By Tim Panaccio, Inquirer Staff Writer
There will be no diving in the goal crease or goals scored from an airborne position, and offensive players can no longer poke at the ball once it enters the crease.
Those three rule changes will greet the Philadelphia Wings at 8 tonight at the Spectrum, when they will open their third season in the Major Indoor Lacrosse League with a game against the expansion New England Blazers.
“They’re cosmetic rule changes and they’re designed really to protect the goalie,” said Wings coach Dave Evans. “We had too many people diving on top of the goalie before.”
Another rule change involves penalty minutes. This year, the league will assess penalties of two and five minutes, instead of one and three minutes. Any player who receives a third five-minute penalty in a game will be automatically ejected. In addition, 10-minute misconduct penalties have been introduced.
“We’re getting like hockey,” said Evans.
The biggest change off the indoor carpet is with the Wings themselves. The team voted itself a 10 percent pay cut to ensure that its entire squad is paid for games. Under league rules, only the 19 active players are paid on game day. The remaining six players generally are not paid.
“I think this is sort of indicative of the whole attitude of these guys,” said Evans. “They don’t make a king’s ransom. They’re playing lacrosse for the love of the game.”
Third-year players get $200 a goal; second-year players receive $150, and rookies, $100.
“We’ll take the 10 percent off everyone’s check and throw it into a pool,” said Evans. “It means the inactive guys get about $50 a game now.”
Last year’s Wings finished third in the league with a record of 3-5, and lost their one-game playoff to New Jersey. The schedule this season again calls for eight regular-season games.
“We’ll be better this year, if for no reason other than we’re more experienced,” said Evans.
“A big change is getting an assistant coach,” he said, referring to Mike Page. “We had a strong defense but a lot of offensive problems. I was a goalie in college, so I was defensive-oriented. Mike has been working well with our offense.”
Gone from last year’s club is the starting goalie, Vinnie Pfeifer, who now coaches Army. Pat Lamon, the club’s top scorer with 21 goals, received a job transfer to Virginia and was traded to Washington as part of a three-way deal with Baltimore for Mark Hahn and John O’Brien. Dave Tasker retired, and Dick Grieves is out for the year with a knee injury.
Evans said he expected Ricky Fried, a rookie from Maryland, to add offense, along with the club’s top draft pick, Andy Wilson of Loyola of Baltimore. Although none of the goalies impressed Evans in camp, the starting assignment – for now – will go to Kevin Bilger, whose save percentage of 77.2 led the league last year.
Prism will televise all four regular-season home games. With the exception of the Feb. 12 game against Detroit, which will be televised live, the games will be shown on delayed tape.
(Philadelphia Inquirer, January 14, 1989)