Rover (ice hockey)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, ice hockey consisted of seven positions. Along with the goaltender, two defencemen and three forwards who remain today, a Rover was also part of the team. Unlike all the others, the rover did not have a set position, and roamed the ice at will, going where needed.

As the skill level of players increased, the need to have a rover was decreased. When it was formed in 1910, the National Hockey Association decided to exclude the rover. The league's successor, the NHL, did the same in 1917. However, the Pacific Coast Hockey Association, formed in 1911, kept the rover. The Western Canada Hockey League also used a rover when it was founded in 1921.

As the NHA and later NHL didn't have a rover, but the PCHA did, a compromise was made during Stanley Cup matches, which, at the time, was a challenge cup. Games would alternate between the NHA/NHL rules and PCHA versions, allowing each team an advantage and disadvantage during games.

In 1923, both the PCHA and the WCHL decided to drop the rover position. It had long been seen as unnecessary,^{[citation needed]} only crowding the ice. With the decision to remove the rover, it disappeared from professional hockey forever.