Jolly Roger wrote:LaxRef,
I agree with your statements. I didn't say he was the same, I said he lost some of the special protection of his position.
When I look at it from a common sense stance (not with a rulebook in front of me) the reason the goalie is afforded the protection from playing with broken equipment as a safety issue, since in his primary role, he is attempting to stop shots propelled at him at high velocity. When he is outside the crease and clearing the ball, his primary responsibility is no longer to stop shots and in my opinion, he should no longer be afforded the special safety protections he has while in the crease.
It seems you'd be taking away a riding team's advantage if the goalie's stick was broken during a clear and the riding team was able to move it to the goal quicker than the goalie could possibly recover.
Not looking to argue, just putting it out there for thought.
You make a good point, but you're missing a crucial aspect of the problem: they don't want a defenseman who is not properly equipped to play goal stepping in and playing goal for an extended time while the GK runs off the field to get another stick. You might recall that they flirted with the idea of making it a penalty for a defender to try to step in front of a shot, which would have been a nightmare.
Now, granted, there are other situations where the goalie might be out of the crease and turn the ball over and a defender might end up stepping into goal, but not for an extended time like you might have if the GK lost or broke equipment and had to sub out. It's not a perfect rule. But I think killing the play even if the GK is out of the crease—like we do in NCAA—is the right approach.
Also, what if the GK was just out of the crease when his equipment broke? He might be right back in there, facing a shot while not properly equipped.
And it might kill a fast break, but safety comes first, and if the goalie does it intentionally in NCAA he serves a 2:00 USC.
