{RANT} Illegal stick in game yesterday

[iplaylax22]

So yesterday at my game we were warming up and the refs were checking peoples sticks. so i went up to get it checked(it was raining so i wanted to make sure my pocket wasnt to deep) and he says that my stick is illegal length. so he said its 39.5 and its supposed to be 40. so long story short i had to run off and get a new stick before the game.

Just wondering if any one else had this problem... my shaft was not previously cut and i had a regulation gait triton head

[laxkid891]

it could have been that your head warped causing the stick to become a bit shorter...but warping half an inch is pretty big...did u measure the stick yourself at home after??

[D-MAN]

It hasn't happened to me but Stick checking is getting more regular in the games now.

[atmusfear]

We had a Longpole last year who was called for his stick being too short. It was a Gait Intrepid (much like the Triton as you're probably aware). It might just be, not a defect, but a more prolonged effect of using that style of head.

In that case, heat the scoop up and press it together to try and extend it but make sure it still stays 6.5 inches wide.

[FitzGoalie]

you could have just used tape to extend the end a half inch.

[Mustangs21]

This means one of 3 things..
a) the ref made a incorrect measurement
b) your head warped horribly and became shorter (kind of rare)
c) was your shaft cut down from a d-pole maybe and wasnt exactly 30"? maybe 29.5"

[iplaylax22]

I just bought the head brand new about 3 weeks ago, so there's no way it could've warped, it's been like cold ever since I got it. Though one thing was that my endpiece was super short, so that might've been it. what do you think?

[m2daRizzle]

I just bought the head brand new about 3 weeks ago, so there's no way it could've warped, it's been like cold ever since I got it. Though one thing was that my endpiece was super short, so that might've been it. what do you think?

have you measured it yourself to make sure the ref didnt incorrectly measure the length? what type of shaft do you have it on?

[iplaylax22]

yes i even had him double check it so i now it wasnt his error, i just broke my ice the game before so i have an alloy2000 on it

[bs270106]

yes i even had him double check it so i now it wasnt his error, i just broke my ice the game before so i have an alloy2000 on it

Ahhh...........this could be where the problem lies. You always have to be careful when using a different brand of shaft than the head, because sometimes the hole where the screw goes will change and might cause it to be shorter or longer than say your torque on your ice shaft would have been.

The other thing is, when I bought my second complete stick a long time ago (razer on an alloy2000) I noticed that the shaft itself was about half an inch to an inch shorter than my later shafts were.

Hope I made some sense, and possibly helped to solve the problem.

[stripes182]

It sounds to me like the moral of all these stories is to borrow the tape measure from the family toolbox and take responsibility for your own equipment and for ensuring it is legal and will remain legal throughout the course of the game. Referees can only work with what they're given, and I don't know any referee who enjoys throwing the flag at the spot to penalize an illegal stick.

As an aside, in an NFHS JV game today, my partner and I had all four sticks we checked come up illegal. One from each team for too narrow (and interestingly enough the ball would not roll out of either... pinching?) and one each for deep pockets. We thought we were in the twilight zone.

[LaxRef]

I checked a stick before a game the other day: 5 7/8" across the top. I told him to bury it in the parking lot because if I found it in the game I'd givehim 12:00 NR! :chuckle:

[GoBucks]

We usually don't have many illegal sticks, but last week we had 2 illegal sticks in 2 consecutive games. One of them pretty much cost us the game.

[CardinalPuff]

We had a Longpole last year who was called for his stick being too short.
how is this even possible? it was shorter than 52 inches? i wouldn't even call that a long pole.....

[3rdPersonPlural]

how is this even possible? it was shorter than 52 inches? i wouldn't even call that a long pole.....

My guess is that the author wrote 'stick' and meant 'head'.

:ahhno:

[tjklax01]

I checked a stick the other day. It was 38 1/2 long. I thought I made a mistake. So I measured it again. I wasn't wrong.

[atmusfear]

My guess is that the author wrote 'stick' and meant 'head'.

:ahhno:

yea, that's what I meant. Complete stick, not just the pole itself. The head had started to bend down due to poke checks and the whole stick measured around 71 1/2 inches.

[CardinalPuff]

yea, that's what I meant. Complete stick, not just the pole itself. The head had started to bend down due to poke checks and the whole stick measured around 71 1/2 inches.
poles are legal between 52 and 72 inches....unless i completely misunderstand what you're trying to say a pole measuring 71.5 inches is legal....there must have been something else.....

[shortydanger125]

poles are legal between 52 and 72 inches....unless i completely misunderstand what you're trying to say a pole measuring 71.5 inches is legal....there must have been something else.....
I think he was called for his head being too short, not the entire stick.

[bigdale9]

Is this ref error or just a mistake? in one game my freind's head (a proton+) had been measured to narrow but it was unpinched and 3 other refs said it was leagal.

[Woodenstick]

Is this ref error or just a mistake? in one game my freind's head (a proton+) had been measured to narrow but it was unpinched and 3 other refs said it was leagal.

Stickheads can change dimensions from game to game, depending on temperature and pressure put on them, especially for FOGOs. Also, some refs may give you a 1/10" break, others may not, plus some may measure from a slightly different point, so a stick right on the edge may be legal or illegal depending on the ref. But I would venture that illegal stick calls made by referees are pretty consistent, and there is a very narrow area of ambiguity.

[JazzyJake]

As an aside, in an NFHS JV game today, my partner and I had all four sticks we checked come up illegal. One from each team for too narrow (and interestingly enough the ball would not roll out of either... pinching?) and one each for deep pockets. We thought we were in the twilight zone.

they could have been the infamous evo-pro
those sticks simply become illegal, whether the user notices or not...
mine was illegal stock

[MAGOALIE1]

My sophmore year we were in a tight game and my coach asked for a stick check on their one middie. They also asked for a stick check but thats besides the point. the ref went through the common procedure and when he turned it upside down the ball held for about a second then came out. The ref repeated the process and it did the same thing. Then the ref gives the stick back to the kid no call. Our coach calmly asked why no penalty was called, the stick was obviously illegal. The ref's exact words were, "It is partially legal." Which would mean it is partially illegal. Arguing goes on for about 30 seconds and the ref gets the game started. The middie with the illegal stick starts with the ball and our best defensemen sends the middies stick flying. Im talkin end over end spinning every which way and the ball holds. picks up stick settles ball they score about 30 seconds later win the game by two. Our coach blew a fuse, and rightfully so.

Some refs are just awful ya gotta take it with a grain of salt.

[Laxattack05]

it's possible that his tape is wrong... it happened to my friend who was using my stick... 3 min NR for what the ref described as "quite short"... i went home and checked it with two different measuring tapes... 40 and 40.5... he said it was like 37... knew i was right!

[bkaufmann]

how long does it have to be because i cut a dpole in half and the complete shortie is 1 mm short of 40 inches

[RottingMind13]

your stick is 1 mm short of being legal then.

[bkaufmann]

thats just great

[RottingMind13]

just add some tape on the bottom to make it slightly bigger. a mm is nothing really, put tape over the bottom like you're gonna make an endcap, problem solved.

[wolfenburg]

My sophmore year we were in a tight game and my coach asked for a stick check on their one middie. They also asked for a stick check but thats besides the point. the ref went through the common procedure and when he turned it upside down the ball held for about a second then came out. The ref repeated the process and it did the same thing. Then the ref gives the stick back to the kid no call. Our coach calmly asked why no penalty was called, the stick was obviously illegal. The ref's exact words were, "It is partially legal." Which would mean it is partially illegal. Arguing goes on for about 30 seconds and the ref gets the game started. The middie with the illegal stick starts with the ball and our best defensemen sends the middies stick flying. Im talkin end over end spinning every which way and the ball holds. picks up stick settles ball they score about 30 seconds later win the game by two. Our coach blew a fuse, and rightfully so.

Some refs are just awful ya gotta take it with a grain of salt.


As far as I know: The ball must drop out when turned upside down. No rule how long it may take to fall out, so if it takes 30 sec it is still legal.

[VicLaxRef]

As far as I know: The ball must drop out when turned upside down. No rule how long it may take to fall out, so if it takes 30 sec it is still legal.

ILF rule states: (will be pretty similar)

"No player shall use a crosse of trick construction or stringing which tends to retard the normal and free dislodgement of the ball by an opponent"

I would therefore think that the ball should roll straight out, same as if it was checked by an opponent. You wouldn't except it if you had to check an opponents crosse for 30 sec before the ball came out!!

Just found the rule applicable to you.
"The ball must dislodge freely from the stick when the head is rotated toward the ground."

[hclax14]

ive heard that when its held upside down at a 45 degree angle it must fall out, not sure though