Link to video
This happened earlier today in a rematch of last year's Stanley Cup Finals.
Originally, Lucic was ordered off the ice for violating Rule 70, Leaving the Bench (to participate in a fight). After the game, it was rescinded.
Did you count the number of Bruins in the scrum? It was six. That doesn't include Thomas in goal, that's 7. How can one of them NOT be on ice illegally? Actually, it is possible. Fans are crying foul and favoritism towards the Bruins. But there actually is a possibility that everyone out there was legal because of a loophole in the rules.
The NHL issued the following statement:
The Game Misconduct penalty assessed to Boston Bruins forward Milan Lucic during NHL Game #598 this afternoon in Boston has been rescinded, National Hockey League Senior Vice President and Director of Officiating Terry Gregson announced today.
Lucic was assessed a Game Misconduct 3:54 into the first period for violating National Hockey League Rule 70.1 – Leaving the Bench. However, a video review of the incident revealed that Lucic did not leave the bench to join or start an altercation but rather had entered the ice legally over the boards and was about to step back onto the bench through the door when he changed course and joined a scrum.
"The referees reacted to what they saw," Gregson said. "The only player they saw coming from the bench area from either team was Lucic. But with the benefit of replay, we can see that Lucic had previously entered the ice over the boards legally to join the play and actually was contemplating stepping back onto the bench through the door when the altercation ensued.
"It should be further noted that a review of the video confirmed that all players on both teams involved in the altercation had entered the ice legally for the purpose of joining the play. None entered the ice for the purpose of joining or starting an altercation, which is prohibited by Rule 70."
NHL Rule 70.1 – Leaving the Bench reads: "No player may leave the players' or penalty bench at any time during an altercation or for the purpose of starting an altercation."
Then who was not on the ice legally? If Lucic was on the ice legally, than the skater he replaced was on the ice illegally. Right? Again, there's six Bruins in that scrum.
Note: That fifth arrow is pointing to an official's helmet. I know that. But there's still a Bruin there. Look at the skates.
Something doesn't seem right. That's 6 B's.
Lucic was NOT listed as being on the ice according to the official play-by-play. By the official play-by-play, the Bruins on the ice during the time of the fight were Tim Thomas (G), David Krejci, Nathan Horton, Shawn Thornton, Joe Corvo, and Zdeno Chara.
So who was involved in the scrum?
As best I can tell (because I always have problems with buffering game clips for the first 24 hours), the Bruins in the scrum where Lucic, Chara, Thornton, Horton, Corvo and Krejci. That's six. That's too many. Lucic was not on the play-by-play count. So that's clearly an illegal move on his part.
Or is it?
Hockey is played with 5 skaters per side (duh). But don't forget that hockey lines changes are made on the fly. Players can legally leave the bench as long as the player they are replacing is within 5 feet of coming off. Exceptions apply, but that's basically it. It's Rule 74, Too Many Men on the Ice.
So, hypothetically, there could be 10 men on the ice legally if all 5 skaters were coming off in favor of fresh legs. As long as the five coming off were within 5 feet of the bench, then it is not illegal and 10 men can be on the ice.
If a whistle stops play while a change is happening, all players on the ice could be legal if they were in the middle making a line change.
We've seen a similar situation before. Remember Downie from Tampa Bay? He was involved in the fight in New York after Anisimov of the Rangers "shot" at the Lightning tender.
There was a debate in early December as to whether or not he was legally on the ice. Again, Downie was not listed on the play-by-play. I'm not ever sure he even stepped on the ice, though there were moves that made it obvious he was going to get on the ice legally. He was NOT assessed a game misconduct for leaving the bench and was never penalized further for that. He did receive a game misconduct for something else. Rangers coach John Tortorella even said officials told him they missed the call at the time. But Downie was not given a penalty for leaving the bench because the player he was replacing was within five feet. There is somewhat of a difference between the Lucic one and Downie's because that earlier fight took place after a goal. Still, there is possible precedence this season regarding "leaving the bench to participate in an altercation". Didn't see when Lucic entered the ice, but it could be similar to the Downie situation. Sorta.
I don't know what video the NHL saw, but I will say it is entirely possible that Lucic and the skater he was replacing were both on the ice as part of a legal line change which would account for there being more than five skaters on the ice. I do not know what actions have to happen for the change to be reflected in the official play-by-play. I also don't discredit the on-ice officials who issued the game misconduct for illegally entering the ice to join a fight. Lucic may very well have illegally entered the ice. It is entirely possible. Maybe even probable. I am also aware the NHL VP Colin Campbell's son plays for Boston and the chairman of the NHL Board of Governors is Jeremy Jacobs, owner of the Bruins. I know it would be an automatic 10 game suspension plus possible (actually likely) additional penalties for the Boston coach.
But there is a window within the rules that would allow Lucic and 5 additional Bruins to be on the ice, all legally. There is nothing in the rulebook that addresses what to do if a fight breaks out when more than 5 skaters are on the ice legally because of a line change. So to anyone that says it is impossible to have more than 5 skaters in an altercation: that is a false statement. That MAY be what happened in Boston. Again, I remind you that I haven't seen video confirming that is what happened and the video I have posted above has a buffering issue as I write this.
If nothing else, it shows that the rules are fuzzy in the area of legal line changes. Don't get me wrong: it is not right that the Bruins had 6 men on the ice for a fight, even if technically, by rule, they all could be. The rules should be rewritten to prevent this in the future. I would think that if two players are legally on the ice because of the 5-foot rule of substitution and a fight starts, the player who has just entered the ice cannot participate in the altercation.
If there is a whistle to stop play and there are more than five skaters on the ice because of a legal line change, then no player who was not on the ice at the last point when only five skaters were on the ice legally can join in any altercation.
That is just an example off the top of my head that would eliminate this hole in the rulebook. It's a little wordy, but it's a step in the right direction. There is a possibility that a string of line changes means a skater has been on the ice for a few seconds, well after his change, but gets caught up in this rule because there have been at least six men on the ice the whole time since his line change (all legally) because of changes and a whistle blows. So it might need some tinkering.
Maybe a two-second rule.
From the moment your skates touch the ice when you come on for a line change, you cannot participate in a fight for two seconds of the game clock. If you step on and a second later a whistle stops play for a fight, you can't go join.
Actually, I like that rule. Let's see that as a new addition. It would have penalized Lucic if he and the player he was changing with both were on the ice legally and both joined in the fight.
...Now that I'm thinking about it, I really like this change. Reduces the current gray area a lot.
