blocking a body check

[pinkstick113]

so today practice on a ground ball drill, I went in to body check my opponent. He lifts his stick up like he's going to cross check but uses it to block my check. It hurt. A lot.

Just wondering if this is legal.

thanks

[LaxRef]

It could be a cross check or a hold, depending on what it looked like to the officials. See:

A player may not check his opponent with his crosse in a cross-check position—that is, check him with that part of the handle of his crosse that is between his hands, either by thrusting it away from his body or by holding it extended from his body.

It's not exactly on-point, but you could make a case for it, especially if it's done in an attempt to hurt the other player.

[craig21]

yea its def a cross check....illegal

[pinkstick113]

so even if he didn't like try to hit me with it, just block me, its still illegal?

[Blackhawk]

Are you bigger than him? If you are just lay him out. I do that to pricks that annoy me like that and they dont screw with me again.

[Snake~eyes]

Agree with LaxRef, either a crosscheck or a hold, depends on the the play. Judgement call.

[Rileylax]

also depends on where/how he hit you. disregard Blackhawk's comment as the retaliating player almost always gets caught/

[pinkstick113]

we were both going for the GB and i looked at him and got ready to hit him. He saw me coming just before I hit him and put his stick up in crosscheck form. I don't think he actually pushed that much, or at all, but the force with which I checked him hurt me a lot. He got me like around my shoulder. He was almost exactly my size.

[usclaxer19]

Thats a cross check

[RockStar]

........

Not going to advise whether it's legal or not, that's already been ruled on by smarter refs.

I am going to advise that you can't let opponents get away with stuff like that, whether it's called or not.

I see this happen all the time (stickwork to deflect a check and hurt another player). The result is that the checker can get gun shy and back off on checks. The stick man than has a far easier time getting open, beating his checker to loose balls, or driving through to a shooting lane.

Anyway, if this happens to you, I'd say suck it up, and hit harder the next chance you get.

Couple things to try,

-dropping the shoulder a little lower on the way in to get under the stick.....if the ref sees buddy dropping his stick to deflect the hit, he'll probably have to call something.

-Use your own stick to cross check through your opponent's stick. You might take a penalty, but so might your opponent.

-Try slashing one of the guy's hands before making body contact. You might take a penalty, but you won't suffer as stiff a cross check, and taking one short aggressive penalty is not the end of the world.

[WHEELAX2]

think it could also be considered interference..