U.S.-born citizen to make it to the NHL as both a player and referee. On March 15, 2003, he became the first American-born referee to officiate in 1,000 NHL games.
Blogger •Former NHL Referee • 
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