Hockey players might find themselves at risk of committing penalties when they are more concerned with offense and scoring goals than with their defensive responsibilities. Because they are looking to create plays, they might be out of position when it comes to defensive play. Instead of getting between your man and the goal, you might have to hold your opponent and get tagged with what coaches call a lazy penalty.
End of the Shift
A lazy penalty often occurs at the end of a hockey player's shift on the ice, when lactic acid builds in the legs and the player is getting tired. The tired player might be in a battle for the puck in the corner, and when his opponent comes away with it, might feel like he has to do something to prevent an offensive play or a breakout. Instead of skating with the opponent because he's exhausted, he grabs hold of him and tackles or takes his stick and impedes his progress by hooking him. The former would warrant a holding call and the latter would be a hooking call.
One-Way Players
Some players get caught up in the possibility of the glamorous aspects of the game. Instead of developing a well-rounded game, it's all about scoring goals. These players always are looking to shoot, break out and score. Defensive responsibilities don't interest them and they have to take last-minute penalties to prevent the opponent from scoring. Many of these players won't last long on the team or will see their playing time cut if they don't work hard on the defensive end of the ice.
Diving
Some players are intent on drawing penalties and might try to induce the referee to make a call by diving to the ice. They are trying to get the referee to believe they were tripped so the opponent gets a penalty. So, instead of attempting to make the play, they try to fool the referee into giving their team a break. This is lazy and referees will make a call of diving and send the offending player to the penalty box.
Expert Analysis
Players often look at team statistics to analyze their team's penalty performance. When the University of Michigan team saw a rise in penalty calls during the 2005-06 season, defenseman Andrew Ebbett called out his team's work ethic. "We have to stay away from the stick penalties. (It's) work ethic, I mean those are lazy penalties - hooking and slashing," Ebbett told "The Michigan Daily." "You just have to stay disciplined, stay away from that stuff and just play in between the whistles."
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