In the unusually short off-season, the referees didn’t completely get a break. Like most years they spent some time reassessing the rules for the NHL. In this year’s case no new rules emerged just new standards of enforcement. Rule 59 was on the docket for this year which is the penalty for cross-checking. In an effort to reduce injuries and generate more offense, the enforcement of this rule will be much stricter.
Cross-Checking Rule
The definition of cross-checking straight from the rule book is, “the action of using the shaft of the stick between the two hands to forcefully check an opponent.” This action can incur the full range of punishments from a minor penalty to fines and suspensions. As with many other rules, the differentiating factor between the level of punishment is subjective. A minor penalty will be incurred, at the discretion of the referee, based on the severity of the contact.
On September 25th the NHL Public Relations Twitter page posted a video describing how rule 59 will be enforced this season. In the 2021-22 Season any cross-checking will necessitate at least a minor penalty. Referees will consider the placement of the stick, elimination through force, and player embellishment when assessing plays. The NHL does state that players are allowed to push or guide other players with the shaft of the stick, but as soon as it is deemed excessive a penalty will be called.
How is the League Adjusting?
Luckily the Preseason provided an opportunity for players to adjust to the rule change. A whopping 13% of the 758 penalties called across the league were for cross-checking. Jumping into the 2021-22 Season, as of November 1st, 91 of the 1,099 penalties called were for cross-checking which is amounts to 8.4%. The drop to 8.4% shows how players have quickly adjusted to the new enforcement. However, the number of cross-checking penalties is still higher than last year. During the first month of the 2020-21 season, only 5% of penalties committed were for cross-checking.
Leading the pack for the most cross-checking penalties so far this season are the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Arizona Coyotes who are tied at seven infractions. Our Minnesota Wild racked up three penalties so far. Back in the preseason they also committed three penalty-worthy cross-checks. Percentage-wise, cross-checking accounted for 17% of the Preseason penalties while the Wild sit at 6.5% during the official season. This shows a good adjustment to the new enforcement. Overall the Wild’s percentage of cross-checking penalties is slightly lower than the 8.4% across the league.
Since cross-checking has become a normalcy in the NHL, it’ll take more time to get used to the new calls. In the first month of hockey the increase in cross-checking calls have been noticeable from a viewer perspective. More wanted or unwanted stoppages have occurred to enforce rule 59. No more will we get to vindictively cheer after a hard cross-check to an opponent or bemoan a brutal uncalled cross-check on the hometown player – at least in theory.