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I’m a sucker for a good hypothetical rule change, and Seattle Kraken goalie Joey Daccord has a good one: what if goalies were allowed to join the rush on a delayed penalty.
Daccord seems like a cool dude, who really made a name for himself with a standout performance in last season’s Winter Classic between the Kraken and the Vegas Golden Knights.
He was a guest on a recent episode of the What Chaos! podcast and it was there that he discussed his idea for an interesting rule change which came from his love of playing in net and as a forward when he was a kid.
“I wasn’t forced (to play in net and as a forward); I still wish I could also play forward,” Daccord said.
“Scoring goals is, like, so fun,” he continued. “Everytime I’m not playing, I take one-timers at the end of warmups, and I’ve got a pretty good one-timer in my goalie gear.”
Daccord then said if it was cool with his head coach Dan Bylsma — who he referred to as “Disco Dan” — he’d happily play up front if he wasn’t between the pipes.
“I tell Disco Dan like once or twice a week that I’m ready for, like, half-wall powerplay time,” he said.
That’s when co-host Pete Blackburn brought up the idea of Daccord joining the play on delayed penalties and swapping sticks to play forward.
“That’s what I said!” Daccord agreed. “They need to change the red line rules so that [on] delayed penalties I’m not going to the bench, I’m going to the other team’s net front.”
Interesting… very interesting.
How Do We Feel About Letting Goalies Join The Rush On Delayed Penalties
I don’t know about you, but I love me some goalie goals and if there’s any way to up our annual goalie goal yield, I’m all about it.
It would kind of be cool that this could become another dimension of a goaltender’s game. Like if a guy is a good puckhandler and good as the extra man on a delayed penalty, his stock could shoot up.
But, I kicked this idea around with fellow hockey guy and OutKick writer John Simmons to see how he felt about it.
“I think this is one of the best rule change ideas I’ve heard in any sport ever,” he told me. “Could you imagine 6’6″ Jake Oettinger screening another goalie, or having Juuse Sarros storming down the slot to go backhand-forehand-five hole? Gary Bettman, please make this happen.”
Welp. That sounds like universal acclaim to me. John and I are on board, so let’s make this happen NHL.
Perhaps Patrick Roy was only about 30 years ahead of his time…