Working Stiff wrote:Jimmy wrote:Why is it you think High Sticking isn't enforced in Hockey? i've noticed few instances of a High Stick violation not being enforced. It isn't against the rules to raise your stick above the shoulders; only if contact is made with an opponent or the puck. It's not like Traveling in the NBA...
In the NHL that is one thing, but in NCAA and youth hockey the high stick is a joke. Everybody skates with their stick up, and since everybody has a facemask it really does not hurt anyone like it used to back in the day. So since people are not falling on the ice with bloody gashes in their faces, it goes uncalled. You can hear the "ting...ting...ting" of stick blades hitting facemasks throughout a game. Once it stops pissing you off, it becomes comical. The NHL officials are by far the worst major-league officials around, but they are so much better than the NCAA officials it...well, sometimes it makes me realize how fantastic a sport Ice Hockey is to be able to overcome the abysmal excuse for officiating that it has to endure.
Huh? I ref hockey, and its simple. Above the shoulders contact with the puck (and subsequent control by your team), or getting your stick in the face of an opponent is always a high sticking call.
I call it maybe once or twice a game, at all levels, with or without facemasks.
I don't see a ton of idiots skating around with their sticks in the air. There is no benefit to doing so. Maybe hockey in St. Louis is different, but I doubt it.