Leafs' Anthony Stolarz Sparks NHL Player Safety Debate After 'Very Dangerous Play'
Player safety is the most important thing in the NHL, and after a play against the Rangers, Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz has sparked new debate about it.
For years now, the NHL has continued preaching about player safety, but there's one major rule that appears to go against that, and we saw that during the latest clash of the Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Rangers.
That rule revolves around goaltenders, with play to continue even if their mask comes off if the other team has a scoring opportunity, with the rule reading like this:
When a goalkeeper has lost his helmet and/or face mask and his team has control of the puck, play shall be stopped immediately to allow the goalkeeper the opportunity to regain his helmet and/or face mask. When the opposing team has control of the puck, play shall only be stopped if there is no immediate and impending scoring opportunity.
Anthony Stolarz Pushes Back on NHL Rule
Unfortunately, during that clash, this exact same situation happened, and while Anthony Stolarz made a pad save, he spoke out about it afterwards, urging the NHLPA and the Department of Player Safety to take a look at the rule.
I don't think we should wait around for a goalie to get hit in the head and have to deal with that.
Despite it potentially being used as an advantage for the defending team, Stolarz is absolutely right here, as a team and the league one day will need to make a hard decision after a goaltender is hit in the face with a 90+ mph puck.
As of right now, it's been fairly lucky that this has never happened, but it could be just a matter of time until it does, so it's become clear here that Stolarz is urging the league to look into a potential change.
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