William J. Policano is a Southern New Hampshire University alumnus and account manager with Bridgton, Maine's Hancock Lumber, where he is responsible for servicing existing accounts and driving new business development. Beyond his professional pursuits, William Policano enjoys playing and watching hockey.
Like most sports, hockey has undergone significant rule changes since it was created. The National Hockey League (NHL) was founded in 1917, but it wasn't until 1929 that the league allowed its players to execute forward passes. Instead, throughout the league's first 12 years, players either had to skate with the puck to move it forward or pass it back to a teammate trailing the play, as is the case in rugby. Earlier in the 1920s, the league experimented with allowing forward passing in the neutral and defensive zones, but it was still not permitted in the offensive zone until the 1929-30 season.
Not surprisingly, the new rule change drastically increased scoring. During that season, the Boston Bruins scored a league-high 179 goals, which represented an increase of 90 over the prior season - in fact, the Bruins were the first team in NHL history to score more than 100 goals. Cooney Weiland led the league in scoring with 73 points in 44 games, while Ace Bailey finished atop league scoring the previous season with only 32 points in 44 games.
