It Is Once Again Time To Stop Protecting Hockey Goalies Who Come Out Of Their Precious Little Crease
Bruce Bennett. Getty Images.Goalies are the only players in hockey who have a safe space on the ice. The crease belongs to them. It's the one area of the ice where you're not allowed to make contact with an opposing player, unless you've been pushed in there by one of his teammates.
And that's an important thing. Goalies are entitled to, and deserve to have that space to themselves. They are the most important players on the ice, and they should be allowed to do their job without having guys coming flying through the crease to take them out.
But if goalies want to start acting like this? Well then all bets are off.
You have Igor Shesterkin going after Brady Tkachuk after what he felt like was Brady Tkachuk crashing the net a little too aggressively for his liking. And if that's Igor's stance on the way it all played out, that's fine. He should be able to go after Brady Tkachuk all he wants.
However…he can't go after Brady Tkachuk AND still be treated like he's completely off limits whenever he leaves his crease to play the puck.
You either get to go after guys like Brady Tkachuk, or you get goalie interference called anytime someone accidentally breathes on you a little too hard any time you leave the crease. But you most certainly should not get both.
Lacrosse actually has this figured out the best. The crease is a little larger, and it circles around the back of the net. But the moment the goalie leaves the crease, they are fair game to get blown up just like any other player out there on the field. Plus they're not even wearing 50 lbs of protective gear like hockey goalies wear.
P.S. -- A couple more shit sandwich games like that from the Ottawa Senators, and maybe this wild card race in the East will really start to get chaotic.
