Every year, some tweaks are made to the NLL Rule book. There aren’t that many this year but Rule 67.16, the so-called “Bandits rule”, could significantly affect the defensive strategies of not only the Bandits but other teams as well – the Knighthawks come to mind.

4.1 Nets

There will be magnets on the floor to help hold the net in place.

20.1 Public address announcer’s duties for awarded goals

The PA announcer is not allowed to count down or announce penalty time, shot clock time, or game time remaining in each quarter. He also cannot make comments on the officials’ calls.

During the three pre-season games at the TRAC, the Rock announcer did announce “last minute of play in the quarter”, which appears to be against this rule. However the name of the rule explicitly says “for awarded goals”, so does that mean that the announcer can’t count down or announce the penalty/shot clock/game time when announcing a goal but they can at other times? That seems unlikely. The time of the goal is always included in a goal announcement, shot clock time remaining is irrelevant, and the announcers rarely, if ever, say anything about penalty time when announcing a goal. The wording of this rule is a bit strange.

49.2 Location of clock

The shot clock has to be along the straight part of the boards perpendicular to the team benches. This just means it has to be behind the net and not in the corner.

60.1 Change of possession

A player cannot adjust or touch the head or mesh of his stick while he has the ball, or his team will lose possession.

65.2 Minor Penalty (Throwing the Stick)

If a player throws, steps on, or kicks an opponent’s stick (one that’s not broken) to prevent him from picking it up, that’s now a penalty. It’s listed under “Throwing the Stick” but I’m surprised it’s not “Delay of Game”.

67.16 Player blocking shots in the crease

Players cannot attempt to block shots while in their own crease. If they do, they get a Delay of Game minor penalty. When the goalie is out of his crease, a player may “act as a goalie”. If this happens with less than 30 seconds left in the 4th quarter or in overtime, the other team gets a penalty shot.

However, this rule does not apply when defending a dunk or diving shot attempt.