from Sean McIndoe of Grantland,

Let’s Stop Using Players’ Twitter Handles in News Updates

This one’s on you, fellow reporters. There’s a time and a place to tag someone in a tweet. Breaking news is not one of those times. When you tweet out that you’re “Hearing that @snizzydawg27 could be asking for a trade” or “Just saw that @burpledurple98 has been placed on waivers” or “Currently watching @BigDaddyThimbleFingers161853 break into the referees’ dressing room and start beating them about the head and face with his blocker,” nobody knows who you’re talking about. And we’re sure not going to move our mouse pointer 3 inches and click on the name to find out, because what do we look like, triathletes?

If you’re engaging in playful online banter with a player, tag away. They’re not going to reply to you, because they secretly hate us all, but no harm done. But if the guy just went face-first into the crossbar and is picking his wisdom teeth out of the crease, he’s probably not faving your tweet. Just tell us his name.

Let’s Just Enjoy 3-on-3 Overtime

This season, the NHL will introduce a fairly major rule change. Overtime games will now be played 3-on-3, down from the 4-on-4 that’s been the standard for years (and the 5-on-5 at which regulation time is played).

That means that each team will be using just three skaters and a goalie, creating all sorts of open ice. It’s going to be different. It’s going to be weird. It’s going to be fun.

much more