{"id":318152,"date":"2025-10-20T08:52:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T08:52:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/318152\/"},"modified":"2025-10-20T08:52:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T08:52:10","slug":"great-save-no-goalie-mask-should-the-nhl-outlaw-this-very-dangerous-play","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/318152\/","title":{"rendered":"Great save, no goalie mask: Should the NHL outlaw this \u2018very dangerous play\u2019?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cayden Primeau had a message for Anthony Stolarz when the Maple Leafs\u2019 starting goalie returned to the bench on Thursday night, seconds after stopping a shot without his mask.<\/p>\n

\u201cI told him, \u2018You\u2019re crazy for continuing to play,\u2019\u201d the Leafs\u2019 backup said Friday afternoon.<\/p>\n

The sentiment was shared by many.<\/p>\n

After New York Rangers forward Matt Rempe fired a shot off Stolarz\u2019s mask in the third period of a 2-1 Leafs OT win, the veteran goalie shuffled, his beard and sweaty hair exposed, to take a J.T. Miller shot off his left pad. John Tavares raised his hands in shock, the Leafs forward seemingly wondering the same thing as many observers: How is it possible for referees to allow play to continue when the goalie is so clearly not protected by his mask?<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think we should wait around for a goalie to get hit in the head and have to deal with that,\u201d Stolarz said declaratively on Friday.<\/p>\n

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Stolarz playing goalie like it\u2019s the \u201950s \ud83d\ude33 pic.twitter.com\/r79elhMtKI<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 TSN (@TSN_Sports) October 17, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The NHL\u2019s official rules lay things out clearly: \u201cWhen 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Referees determined that Miller\u2019s shot was a scoring chance, and play continued. Stolarz insisted after the game that, in making a pad save, he was just trying to be a \u201ccompetitor.\u201d But the four seconds that Stolarz continued without a mask felt too long, in retrospect. It was four seconds that led to fresh questions about the rule.<\/p>\n

What would have happened had Miller inadvertently fired his shot not off Stolarz\u2019s pads, but toward his head?<\/p>\n

Could the sequence of events on Thursday night lead to a possible rule change?<\/p>\n

\u201cWe monitor how the current rule operates and how it is enforced and applied. NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said via email in a statement. \u201cTo this point, we have not had significant concerns with how it\u2019s being applied. Whether recent game events might warrant a discussion on potential changes, I am not prepared to say. If we think change is warranted, we would not be opposed to making them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stolarz believes change should come immediately.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf a forward or defenseman gets hit in the face with an errant puck, they blow (the) play immediately. I don\u2019t see why it\u2019s any different for a goalie,\u201d Stolarz said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully it\u2019s something the league is looking at and something that we can fix,\u201d Stolarz said.<\/p>\n

Consider, in one of the fastest games on the planet, how differently things could have ended for Stolarz last night, with the puck moving an inch here or there and taking on a life of its own.<\/p>\n

Primeau used the words \u201clife-threatening\u201d to describe what could have unfolded with Stolarz playing without a mask. If a shot bounced up off Stolarz\u2019s face, head or neck, that description wouldn\u2019t feel like hyperbole.<\/p>\n

\u201cGuys are teeing up for a one-timer, 90-plus miles an hour,\u201d Primeau said. \u201cFortunately (the shot) stayed low to the ice, but anything can happen. The puck can catch an edge, roll up on a guy and in an instant, things could have gone south.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an age where the health of players is more paramount than ever, that this rule has remained is, at best, curious. The five skaters in front of goalies such as Stolarz would be forced to leave the ice if their respective helmets came off during the course of play. Primeau echoed Stolarz\u2019s view that the rule should be changed.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven if a strap comes undone, play should be dead immediately,\u201d Primeau said.<\/p>\n

Stolarz knew that NHL rules would allow play to continue if a scoring chance was possible. He heard from other goalies he had played with in the past, including former NHL journeyman Dustin Tokarski, voicing their support.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou obviously want more scoring and you want to see more chances, but at the same time, too, you have to look out for the safety of the players,\u201d Stolarz said.<\/p>\n

Stolarz\u2019s view was shared by others around the NHL.<\/p>\n

Jake Allen called the rule a \u201cgray area.\u201d The New Jersey Devils goalie has experience with the rule. During a 2017 game against the Vancouver Canucks when Allen was with the St. Louis Blues, Allen\u2019s mask came off. The game continued for 10 seconds. Allen was also forced to make a save. After he did, a whistle was finally blown and Allen raised his arms in frustration.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a weird rule, because there are some times when some refs call it and some refs don\u2019t. And sometimes it\u2019s dangerous, but I\u2019ve made a couple of saves before without a mask on,\u201d Allen said in 2017. \u201cBut it\u2019s a tough rule.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet after the play, there was little discussion about the rule possibly changing. Perhaps it\u2019s the fact that the incident occurred in the fishbowl that is Scotiabank Arena, but Thursday night felt like an impetus for change. If enough goaltenders speak up in unison about the dangers of play continuing, could the NHL be forced to change the rule?<\/p>\n

\u201cThey should (blow) a whistle right away\u00a0because\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0a very dangerous play,\u201d Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin said on Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously I\u2019m biased, but all it takes is one errant shot and a guy could be hurt badly,\u201d Anaheim Ducks director of goaltending Sudarshan Maharaj told The Athletic via text. \u201cI think as soon as the helmet comes off and there is a shot opportunity, then it should be blown dead. Imagine in a playoff game, a team\u2019s starting goalie\u2019s mask comes off and he\u2019s injured for the rest of the playoffs? A player has to leave the ice immediately if his helmet comes off. Goalies can\u2019t, so the play should stop.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Stolarz save was not the first such incident this season. It wasn\u2019t even the first this week.<\/p>\n

On Oct. 14, Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Adin Hill was also forced to make a save without his mask after Calgary Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson fired a shot off his mask.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first shot was through a pretty heavy screen, so I didn\u2019t see it. I picked it up as it came through the screen, but at that point it\u2019s too late and it hit me in kind of (the) jaw area, where both buckles fell off. I go to track the rebound and feel my helmet kind of slipping off, but you\u2019re just kind of in the moment thinking, \u2018I have to get across and make a save,’\u201d Hill said.<\/p>\n

The issue? Hill\u2019s corresponding save hit him in the groin, or what he calls \u201ca sensitive area.\u201d He was forced to leave the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf my mask was on, I would\u2019ve stayed down over it and came across together. If you stand up straight, you\u2019re more exposed there,\u201d Hill said.<\/p>\n

Hill has since returned to the ice. It was a close call for the Golden Knights goalie. It feels like the calls surrounding this rule aren\u2019t just staying \u201cclose,\u201d but are inching further and further toward a dangerous injury. And that\u2019s why goalies such as Hill are thinking about the NHL possibly changing the rule surrounding a goaltender\u2019s mask coming off, as more around the league possibly are as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor scenarios like that, maybe,\u201d Hill said of the NHL beginning to whistle the play dead as soon as a goaltender\u2019s mask comes off. \u201cIt\u2019s tough because there\u2019s also the line of \u2018Does the goalie\u2019s mask come off, or he is trying to make his mask come off?\u2019 There are different scenarios. It\u2019s one of those gray areas where it\u2019s hard to say one way or the other. I feel like it almost has to be a situational thing. Is it a tap-in backdoor when the goalie is on the other side of the net, and his helmet is off? Or is the goalie in good position, facing the shot, with no helmet on? That also changes things.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Athletic\u2018s Peter Baugh contributed to this report.<\/p>\n