In a span of just 10 days this October, three different NHL goalies had a shot taken on them when they were bare-faced, without a mask for protection.
First was Vegas’ Adin Hill, whose helmet buckle unsnapped on an initial shot. The rebound kicked out to Rasmus Andersson, and Hill’s mask fell off as he moved across the crease to try and make the save. He did stop Andersson, but the puck hit him in a delicate area and he left that game early.
Two nights later, Toronto’s Anthony Stolarz had a similar play occur, when his mask came off from a shot. Play continued and the Rangers maintained control long enough for a pass to be made to J.T. Miller in the slot. He tried to bury the opportunity, but was stopped by a maskless Stolarz.
And finally, last week Utah goalie Karel Vejmelka’s mask was shaken loose by a Robert Thomas shot, but the Blues forward was able to quickly make a pass off the rebound to Pavel Buchnevich, who scored on the play.
All three were dangerous plays. And in all three cases, the referees correctly allowed play to continue, per Rule 9.6 which states:
“When a goalkeeper has lost his helmet and/or face mask and his team has control of the puck, play shall be stopped immediately to allow the goalkeeper the opportunity to regain his helmet and/or face mask. When the opposing team has control of the puck, play shall only be stopped if there is no immediate and impending scoring opportunity.”
In all three cases the attacking team did have an immediate and impending scoring opportunity, but the risk of serious injury ran high.
Should these cases highlight a need for the NHL to consider changing the rule to where the whistle should always be immediately blown when a goalie loses his mask?
One potential concern to a change like that would be if a goalie would shake off their mask to get a stoppage in certain pressure situations, though injury risk would still be present. Though intentionally shaking off your mask to get a whistle is a penalty also covered off in Rule 9.6:
“When a goalkeeper deliberately removes his helmet and/or face mask in order to secure a stoppage of play, the Referee shall stop play as outlined above and assess the goalkeeper a minor penalty for delay of game. If the goalkeeper deliberately removes his helmet and/or face mask when the opposing team is on a breakaway, during the course of a penalty shot or shootout attempt, the Referee shall stop play and award a goal to the non-offending team.
On last Saturday’s Headlines segment on Hockey Night in Canada, Elliotte Friedman highlighted one potential solution that wouldn’t require any rules to be changed:
“There was an alternative presented to me,” Friedman said. “The players’ association, the goalies, everybody, the league, would have to work on this but what if we go away from buckles? What if we do masks that are screwed in or what if we do masks that are threaded and then you can have the buckle down or lock in on the inside? Maybe this is the idea so we don’t have to leave it up to a rule change.”
Former NHL goalie Steve Valiquette says he always had a helmet like this, threaded through the inside, so his mask would never come off during play. He suggests the answer is not instituting a rule change, but in mandating a change in goalie equipment to this sort of style.
“If your buckle pops it’s like loosening your seatbelt. You’re still buckled into the car, you’re just looser. Your helmet will just not come off.
“I’d argue it’s more secure to your eye line.”
So what do some current NHLers think about this rule? Does a change need to be considered? Our reporters across the country asked for some reaction and thoughts to play continuing while a goalie is without a mask.
“I don’t know what the answer is … but I can see both sides of it. On the offensive side, you’re in the slot and you have the puck. On the defensive side, looking out for our goalies, you get hit in the head, and…”
“Inherently, hockey is a dangerous sport. We have knives on the bottom of our feet. We’re smashing each other into the boards. There are pucks flying around 100 miles an hour, knocking teeth out and stuff.
“It’s going to be hard to do away with any sort of danger at all. Like, an impossible feat. But is there certain low-hanging fruit? God forbid, guys get skates in the neck. Okay, now we’re going to wear neck guards.
“When I started we didn’t have to wear visors. Now, when I get hit in the visor once every couple games, I’m like, ‘I’m not taking my visor off. No chance.—
Nate Schmidt, Utah Mammoth
“We’re about player safety, right? And you want to make sure that you protect (goalies) always. It sucks that it happened to us, but I didn’t love Stolarz and Hill doing it the week before, either.â€
Mattias Ekholm, Edmonton Oilers
“If I’m on the bad side of it, I probably want it blown dead. If I’m on the good side of it, I probably want to play on. We had an incident in Ottawa, and they were arguing the whistle. I’m like, ‘What do you want? You don’t want (Linus) Ullmark to get it in the head.â€â€
“We are not allowed to play without a helmet. Should the goalie be asked to? I would probably like the rule to be very clear in that sense. It’s got to be one way or the other. If you’re asking me, Iâ€m more on the safety side.â€
Brock Boeser, Vancouver Canucks
“Yeah, that’s a tough one. I mean, no one wants to see anyone get injured, but. . . I feel like it should depend on the positioning of the goalie. Like, if he’s out of position and his mask comes off, I feel maybe it could be at the refs†discretion.”
Elias Pettersson, Vancouver Canucks
“I don’t think anyone in the goalieâ€s position, if their mask is off and theyâ€re facing a shot, I don’t think anyone wants that. I didn’t know there was a debate about this. We always talk about player safety, so I think there should be probably some goalie safety there as well. The last thing we want is for someone to take a puck straight to the face.”
Marcus Pettersson, Vancouver Canucks
“You know, if it’s a bang-bang play and the mask is coming off, it’s tough for the refs to see it, right? And sometimes, like, the mask can be loose on them but it’s still there, and then they make a sudden move and then it drops. I feel like most times it still gets blown down, but it should be a little quicker so the ref doesnâ€t have to look at who gets possession. So, yeah, I could see that (an automatic whistle) being the rule.”
Aatu Raty, Vancouver Canucks
“Yeah, I’m thinking automatic whistle. Obviously, at the time, if you lose a goal, it might suck. But then, bigger picture, you never want to see a guy get hurt. I didn’t even know that was the rule (not to automatically whistle play dead). That’s interesting. Obviously, sometimes there might be a strap loose. . . and I get that they might not blow that. But I think if the maskâ€s actually off, yeah, thatâ€s scary.”
Anthony Stolarz, Toronto Maple Leafs
“I mean, without the buckle, you canâ€t really see the puck, you canâ€t really track or do anything. As soon as you move your head, it falls off. So, hopefully the league can look at it and talk to some goalies or people who have knowledge of the position, and we can come to some sort of compromise where our safety isnâ€t put at risk there.â€
Auston Matthews, Toronto Maple Leafs
“Thankfully it didnâ€t hit (Stolarz) there. I was completely unaware of the rule. I thought the second the helmetâ€s off, I mean, the playâ€s gotta be dead with no helmet on.”
William Nylander, Toronto Maple Leafs
“Itâ€s crazy…. I mean, thatâ€s so dangerous. Like, it should be blown off right away.
“I guess you could argue that sometimes a goalie could maybe try to shake his helmet off or whatever, but I think thatâ€s pretty dangerous.â€
Craig Berube, Toronto Maple Leafs
“It’s a tough call. Your goalie loses his mask, heâ€s in a very vulnerable position, a position to get really hurt. And I don’t think anybody wants to see that — ever. So, in my opinion, blow it down.â€
Jake Evans, Montreal Canadiens
“Itâ€s outrageous. Itâ€s hard. I think if a strap falls off but your helmet is still on, the play should go on. But if itâ€s dangling, you should just blow it right away no matter who has the puck. I donâ€t blame the goalie for leaving the net when itâ€s not. Jake Allen got a penalty on one of those. They had the puck, but they werenâ€t a threat, and Jake got a penalty and we were down 5-on-3 for no reason.
“If they see it, they should blow it down right away. I donâ€t think the current rule is right. I think itâ€s up to the ref to realize if a goalieâ€s helmet is coming off and itâ€s a danger to him and blow the whistle.”
Joe Veleno, Montreal Canadiens
“I think you should just blow it right away. You never know what can happen, so just protect the goalies. Just make it fair all around, eliminate the grey area. If you have possession or not, just blow it dead. I think when itâ€s loose, itâ€s fine, but if the helmet is off, blow it immediately. Goalies are smart enough to take it off when itâ€s loose.”
— With files from Iain MacIntyre, Mark Spector, Eric Engels and Luke Fox.
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