from Chris Bumbace of USA TODAY,

A few years ago at Pittsburgh Penguins rookie camp, E.J. Johnston observed the delight among a couple thousand fans as they watched a tournament of 3-on-3 contests.

"It was electric," Johnston recalled. "It was end-to-end action. It was all the creativity, and goal-scoring and tic-tac-toe passing that hockey fans love."...

Johnston is now the CEO and founder of "3ICE," a new 3-on-3 hockey league set to debut next year across North America, with several big-name coaches (six of them Hockey Hall of Famers) serving as the coaches of the eight inaugural teams. Craig Patrick, the assistant to Herb Brooks on the 1980 U.S. men's Olympic gold squad, is the league's commissioner....

The eight coaches are: six-time Stanley Cup winner Bryan Trottier; three-time champion Guy Carbonneau; five-time All-Star John LeClair; four-time Olympian Angela Ruggiero; four-time Stanley Cup winner Larry Murphy; three-time champion Joe Mullen; and Ed Johnston. Johnston and LeClair are the only members of the group not selected to the Hockey Hall of Fame.

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