Today the NHL announced a series of rule changes that will go into effect of the 2014-15 season. Included in the rule changes are steeper penalties for players and teams who dive, alterations to misconduct categorization, a more specific definition of tripping when a defender dives, and a rule alteration that makes it more difficult to overturn a goal due to a “kicking motion” when it’s called a goal on the ice.
Also interesting is the overtime changes: Teams will switch ends and the ice will get a dry scrape before the start of the overtime period. It’s a small effort by the league to try and avoid any major changes to the overtime period — like longer periods, a second overtime, etc. — with the hope of create more wins in overtime instead of shootout wins. The New Jersey Devils are very grateful for this.
(Please play this for the rest of your time on the page.)
But, if you take a look around Twitter, it appears that the most devastating change in the history of rule changes came down today. The spin-o-rama will now be banned for penalty shots and shootouts.
If you prefer not to search Twitter, the wound to fresh for you to experience the disappointment of others, I can sum up the sentiment found there with the famous words from Philip K. Dick’s Valis, Just tell me why; why the fucking why?
Despite this tragedy, we will endeavor to stay strong together. Au milieu de l’hiver, j’ai découvert en moi un invincible été. No?
We carry on best we can and take a slow, ponderous walk through our fondest spin-o-rama memories, which is all we have to cling to any longer. (I recommend watching these highlights on mute with Ave Maria still playing.)
Pierre-Marc Bouchard:
Mikhail Grabovski (with a little less grace than others):
Steven Stamkos:
Mason Raymond:
Josh Bailey and Ryan Strome:
Todd Bertuzzi:
Jason Blake:
Ryan Shannon:
On the other hand, guys like Patrick Kane and Evgeni Malkin will still pull it off in game action, so…
If you’d like to leave any fond memories for the departed, please do so below.