Author Archives: Haley Maynard

About Haley Maynard

(Previous) marketing and PR student, (Current) Athletic trainer-in-training, with a passion for all things sports, predominantly hockey.

Quick synopsis 2012-13 rule changes

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Along with the announcement of the division change today the AHL announced a few changes to the rules, and a “test” variation of a rule we currently know and (sometimes) love!

12-13 - Rule 67.2 (“Handling the Puck”) now calls for a minor penalty “any time a player places his hand over the puck while it is on the ice in order to conceal it from or prevent an opponent from playing the puck”.

11-12 - 67.2 Minor Penalty – Player - A player shall be permitted to catch the puck out of the air but must immediately place it or knock it down to the ice. If he catches it and skates with it, either to avoid a check or to gain a territorial advantage over his opponent, a minor penalty shall be assessed for “closing his hand on the puck”. A minor penalty shall be imposed on a player who, while play is in progress, picks up the puck off the ice with his hand.

It seems they altered the wording for this rule to make it a little easier to assess what they meant, but I’m not entirely sure if they’re going to include the “catches it and skates with it” aspect from last season’s rule book. I do like that they specifically included when it is on the ice, after seeing it happen at least once last season, but it doesn’t make a huge deal of a difference

12-13 - Rule 76.4 (“Face-offs”) states that “both players facing off are prohibited from batting the puck with their hand in an attempt to win the face-off.” Violation of this rule will result in a minor penalty for delay of game.

I personally do not agree/like this rule whatsoever. Sure, count it as a face off violation and throw a different player in the face-off, but a minor penalty? I could possibly see that being determined as a penalty after a player commits it more than once in a specific time frame, possibly being the key word there. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen players do this a few times, and I just considered it a part of the face off battle. There’s nothing like this rule in the NHL rule book either, so there may be a possibility of the NHL requesting to “test” this rule in the AHL like they sometimes do before phasing it into the big leagues. But I’m sure we may see our fair share of delay of game penalties resulting from this new addition.

• The Board has also approved a test of a variation on Rule 81 (“Icing”) at the request of the National Hockey League, that will, in the event of a potential icing violation, complete the play should a defending player be the first to reach the end zone face-off dots and provided the puck has crossed the goal line at that point. This rule will be in effect until Nov. 19, 2012, at which time its continued use will be determined by the Board. This was the only rules test approved.

If you don’t already know what exactly icing entails, you can read more about it under rule 81 in the AHL rule book. I’m going to go ahead and assume that this is the NHL’s way of phasing in the no-touch icing that many leagues are now adopting. Considering how many injuries can occur from players racing after the puck to eliminate an icing call, or to swing the call in their favor, I love this rule. I’m a huge advocator of the way some leagues have began using no-touch icing rules.

Not many rule changes this summer, and no big changes by any means. I do believe there are a few rules that deserve some tweaks to them(delay of game is a big one there) but for now, we’ll have to take what hockey news we can get and wait patiently(ha) for the schedule to be released later this summer. In the end, player safety should be the number one concern, especially with the growing numbers of known/reported concussions steadily rising…but that’s a post for another day.

Sweet redemption – Peoria Rivermen at Charlotte Checkers

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After a frustrating loss, and an apparent wake up call the night before, the Checkers bounced back for an exciting 6-2 win against the Rivermen. It had been a while since a home win for the boys, and what a better way to do it than a flashy offensive win?

The boys seemed to start a little slow, but by any means of how the last few games have turned out it was a fantastic start by that standard. Both goalies were making the saves they needed to and got out of the first period scoreless, one doing so with his normal flash and flare that we know and love. Tonight was one of the nights where we had two referees and two linesmen but it made hardly a difference at all. I’m never one to berate the officials unless they deserve it, but there were a few missed calls in the first and it was quite frustrating that they were not on top of it even with an extra pair of eyes to look out. Later on in the game when we were on the penalty kill I felt like I was finally seeing the team that we should be seeing on the ice every night. The PK was back with all the glory it should uphold every game, not just when they realize they feel like playing.

The scoring tonight was absolutely enthralling, like jump out of your seat and scream at your neighbor before you realize what you’ve done exciting. Durno’s goal that opened the floodgates was set up by Sutter undressing two Peoria defensemen and nearly getting it around Allen’s pads, all Durno had to do was tuck it in. Nash’s shot was an absolute bullet, and the look on his face told everyone even he was surprised. I saw that look on a few of the players faces tonight after getting away with some of the things we hadn’t been able to the past few games. Chris Terry was on fire tonight, being in the right places at the right time and making gorgeous passes at the right times. The play from everyone tonight was impressive, it was very refreshing after seeing them miss on chances and fail on plays they usually excel at during the past few games. All night I was watching Zach Boychuk waiting for him to score, I knew by the way he was playing he’d get on the board at least once. When he finally delivered it was well worth it, the perfect pass through the crease from Dadanov was hard to mess up, and it slipped past Stalock with ease. Speaking of Stalock, he has some of the oddest goalie-isms I have EVER seen. Most people think of Braden Hotlby when they mention odd mannerisms and traditions but he has nothing on Stalock. As soon as play stopped my eyes were glued to him seeing what he’d do next, very amusing addition to the game. He was a recent acquisition to the Blues organization after the departure of Ben Bishop, and still has his San José Sharks colors on his pads and helmet which were very cool looking.

Mike Murphy was back in his normal fashion, and I honestly thought with his play tonight he was going to get a shut out for a good bit there. Special teams were back at it tonight, scoring two goals on the power play, while also allowing none on the kill. Both of our PP units continue to impress me, along with the play of defensemen Joe Sova. He’s been very solid on the defensive end, but tonight he crashed the net and led to a few very good scoring chances, just by knowing when to pinch and jump in on the play.  I mentioned it before, but tonight’s game was a great relief, after the past few games and the painfully tight playoff race I was starting to even doubt us making the post season. Even if we keep up our current level of play we should still be wary, but it’s a very very tight race and it will definitely come down to the last game for many teams in the West.

Tonight had a different air to it, from the moment the teams hit the ice for warm ups. They had changed the music from tecnho and house music they had switched to recently to more alternative style us fans used to hear. The defensively smart but offense heavy team has made another appearance, hopefully we don’t fall back into a (small) slump again!

Thoughts on San Antonio and Houston

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Editor’s Note: How awesome is it that Haley was able to make two of the West Division games this weekend?  Not only that, but she has some great observations about the games she saw in Texas.  It’s great having a first-hand account from a Checkers fan on the road.  Enjoy this first (of hopefully many!) contributions!

- Lets begin with the Aeros cheerleaders, usually they wear very revealing clothing but tonight just took the cake. I’m assuming they were Halloween costumes, but they were all wearing shorts and binki-type tops with fur lining and scarves, to resemble a bomber pilot. But the message wasn’t very clear at all….possibly lost somewhere in the abyss of skin showing.

- The San Antonio Rampage have a very nice organization, but the effects and announcer were a little over the top. The fans were also very very quiet, the attendance was 6,157 but it seemed like there were only 2,000 total even at their loudest times. My friend and I were the only two Checkers fans there, and with each goal you could hear our screams literally echo around the massive arena.

- In the beginning of the Rampage game the Checkers seemed unsure of how to handle the Rampage, sitting back and letting them control the game with ease. But after the first goal they stopped playing defensive hockey and owned the game. I wasn’t nervous at any point after Brett Sutter scored that short handed goal, the team turned around and just kept going at them, wearing them down, but allowing 36 shots.

- Mike Murphy was sensational in the crease, as his last few starts have shown. If the defense can continue blocking shots, taking away lanes and helping him out more(possibly by staying out of the box?), the outcome tonight would have been much different. I’m wondering, along with probably every other Checkers fan out there, what the case is going to be once Justin Peters is healed.

- Brett Sutter and Justin Faulk look bound and determined to get called back up, those two are playing with an huge amount of emotion and it’s showing for them. Sutter surprisingly only ended up a +1 on the weekend, with a strong defensive performance and that extra push to show how bad he wants to be in Raleigh. Faulk has continued to impress me, he was so frustrated with himself after the empty net goal he broke his stick getting back to the bench. I selfishly love having him in Charlotte for now, but he’s going to be a star when he can find his groove up in the big leagues. I don’t remember the last time I saw a defenseman with the amount of skill he has at his age, it’s such a treat to watch him compete.

-The team looked much better on Saturday night versus tonight’s game, but either way we need to cut back on penalties. There was absolutely no reason to have 11 infractions. The penalty kill looked strong, spending a lot of the time outside of the defensive zone, with quite the amount of chagrin from Houston fans.

- I don’t think they called no goal on Drayson Bowman’s shot at the end of the second. I know I’m not an official or anything near one, but I’m pretty sure I saw the puck cross the line before the buzzer sounded even from my awkward vantage point.

- They need to figure out a way to crack Houston before the last game, chances are these teams are going to face each other in the playoffs and it would be better to figure them out now. At certain points during the game I saw the Checkers I knew, but at others the Aeros just broke down their positions and saw right through their defense, leaving them scrambling and chasing from behind.

- I also wanted to point out the fact of how little I like Aeros fans. I really dislike the “Hey goalie you suck” chants in general, but it’s a little much when you score an empty net goal and you’re still chastising Murphy for sucking…There were also two different groups right behind me chirping in my ear the whole time about how big of “pansies” they were. For some reason this man had a bone to pick with Chris Terry and Mike Murphy, and wouldn’t stop even after Terry had tacked on an assit to his night and I had a few words with him. And plenty of complaints about the refereeing, even when the calls were good for the Aeros. There were four other Checkers fans on the same row as us who were very kind and somehow louder than my friend and I. Even all the way in Texas, Checkers fans still feel like family to me.