Quote:
Originally Posted by SethPDX
Because not all rinks are the same age. There was a time when the rules called for putting the team benches were on opposite sides. Now they're supposed to be on the same side. Some rinks can be changed easily to fit this, some can't. Rulemakers know this and make allowances for it.
I know in the WHL, Brandon has the benches on opposite sides. For another example of allowances made for older buildings, Portland's Memorial Coliseum used to be only about 185' long (which was okay when it opened) until last season when it finally got extended to the standard 200'.
As for the goal crease thing, I think the NHL wanted to cut down on crease violations so they just made the crease smaller, but I don't know that for sure.
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There is something I didn't know concerning the Brandon Wheat Kings' barn.
I found the NCAA Ice Hockey rulesbook online:
2012-2014 Ice Hockey Rules & Interpretations
On pgs, 20-21 it shows the 2 layouts that the NCAA allows.
However that does not answer the reasoning as to the design of Dwyer Arena at Niagra University with them having the player benches, penalty boxes, & scorer's bench all on the same side. The Dwyer Arena opened 1996, with renovations being done before the 1999-2000 season.
Notre Dame's Compton Family Ice Arena opened in 2011, so it's not an older arena, yet it has the Home player's bench, penalty boxes, & scorer's bench on one side with the visitor's bench on the opposite side. So, in theory, the Notre Dame barn should have been built to have the same layout as an NHL barn with it being a newer build. Yet the NCAA rules state that the setup is allowed even on newer barns (apparently).