I present just a couple of videos to show how a puck must be completely over the goal line in time. The first, we've seen before.
No goal. Didn't cross the line before time elapsed.
Now, two from this week.
Turn your attention to Phoenix for a video posted on December 17. This is why you play hard till the horn sounds.
Link to video.
The difference between the two shots in the videos is tenth's of a second, but the results are so different. Goal versus non-goal. Hockey really is the only one of the four major sports with such a strict time limit. Forget about baseball. In football, you can play the last hail mary and scramble as long as you want as long as the snap was before time runs out. Same with basketball. As long as the ball's in the air. Not hockey. Not only do your actions have to be done, but the results have to be there as well.
Time is a much bigger factor in hockey than the others. A much greater challenge. You have to change lines on the fly. The general punishment is playing shorthanded for a set amount of time. And you only get one timeout per game. The clock is perhaps a greater enemy in hockey than any other of the major four pro-sports.
Let's forget about the clock though. This final video is from last night in Florida. The net is intentionally dislodged by the Coyotes in the final seconds of the game. You can't do that. So what happens? Penalty shot.
Don't forget, the puck must completely cross the goal line. Take a look.
Link to video.
No goal. Close enough is not good enough.
This is somewhat true in the other sports where close enough is not a goal. But even in baseball, you can get a ground rule double. You can have a sacrifice fly. You can earn a run by WALK or BALK. That's not really earning it, that's benefiting from the other team's mistake. To be clear, it's not capitalizing on a mistake, but just being gifted points. Big difference between the two.
In basketball, the ball must go through the basket. That's how you earn points. But all the free throws? The closest thing hockey has is the shootout or penalty shot. And you still have to earn a goal by beating the tender. Come one. There's even a penalty in basketball called goaltending.
In hockey, goaltending isn't a penalty. It's a position.
Football? If any part of the ball touches or crosses their goal line, it's a touchdown. Not hockey. You have to get it all in. Oh, and none of this "going for three" nonsense. You have one mission in hockey; one way to earn points. Get the puck in the net. That's it.* You want points? That's the only way to get them. And you can't run out of bounds to stop the clock. There's a glass wall there.
The best game you can name...
*ignore Rule 25, Awarded Goals. When does that ever happen?
