Coyotes' Mike Smith calls for harsher goaltender interference penalties

Phoenix Coyotes goaltender and Canadian Olympian Mike Smith saw his season come to a premature end in late March, when he sustained an MCL strain during a collision with New York Rangers forward Derick Brassard. 

Smith is far from the only goaltender to sustain a significant injury during a collision with a skater in recent years. From Ryan Miller, to Roberto Luongo, to Carey Price in the Eastern Conference final; these types of injuries are commonplace, as one might expect in a sport where "driving the net hard" and "making [x-goaltender] uncomfortable" are common refrains and tactics. 

"We need to address this so that it doesn't continue the way it's going," said TSN analyst and former NHL goaltender Darren Pang, per Sarah McLellan of the Arizona Republic.

An interesting suggestion was put forth by Smith, who suggested that harsher penalties for crease crashers might help protect the league's netminders. "They really solidified that in football when they brought in the rule of roughing the passer, and it's a huge penalty for your team when that happens," Smith told the Arizona Republic. "I personally don't think the penalty is severe enough for a goaltender interference call."

Smith said earlier this year that he's talked to the league "numerous times" about some of the contact he's taken, and two players have been suspended for "charging" Smith in recent years (Chicago's Andrew Shaw, and Vancouver's Alex Edler). Interestingly enough, only one player (Toronto's Nazem Kadri) has been suspended or fined for goaltender interference since the start of the 2011-12 season, according to capgeek.com.

It's ironic that Smith - who has a reputation for being a bit theatrical when players get into his grill - would voice these concerns. On the other hand, goaltenders do seem to be getting hit harder and more often these days.