Both Sides Of Offsides

from USA Hockey Magazine

Every two years, USA Hockey’s board of directors votes on proposed rule changes. This June, USA Hockey will again debate which offsides rule will be in effect for the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons. It is a topic that has inspired passionate debate among many within the ranks of USA Hockey.

Tag-Up Offsides Keeps The Action Going — Bob Mathson, High School section director for USA Hockey.

What are the benefits of implementing the tag-up offsides rule?

Overall, the skill development of players competing under any offsides rule still relies on the coach to instruct his or her team on the importance of puck possession.

With delayed or tag-up offsides, as the defensive team transitions to offense by gaining control of the puck, they will have additional opportunities to make a play. Without the immediate whistle that accompanies the current offsides rule, the team with the puck will have additional time and space to break out of its zone.

As the players who have lost possession of the puck retreat out of the zone to satisfy the tag-up rule, it will create offensive opportunities for the team with the puck.

The team that creates the potential offsides gives up the puck and interrupts the flow of its offensive threat. This is an incentive for the attacking team to remain in control of the puck and regroup or make a play to keep control of the puck.

With the delayed or tag-up offsides rule, there is the potential for fewer stoppages of play. With the ability to have play continue, it allows the players to keep in motion and the pace of the game to remain constant.

With the current enforcement of the Standards of Play and the desire to keep the play moving and the flow of the game at a high level, the benefit of implementing the delayed or tag-up offside rule is obvious with the potential for less stoppages of play.

Goaltenders would be given additional opportunities to handle the puck on dump ins if playing under the tag-up offsides rule. This would be a good thing since skating, puck handling and passing are important skills for goaltenders.

Implementing a delayed or tag-up offsides rule would also create offensive opportunities for the defensive team and an incentive for the puck possession team not to give up the puck.

One Illinois coach who has a team at the U12 level that has played several games this season in Canada, where they use the tag-up rule, said the comment across the board from his girls is “why don’t we have this kind of offsides?”

It is important to remember that most of the girls on this team never played with anything else other than immediate offsides. They grew up in hockey with immediate offsides and when they are exposed to the tag-up rule they remark, “Why do we have such a dumb rule like immediate offsides?”

Why is there such an issue regarding the offsides rule? When the rule was changed to immediate offsides several years ago, the selling point was that it would enhance player development. Players would be forced to handle the puck more, use their head and maintain possession of the puck.

Whether we have immediate, delayed or tag-up offsides, these skills should be taught during practice. And if they are, then it should not matter which system is used, except if we eliminate the immediate offsides rule we currently have, we would be in conformity with the rest of the world.

Tag-Up Offsides Rule Is A Deterrent To Skill Development — Tim Taylor, former head coach of Yale University from 1976 to 2006, and was the head coach of the 1994 U.S. Olympic Team.

I am a strong and passionate advocate for maintaining the immediate offsides rule under which youth teams are currently playing.

I do not believe we should be promoting a rule, such as tag-up offsides, which rewards and/or encourages willingly giving up possession of the puck and takes away from players and teams who can handle, pass and support the puck.

The tag-up rule encourages giving up possession and dumping the puck in when there is usually no one in position to forecheck aggressively. It is a deterrent to skill development, rewards less skilled players by “dumbing down” the game, encourages teams to give up puck possession, and promotes a trapping style of hockey.

Any rule that makes it profitable to throw away the puck cannot be considered good for the game. Skill with the puck, puck support and overall teamwork must be rewarded by the rules. The tag-up rule flies in the face of this logic.

Dumping the puck on a tag-up situation can best be labeled as a defensive maneuver, or minimally, a maneuver that puts one’s team in a defensive posture. Clear possession is being transferred from one team to the opponent, usually leading to a trap forecheck situation.

This should neither be allowed by the rules, nor encouraged by our coaches. The latter will not happen if the right rules are in place.

A football analogy might be allowing the quarterback to intentionally throw the ball away without being called for intentional grounding.

In basketball, teams have to learn to deal with the full-court press. The team with the ball never just throws it the length of the court, or simply gives it to the opponent deep in their end of the basketball floor.

I don’t buy the argument that the tag-up rule speeds up the game and eliminates a lot of whistles. I recently served as an evaluator at a selection camp of ’93, ’94 and ’95 birth year kids for Team Connecticut.

In all age groups, the one thing the kids did very well was use each other in the neutral zone. There were very few offsides, and lots of nice D-to-D passes as players regrouped and waited for their teammates to clear the zone. It was clear that they had become comfortable with the rule, and the technical and tactical skills required to deal with it. It would be a shame to see our hockey go backward and re-institute the tag-up rule.

USA Hockey has embarked on a new initiative as to how they would like to see the game of hockey played in our country. Skill, speed and athleticism are to be rewarded under this new initiative.

We want our young players to support the puck, to pass and receive, to generate transition skills in the neutral zone, and to attack with collective speed.

In a day and age when we, as a hockey-playing nation, are trying to develop and advocate skill in the game, re-instituting the tag-up rule would be counterproductive and a step backward.

The Offsides Timeline

In the past, USA Hockey has used three versions of the offsides rule in youth hockey. They are: immediate, delayed and tag-up.

From 1936 through the1981-82 season (46 years), USA Hockey played with immediate offsides.

(The rule states) Players of an attacking team may not precede the puck into the attacking zone. The linesman shall immediately stop play for the offside violation.

In 1981, the change was made to play delayed offsides. This lasted through the 1986-87 season.

If an attacking player precedes the puck that is shot, passed or deflected into the attacking zone, but a defending player is able to play the puck at or near the blue line, the linesman shall signal a delayed offsides. The linesman shall drop his arm to nullify the offsides violation and allow play to continue if the defending team passes or carries the puck into the neutral zone.

The Tag-up rule was then introduced for the 1987-88 season and was played through the 1996-97 season.

If an attacking player precedes the puck that is shot, passed or deflected into the attacking zone, the linesman shall signal a delayed offside. The offside violation will be nullified if all attacking players in the attacking zone clear the attacking zone by making skate contact with the blue line. The attacking zone must be completely clear of attacking players before a delayed offside can be nullified with the puck still in the attacking zone.

During the delayed offside, the linesman shall stop play for the offside violation if any attacking player touches the puck or attempts to gain possession of a loose puck while the puck is still in the attacking zone or forces the defending puck carrier further back in the attacking zone.

USA Hockey returned to the delayed offsides rule for the 1997-98 season and that lasted until the 2002-03 season.