Would special teams have been one of the reasons rules
were changed in various seasons regarding the number
of players dressed per team?

Not sure if one followed the other in how they were
handled.

-Andrew

--- epenaltybox <epenaltybox@...> wrote:

> The Leafs started doing it in the 1930s, but the
> problem with the power
> play from today's game compared to the 1940s is that
> hockey was an
> onside game, so players would rag the puck when
> killing a penalty -
> it's kind of a lost art.
>
> Forechecking was Tommy Gorman's invention with the
> Black Hawks after he
> came back from Tijuana, so if no one was chasing you
> and you held the
> pouck, you can effectively kill of a penalty. (I
> suspect that
> forechecking may be San Diego's contribution to the
> game of hockey, but
> no evidence to prove this yet.) No need to have
> your best players when
> everyone is sitting back.
>
> With the icing rule in the mid-1930s, as well as
> forechecking and the
> advent of the blue line, the need for a power play
> unit was not
> necessary.
>
> Eddie Livingstone experimented with putting his five
> best guys on the
> ice during the 1910s, but this was in circumstances
> when his team was
> losing and time was running out. There were times
> when the opponents
> were shorthanded, but I don't think this would be a
> true delineation to
> what you're asking.
>
> Like everything else in hockeuy, I suspect this
> manouver surfaced
> starting in the 30s by Dick Irvin's Leafs, continued
> into the 40s and
> perfected in the 50s by the Detroit Red Wings and
> Montreal Canadiens.
> The Canadiens get the credit because it was their
> power play that
> changed the rules, but the Wings wre just as potent.
>
> Morey
> --- In hockhist@yahoogroups.com, "mhdibiase"
> <mhdibiase@...> wrote:
> >
> > I'm curious. Which hockey coach was responsible
> for creating the
> power
> > play unit in the first place? Which hockey coach
> got the idea of
> > putting your best shooters on the ice when you
> have the man
> advantage?
> > When did the innovation take place? Can anyone
> offer any clues? I'm
> > curious about that.
> >
> > Matt
> >
>
>
>


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