Paul Stewart: Applying Common Sense to the Too Many Men on the Ice Penalty

I always hate it when a guy is going off and the puck deflects and hits him in the skates and they call it where there's clearly no advantage being gained by the "offending" team.

I like the idea of the boxes by the bench though. It would make the official's jobs easier, so they could put more of their focus on the actual play.

But that player changes the outcome of where the puck ends up whether intentional or not. Wouldn't of happened if he wasn't there.

This penalty seems so hit or miss. I've seen no calls that are way more blatant than calls. People against the box idea say that it would clutter up the ice surface with more lines and confuse casual fans but I think it's actually the opposite. A new fan would learn quickly that you have to be in the box for the next guy to go on.

Off topic, but the other marginal call that drives me nuts is defenseman interference. A forward is skating down the wall and gets rid of the puck, and the defenseman "finishes his check" by holding him up or squeezes him into the wall. Post 05-06 lockout, this was an interference penalty and now it's not. Too much grey area imo

Thanks for some great logical points.