Technique
Under modern rules, the only realistic chance for the goaltender to score exists when the opposing goaltender is pulled for an extra attacker, leaving the six-foot-wide net at the other end of the rink empty. It is assumed that the opposing goaltender, if in net, would not commit a blunder. Furthermore, the goaltender is prohibited from travelling to the other side of rink; specifically, he is not allowed to cross the centre red line in order to participate in a play, where the position of the puck is prescribed as the "determining factor" by Rule 27.7 of the Official NHL Rule Book. The result is that the goaltender cannot participate in play in the opponent's zone, and must take a shot from his side of the rink. Coaches generally discourage any player from shooting at an empty net from their own side of the red line because if the shot goes wide, it results in an icing infraction. This brings the face off back in the defensive zone and prohibits the offending team from making any substitutions. In practice, a shot from the goaltender is taken from the side of his net, because further travel risks turning the puck over. Due to the distance between the two nets, the puck has to be shot with a trajectory and speed that prevents the opposing team from stopping it while it travels. All NHL goaltenders who have scored a goal by shooting the puck have done so with an empty net; the goals credited to goaltenders that did not shoot the puck were all the result of own goals by the opposing team who had their crease vacated.
Rule 27.7 was instituted in the 1966–67 season, after the Toronto Maple Leafs' Gary Smith had been knocked out by Montreal Canadiens defenceman J. C. Tremblay's bodycheck as the former was crossing the centre red line carrying the puck. Prior to the institution of the rule, the only recorded instances of goaltenders scoring goals involved them rushing to the other end of the rink, and they occurred generally in the early days of ice hockey, around 1900. Furthermore, prior to 1931, empty-net situations did not arise as it was not customary to pull the goaltender late in the game for an extra attacker in an effort to tie the game up. This technique is credited to Art Ross, coach of the Boston Bruins, who pulled Tiny Thompson in game two of the semifinals playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens. An instance of an attempted empty-net goal was recorded in 1947, when New York Rangers goaltender Chuck Rayner missed the net "by a whisper" which was vacated when the Toronto Maple Leafs had pulled Turk Broda.
Read more about this topic: List Of Goaltenders Who Have Scored A Goal In An NHL Game
Famous quotes containing the word technique:
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—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963)
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—Rebecca West (1892–1983)