College hockey’s new icing rule is a work in progress. In five games at Magness Arena, the rule has been broken, bent or misunderstood.
The rule is simple: A team that ices the puck to stop play cannot make a line change. It’s the same standard the NHL adopted in 2005, which prevents exhausted players in the defensive end from seeking relief by blasting the puck the length of the ice to stop play.
It is designed to give the pressuring team an advantage by continuing to play against tired players, but in seemingly every University of Denver home game, the officiating crews have allowed partial changes by not preventing players from going to the bench or jumping onto the ice before the whistle is blown for icing.
In some cases, by the time officials sort out which players were on the ice and need to return or remain on the ice, the defensive team has time to regroup.
Ohio State coach John Markell admittedly played the cat-and-mouse game with the officials during last weekend’s series at Denver.
“We were just throwing a line out there, and the referee’s got to figure out what is going on, and by that time the guys are rested,” Markell said.
In Saturday’s game against the Buckeyes, DU defenseman J.P. Testwuide was injured about five seconds before the Pioneers were whistled for icing. Testwuide, who took a slap shot to the ankle, skated on one leg to the bench but was forced to remain in the game.
DU coach George Gwoz-decky was livid and called his timeout to allow Testwuide to regain some feeling in his ankle and speak with a trainer. But there was not enough time to determine whether Test-wuide’s ankle was fractured or just bruised.
“Now you’re putting a referee as a medical guy? That’s the problem with the rule,” Markell said.
The problem, actually, is not understanding the rule. Gwoz-decky presented the rule book to the officials between periods.
“In the rule book on the icing, you can replace your goal-tender and an injured player,” Gwozdecky said.
Mike Chambers: 303-954-1357 or mchambers@denverpost.com
