Zetterberg's Goal Line Stand

by MarkJoel66 on Jun 1, 2009 5:29 AM CDT Comment 12 comments

Was Zetterber's play legal?

I have a question about some action in last night's game. It was in the second period, and Crosby was down low with the puck. Osgood went down as Crosby shot the puck.

Henrik Zetterberg dove into the net, and curled up in front of the action. He was not chasing the puck. No one pushed him there He simply dove in front of the net and laid down -- hooking his glove against the post to hold him there, and laid there until a stoppage of play -- which was several seconds. He made no effort to play the puck and no effort to leave.

I have never seen that before. Is it legal? No one commented on it, so I am guessing it must be. But if so, what is to prevent teams from getting a one goal lead and then simply having two defensemen lay in front of the goal on every play?

There must be some kind of rule about it, but I don't know what the actual rule states. Anyone know?

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Perfectly legal play. Defensemen do it all the time when the goalie is out of position. If the puck is shot into them that’s legal. If the player moves to cover it up on their own with the puck already loose in the crease, that’s when you can start pointing to center ice.

Gross Misconduct with yours truly

by HockeyJoe on Jun 1, 2009 5:39 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

no it's not that was illegal dude

I don't like you Detroit.

by mattman on Jun 4, 2009 8:54 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

uhhh no dude

the question was if its legal for a skater to go behind the goalie and make a save

and it is

http://sacrificethebody.blogspot.com/
Sacrifice the Body - Examining the NHL through statistical analysis, reasoned thought, and blind conjecture.

by IAmJoe on Jun 6, 2009 4:37 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

You’d never seen that before? I’ve seen it plenty before. If your goalie goes down out of position, you jump into the goal and do whatever you can until he’s back in. What was illegal was Zetterberg (probably) covering the puck there in the crease. But jumping down and blocking it was fine. You can do pretty much whatever you want in your own net, except for covering up the puck.

http://sacrificethebody.blogspot.com/
Sacrifice the Body - Examining the NHL through statistical analysis, reasoned thought, and blind conjecture.

by IAmJoe on Jun 1, 2009 10:14 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Also, the reason no one sticks two defensemen in goal behind the goalie is because its not going to work. First of all, those defensemen are going to get hurt. Second, Z damn near ended up with Ozzie’s skate in his face last night, and that was with Ozzie crouched still on one side. Third, you have to realize how often goalies have feet, butts, or whatever in the net as they move around, close off posts, etc. The goalie wouldn’t be able to do his job in any sort of effective manner with two guys in his net behind him.

http://sacrificethebody.blogspot.com/
Sacrifice the Body - Examining the NHL through statistical analysis, reasoned thought, and blind conjecture.

by IAmJoe on Jun 1, 2009 10:16 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, Zetterberg could get himself in trouble there if he ever gets stepped on or whatever.

Blogging on hockey at fromtherink.com

by James Mirtle on Jun 1, 2009 11:57 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

In Game 1, Zetterberg covered the puck on Osgood’s back with his glove, while Osgood was in the crease. That should’ve been called a penalty shot. From what I can gather of this incident, there was no wrong doing. You can do anything but cover the puck in the crease with your glove. You can lay down on top of it, as long as it’s not with your glove.

Hockey blogging can't get any flatter.

by saskhab on Jun 1, 2009 11:11 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

actually, you cannot “freeze” the puck in any manner, at least intentionally. I just checked the rules to be sure.

If a player, except a goalkeeper, while play is in progress, falls on the puck, holds the puck, picks up the puck, or gathers the puck into his body or hands from the ice in the goal crease area, the play shall be stopped immediately and a penalty shot shall be awarded to the non-offending team.

The most common call of this type is the closing the hand on the puck. You can swipe it away and make a handpass (you’re in your defensive zone), but can’t close the fingers. If you otherwise try to cover the puck, its a penalty. There is usually some latitude here for intent, as in a goalmouth battle, people are being knocked down all over, and you might get thrown down onto the puck in a giant pile. At this point also, the ref blows his whistle for losing sight of the puck, not necessarily because a skater has covered it. If, once knocked down, you were making an intentional move to cover up the puck, you could be called for that. You can do anything you want to block the shot, but you cannot cover the puck up.

I think that last night Z blocked the puck and had it kind of curled into his body, as he was in the fetal position, and probably should’ve been a penalty shot. The incident in G1, he never actually covered it (but you can see he thought about it), and just kind of leaned over Ozzie, started rolling him over, and then 4 Wings jumped on top for good measure. But I think the calls are pretty well balanced for both sides, so I wouldn’t be terribly upset if I’m a Pens fan.

http://sacrificethebody.blogspot.com/
Sacrifice the Body - Examining the NHL through statistical analysis, reasoned thought, and blind conjecture.

by IAmJoe on Jun 1, 2009 12:50 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

During the play when the puck was on Ozzie’s back, it looked to me like he was covering the puck with his glove, and the whistle happened just as he did so. Maybe there is some different stance on the rule if the puck is resting on your goalie in a place that he can’t reach.

I thought the calls were balanced, but not necessarily in a good way. I like that they’re letting the players play, but special teams’ play is a big part of hockey and my feeling is that more than 6 minor penalties(not counting the instigating at the end of Game 2, when the game was already decided) were warranted in games 1 and 2.

-David
sixminutecynic.blogspot.com
www.piratesmix.com.

by pascaldupweevil on Jun 2, 2009 10:31 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs