The 2007 NLL season will bring a rule change when it starts this December. More specifically, the change concerns the rule that makes scoring from behind the net illegal. Starting this year players will be able to be positioned behind the net and have any goals they score count. The potential this rule has on the total scores versus the safety to the goalies seems to be a point of contention between lacrosse fans and players.
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Up until a couple weeks ago I was under the impression that high sticking in lacrosse was comparable to the same penalty in Hockey. As it turns out I was wrong.
Whereas in hockey high sticking is a minor penalty, in lacrosse — more specifically the NLL — high sticking is a major penalty. This became very apparent to me during the last time Colorado came to Calgary and faced our Roughnecks.
During most of the games I’ve watched there have probably been at least one illegal substitution call at each of them — or at minimum every other game. All this time it hasn’t been clear to me what exactly an illegal substitution really is. After a little digging around the web this is what I’ve come up with.
An illegal substitution is classified as a bench minor penalty. That means if the offending team has possession the call is made immediately — if not it is delayed, much like a roughing penalty — and the offending player is sent to the penalty box for two minutes. That much was pretty evident by watching the games. (more…)
Continuing the series on lacrosse penalties, here is another rule I wasn’t aware of – as many fans may not be. While a defensive player can check, poke, and hit, the offensive player cannot check back – they have to take it like a man. If the offensive player does check back they will lose possession.
Often times I’ll notice players away from the ball pushing off and checking. So, does this rule strictly apply to the offensive player with possession of the ball? Furthermore, if an offensive player is checked and a loose ball ensues can anyone check until one team gets possession?
In an effort to both explore some of the minor infractions and rules of lacrosse and make this site as valuable to you as possible, I thought it would be fun to write about them.
First up is the “push off” or “push” rule. This rule – which I’ve often missed while watching games and sat wondering why a call was made – states that a player with the ball cannot push off another player with his free hand or arm.
I may be stating the obvious but this is a pretty minor infraction. The consequences for pushing off is merely loss of possession.
So next time you’re watching the Roughnecks working their offense, you hear a whistle, and we loose possession, it’s probably pretty likely that one of our Roughies pushed off a defensive player.