At the Red Wings' 8-team prospect tournament in Traverse City, MI, the Wings' prospects were in favor of the concept and in favor of the long change as well, but they offered a simple solution to the tedium that is waiting for the damn thing (which has been scrapped by Major Junior Hockey leagues whose rinks tend not to have 2nd Zambonis): the players suggested that they be allowed to head to the locker room, just like they are before playoff overtimes.

After 60 minutes' worth of playing hockey at a professional level, it sure as heck makes sense to want to take your jersey off, get a drink, chow down an energy bar or maybe listen to your coach map out a strategy instead of just sitting and waiting. If the league implemented some sort of "countdown clock," that could help fans with full bladders, too..

And the Boston Globe's Fluto Shinzawa's weekly notebook duly notes that the pre-overtime dry scrape has gotten off to a thoroughly rocky start:

The dry scrape is an example of a good intention. If a game is tied after regulation, the Zambonis will twirl around the ice before overtime to haul away the snow and smooth out the sheet that’s been chewed up for 60 minutes. In theory, players will have better ice in OT, which will lead to scoring chances, which will lead to a pre-shootout result.

In the Bruins’ preseason finale against the Red Wings, a tedious scrape (6:20, according to NESN) led to thumbs down all around. Players’ legs went cold. Fans in the rink lost interest. TV viewers probably changed the channel.

“It seemed a bit rusty, to be honest,” Chris Kelly said. “It seemed like they hadn’t done it before. It took a little longer than they anticipated. I think if it continues to be that length of time, I’m not a huge fan of it. If they can make it faster, then I’m for it. They’re just trying to make overtimes faster and trying to get more goals as opposed to going to the shootout. I understand their methods and reasoning for it. It just killed a little bit of the momentum of the game for everyone.”

A problem with one of the TD Garden Zambonis, according to Bruins president Cam Neely, led to the longer-than-expected scrape. An ideal scrape would take four minutes. This would allow the ice to be freshened, players to catch their breath, and TV networks to go to commercials.

“Absolutely, it was too long,” Neely said. “They want it under five minutes. That’s hopefully something we’re not going to see again.”

When the scrape takes too long, players start to atrophy. The adrenaline flowing at the end of the third period goes away. By the time OT begins, it might take several shifts for players to regain their legs. By then, it’s too late to score, and the game proceeds to the shootout, the destination the scrape was intended to bypass.

If the scrape is to continue, the Zambonis have to hit the ice practically before the horn sounds.

I agree; the league needs to establish some sort of protocol where the Zambonis have been started up and backed out by the time the game clock gets down to 2 or 3 minutes left in regulation. If you've stayed after a game long enough to be shooed out by the ushers, security or janitorial staff, you already know that the first dang thing that happens when the rink empties is a full resurfacing at the ice, so why not get ready ahead of time?

Shinazawa continues at length, discussing the need for defensemen to use their sticks as impediments to opponents' passes, Pierre-Edouard Bellemere's long and winding road to the NHL and more...