Is touch icing obsolete?

It has been debated for years as to the merit of having touch icing in NHL hockey. People who want touch icing out of the game such as Don Cherry, have a good point in stating that the game is so fast now that many injures occur from the touch icing rule. This does happen because the players are so fast and coming full speed to the end of the rink to either get or negate the icing call. Collisions occur and the board’s then stop the player cold, something has to give and it is usually the defenseman’s bones. Owners are thus losing valuable assets (the players).

Others state that taking touch icing out of the game would take the excitement of the race out as well and the fans would ultimately find that part of the game boring. The NHL does not want to take any part of the excitement out of the
game because they are trying to grow the fan base around the world. They are not concerned with the die hard Canadian

fans, but the new ones in regions they have just expanded into or are hoping to expand to in the near future.I would hope that my proposition would have elements that would satisfy both parties, keeping the excitement of the race and also making it safer for the players as well.

My proposal is that the players will still race for the puck on a touch icing but the area after the goal line becomes a “NO CONTACT” zone. The players can jockey for position until they hit the line but once in that area only stick position is allowed to either get or negate the icing. That way the race can continue but the players are still afforded the time and space to protect themselves from the boards and injury.Any contact behind the goal line could be dealt with by the ref’s and reinforced by the league.

The penalty for contact behind the line on an icing call could be a five minute penalty and a game misconduct. It would not take the playerslong to fall in line and I am sure they would appreciate the rule. Repeat offenders would get longer suspensions

Just to clarify, the no contact behind the goal line would only come into play when the linesman has his hand up meaning an icing charge is in play. The linesman could even be the one in charge of calling contact on the icing play as they would have the best view of the incident.
Anyway that’s my view on the dilemma and I believe there is merit too the proposal

Sincerely Walt Webb