[News] NHL amends offside rule—no longer required to have trailing skate touch blueline ice.

[TheScorpion]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1341508472039464960

[Rubicant]

I still don’t like 99% of offside challenges - but this is a massive improvement and should increase the speed of reviews significantly.

[getbak]

It's about time.

It's still a generally poorly-written rule (why use an ambiguous term like "leading edge"?), but this will at least get rid off a lot of the chintzy offside reviews.

[MrMike]

Can someone explain this in a not so technical way? Having a hard time with reading comprehension sometimes.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by MrMike

Can someone explain this in a not so technical way? Having a hard time with reading comprehension sometimes.

As long as at least some part of one of your skates is outside the zone or on or above any part of the blue line, you will be on side. They no longer need to spend 10 minutes trying to dissect the video to determine if your blade is touching the ice or if it's 1mm off the ice.

[Bill Bumface]

The bad habit of dragging a foot at the blue line to stay onside is going to cost all of us old-timers many many partial breaks.

.... is what I'd say if I didn't skate as quickly as the tabulation of the 2020 US election results.

[Yrebmi]

Originally Posted by Bill Bumface

The bad habit of dragging a foot at the blue line to stay onside is going to cost all of us old-timers many many partial breaks.

.... is what I'd say if I didn't skate as quickly as the tabulation of the 2020 US election results.

Thanked for the creative simile.

[FireGilbert]

As a former minor hockey linesman I always thought it was easier to watch the players skates on the ice in relation to the puck when crossing the blue line than to imagine the blue line going vertical. With calls now being video reviewed though I get the change to ensure these calls are always right.

I guess this means instead of dragging your skate at the blue line we will start seeing figure skating moves with a leg stretched back in the air crossing the blue line?

[Mathgod]

Originally Posted by getbak

As long as at least some part of one of your skates is outside the zone or on or above any part of the blue line, you will be on side. They no longer need to spend 10 minutes trying to dissect the video to determine if your blade is touching the ice or if it's 1mm off the ice.

It may seem like it'll rid us of 10 minute hand-wringing challenges, but I don't think it actually will. You're going to be seeing plenty of situations where it's unclear whether or not a skate had still broken the plane of the blue line at the moment when the puck had completely crossed the blue line. Overall I do welcome the rule change, but I just don't see it putting an end to razor's edge challenges that take a long time to rule on.

[nfotiu]

Originally Posted by Mathgod

It may seem like it'll rid us of 10 minute hand-wringing challenges, but I don't think it actually will. You're going to be seeing plenty of situations where it's unclear whether or not a skate had still broken the plane of the blue line at the moment when the puck had completely crossed the blue line. Overall I do welcome the rule change, but I just don't see it putting an end to razor's edge challenges that take a long time to rule on.

What you say would be true if they ever challenged a call that a skater was improperly ruled offside. But that never happens and most of the time a skate in the air will be inconclusive. It's also a reason that offside challenges in general have always bugged me. They can only ever take away goals, and never give back a chance that was wrongfully taken away.

[Mathgod]

Originally Posted by nfotiu

What you say would be true if they ever challenged a call that a skater was improperly ruled offside. But that never happens and most of the time a skate in the air will be inconclusive. It's also a reason that offside challenges in general have always bugged me. They can only ever take away goals, and never give back a chance that was wrongfully taken away.

I guess they could make it like football, where there has to be clear evidence found within 2-3 minutes that the play was offside, otherwise the play is not overturned and the goal stands.

[krynski]

I might be completely out to lunch, but this is my perspective:

I would much rather the rule applied to a player's leading skate, not the back skate. I don't really understand why "offside" should allow 95% of a non-posessing player to be infront of the puck.

I'm open to thoughts/reasonings.

[D as in David]

It would seem that it may make it more difficult for the linesman to get it right in real time but more accurate during a review. The linesman will have to imagine a vertical line at high speed and almost impossible to call it correctly if they are behind the play as it crosses the line.

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by getbak

It's about time.

It's still a generally poorly-written rule (why use an ambiguous term like "leading edge"?), but this will at least get rid off a lot of the chintzy offside reviews.

And a poorly written thread title.

[nfotiu]

Originally Posted by D as in David

It would seem that it may make it more difficult for the linesman to get it right in real time but more accurate during a review. The linesman will have to imagine a vertical line at high speed and almost impossible to call it correctly if they are behind the play as it crosses the line.

I'm not sure why they have a need to get this right to the mm when the line is a couple cm under the ice anyway. Linesmen are generally pretty good on these calls. It doesn't need to be called to the mm, and they aren't getting back the calls that incorrectly went the other way. Allow replays for something egregious like a linesman missing a player way past the line, but it adds nothing to the game or integrity to take away goals where a guy is a couple mm offside.

[CF84]

Originally Posted by DoubleK

And a poorly written thread title.

At least, provide a better alternative to go with your criticism.

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by CF84

At least, provide a better alternative to go with your criticism.

Leave the no longer part out?

It's never been the rule to be 'behind' the blueline.

[TheScorpion]

Originally Posted by DoubleK

Leave the no longer part out?

It's never been the rule to be 'behind' the blueline.

Uh what? Am I missing something? Yeah it has been...

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

Uh what? Am I missing something? Yeah it has been...

No, it hasn't. Contact with, is not the same as behind.

[TheScorpion]

Thanks for the clarification — is that title better?