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lowercase thought.

Monday, June 18, 2007

USA Hockey makes a good call.

On Friday, USA Hockey (the official organization of American amateur hockey and our Olympic team) sent coaches an e-mail which detailed some rules clarifications adopted by its annual Congress this month. Most notably, in youth leagues the "immediate off-sides rule"--which whistles off-sides as soon as a puck crosses the offensive blue line while attacking players are in the offensive zone--was kept in place as opposed to the pro-style "tag-up" or "delayed" rules which allow teams to "dump" the puck into the offensive zone while players are still attempting to vacate without a whistle.

Hands down, USA Hockey made the right decision in keeping the immediate off-sides rule in place to discourage what former NHL head coach Mike Sullivan describes in the letter as a "Safe Hockey" trend in youth levels. Essentially, with "tag-up" or "delayed" off-sides, it pays to make the safer play of dumping the puck in while players are off-sides rather than try to keep puck possession and do something creative. If the goal of our youth leagues is to develop better-skilled players, then it follows that rules which encourage this sort of "Safe Hockey" should not be put in place.

Anyone who knows me from the hockey standpoint knows that I'm a believer in "Safe Hockey," the "Jacques Lemaire Neutral Zone Trap," as they've allowed players like me with limited ability (scratch that--little if any ability) to play a competitive game against higher-skilled teams. But winning games for your local club isn't the aim of youth hockey. The real aim is to give kids the experience and tools necessary to compete on higher levels. That goal is stunted by playing a trapping style in Pee Wee and, in some cases, even the Squirt levels.

On a side note, I'd like to see some advanced youth and high-school teams begin to implement the "Swedish Torpedo" system for their top 5-man unit. It's an innovative system which emphasizes the all-around play-making and defensive ability of budding defensemen and centers by making them "halfbacks." It may also be the way to energize the NHL game now that the red line is gone.
Docciavelli 6:38 AM

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