Thoughts on the Instigator Rule

[Taro T]

I'm curious what others think about the instigator rule.

 

Personally, I like it. When something like the hit on Drury occurs, it doesn't stop a team from laying retribution on a team. Sometimes it's worth a 2 or 6 minute penalty to impress upon a team that they can't do what they just did.

 

If the rule gets watered down, it is not going to reduce the number of times a team's stud gets hit. It is just going to increase the number of fights that occur. Which will have the unintended consequence of giving players like Peters and McGratton additional opportunity to stay in the league, as teams will need to keep a "goon" on their roster; just in case. Don't get me wrong, I like a good fight and believe that there will always be a place for it in a game where everyone is carrying a large piece of "lumber", but I don't think it should be the focus of the game. I also don't see where the game is improved by keeping a 1 dimensional player that can't skate and has no scoring touch on the roster. Watering down the instigator guarantees all teams will have at least 1 goon, most will have 2 or 3.

[Knightrider]

My gut reaction was to can it till I read the rest of your post. You make good points.

 

However, it is a fast game, and the refs don't see as much as they should (how's that for tactfulness?). If someone gets hurt, replay ought to automatically get involved in calling the penalties. It would not add much delay time to the game. At least the instigator rule would end up being an offsetting penalty to the team that got hurt in the first place.

 

In addition, perhaps implement a red flag NFL style, and if a coach tosses the red flag, and there was no penalty, that coaches team gets a two minute minor for delay of game. It probably would not have stopped the mess in the second period, but it would have on that blatant trip toward the end of the game on Vanek.

[Taro T]

My gut reaction was to can it till I read the rest of your post. You make good points.

 

However, it is a fast game, and the refs don't see as much as they should (how's that for tactfulness?). If someone gets hurt, replay ought to automatically get involved in calling the penalties. It would not add much delay time to the game. At least the instigator rule would end up being an offsetting penalty to the team that got hurt in the first place.

 

In addition, perhaps implement a red flag NFL style, and if a coach tosses the red flag, and there was no penalty, that coaches team gets a two minute minor for delay of game. It probably would not have stopped the mess in the second period, but it would have on that blatant trip toward the end of the game on Vanek.

Interesting thought on the automatic replay. I'm not sure how they'd implement it without creating a new problem of players doing their best soccer player imitation appearing to be dead until miraculously recovering after the "aggressive play" penalty had been called.

 

I'd also expect that there wouldn't be many if any penalties overturned in a coaches challenge system because whether a penalty occurred or not is a judgement call and can be very gray. I don't know that a ref would be willing to overturn his or his partner's decision. I just can't picture Kerry Frasier ever admitting to a mistake.