The PWHL continues to innovate in terms of rules for professional hockey in North America. With scoring at the forefront of every hockey league's planning, here's a look at three rule change ideas the PWHL could implement to increase scoring.
The PWHL is a league that innovates. They added the 'jailbreak' rule, 'no escape' rule, allowed the first place team to choose their playoff opponent, diverged from the North American norm to implement a 3-2-1 point system, and implemented the 'Gold Plan' for deciding what team gets the first overall pick.
As the league continues their history, rule changes will become less likely, but long running leagues like the NHL have continued to add or alter rules even more than a century into their history, so there's no reason to expect the PWHL to remain stagnant in evolving the game.
One target of rule changes historically has been the aim to increase scoring in hockey. It's been an effort to combat bigger and better goaltenders, better shot blocking, and new defensive systems. Expansion has been another factor leagues must consider as the dilution of talent can also reduce scoring.
One thing fans don't want to see is the essence of the game changed. One topic brought up repeatedly over time is changing the size of the net, but that type of change would fundamentally alter hockey at all levels, which almost no one wants to see. Still rule changes can also benefit the product.
Here are three rule change ideas the PWHL could consider to increase scoring.
1. Follow WCHA To Permit High Sticking, Kind Of
The WCHA is piloting a rule alteration this season allowing players to high stick the puck without the play being whistled down, including to score. While there are concerns over safety, the change itself has merits. One flaw in the WCHA's system however, is allowing players to also defensively play the puck with a high stick. Opposite to hockey's glove pass rule that allows gloved pucks to be played in the defensive, but not offensive zones, the high sticking rule should allow legal high sticks of the puck in the offensive zone only. This would remove goal disputed for whether a puck was deflected above or below the crossbar which could result in added scoring. It also forces defensive players to keep their stick down minimizing their ability to cut off plays, and minimizing risk of unwanted contact to players.
2. All Penalties Are Served
Right now, if a team scores during a delayed penalty, the penalty is not served. It's a confusing artifact of hockey history because the goal is marked as an even strength goal, and no power play opportunity is ever given. Instead, attacking teams are simply using the limits of existing rules to gain an offensive advantage by pulling their goaltender for an extra attacked until the opposing team can touch the puck to stop play and trigger the penalty. But currently, infractions are erased during this time. By forcing teams to serve penalties even if a team scores an even strength goal during the delayed penalty, it would provide an extra opportunity for scoring, and it would follow the principle of punishing a team for illegal play. A player who high sticks another or delivers an illegal hit should serve their penalty, even if the attacking team is skilled enough to score before the penalty begins. This rule has already been tested in Europe's Champions Hockey League.
3. Period Ending Penalty With Posession Begins With Offensive Zone Draw
The time of game a team takes a penalty shouldn't benefit the penalty kill. But that's what, in essence, happens when a team takes a penalty near the end of a period. When the buzzer sounds, even if a team is in full possession in the offensive zone, the resulting face-off to start the following period takes place in the neutral zone, not only killing the momentum of the power play, but also relieving the pressure earned by the attacking team. To increase scoring, the PWHL could introduce a rule where when a power play is underway, that the face-off to open the following period begins in the offensive zone. One caveat could be that this occurs only if the puck is in the offensive zone when the period ends. That way the shorthanded team would also not be additionally penalized if they had cleared the puck near the buzzer. In that circumstance, the draw would return to center ice.