I nearly fell out of my chair with laughter when I read this:

Ken Hitchcock and Dave King—will take part in the Camp and will be challenging the prospects with strategies which emphasize offensive play and creating scoring chances.

HAHAHA! These two hate offense so much Hitchcock was once quoted by Brett Hull as saying “goals don’t matter”.

But some of the rules they’re testing sound very intriguing.
The ones I liked the best are:

- No line change for team committing an offside and face-off in offensive zone.
- Wider blue lines
- No icing the puck while shorthanded

One thing I haven’t seen is the implementation of roller-hockey offensive zone rules.
In roller-hockey, once you gain the blue line, the offensive zone stretches out to the redline.
This could help prevent the dreaded ‘turtle defense’ that so many teams employ today. It’s still astonishing to me when I watch how teams collapse on their own goalies and let the dmen have all the time and space in the world.
Backing the offensive zone to half the ice might stop that. It’s not nearly as easy to chip the puck out for a line-change or gain a breather.

Posted by Hank1974 on 08/06/10 at 02:52 PM ET

I don’t like the idea of taking the second ref off of the ice.  I get that the idea is to give that ref a better view of the play, but now you are putting the 1st ref in the way of the game.  Instead of going from goal-line to blue-line(ish area), the ref now has to go from goal-line to goal-line; meaning he has to skate THROUGH the play in order to get in better position.  Could also lead to more reviews happening on pucks that barely cross the line and are swept away quickly; mostly on end-to-end rushes though, not likely to happen any more frequently on (for example) a powerplay.

I think a better idea would be to add a 3rd ref who is not on the ice.  That way you can have two refs watching the puck and surrounding area, and the 3rd official can make penalty calls on plays that happen away from the puck.

Posted by CoolJ90 on 08/06/10 at 04:08 PM ET

That’s a great idea CoolJ90.

All in all, I’m pretty happy with the product on the ice as it is now.

My two main complaints are:

1. Interference (pics mostly, not hooking or holding) has made it’s way back into the game. Especially the playoffs.

2. The game needs even more star power.  Especially in the Finals.
I’d love for the NHL to force goalie gear similar to what Dryden wore and at the same time getting rid of composite sticks. I think it’s a happy compromise.

Posted by Hank1974 on 08/06/10 at 05:49 PM ET

I like the inability to ice the puck when shorthanded. Why give a team an advantage because they were penalized? Wider bluelines while ugly are a great way to increase the size of the offensive zone without changing the configuration of the rink. The faceoff rules all seem like dumb gimmicks. The offside rule seems a good way to punish a team that is trying to generate more offense. Line change zone may have some merit to avoid calling penalties on guys not involved in the play. Goaltender euipment should be regulated so that it is to protect the goaltender and not stop the puck.

A third ref? Would that lead to even more inconsistency and if the game is called by the letter of the rulebook wouldn’t the game eventually be three on three for almost the entire game? A third ref may not hurt, but I find it hard to believe the NHL can find enough qualified refs to fill out the two man rotation.

Here’s my wish list:
1. Go back to the rule for delayed penalties that makes it relevant where on the ice you take possession of the puck. I think it made it a little bit more interesting to be able to force the faceoff outside of your zone. A small concession to the defenisve aspect of the game.

2. If you take a penalty in the final minute or even 30 seconds of OT you should be ineligible to be one of the first 3 players to participate in the shootout. It may not matter much, but it happens often enough that with a few seconds left on the clock the players decide to just grab each other since their is no incentive not to take a penalty.

3. Get rid of the automatic delay of game penalty for shooting the puck over the glass and treat it like icing. Faceoff in defensive teams zone and no line change. Calling penalties slows the game down as much as shooting the puck over the glass.

4. Hybrid no-touch icing. instead of the goal line, use the face-off dots so this way you can still create a chance to negate icing but you do it much further away from the boards where injuries occur.

5. Eliminate the trapezoid and allow goaltenders to become fair game outside of the crease or behond the goal line. They can still come out and challenge a shot, but if they decide to play the puck behind the net the run the risk of getting checked. IT allows the goalie to move the puck up quickly when there is no forecheck and forces him to stay in the crease when the offense is on the puck.

6. Last doesn’t even affect the play on the ice. Make officials available to the press after the game, just like players and coaches. What is wrong with clarifying your call or explaining the rule?

Posted by hockey1919 from mid-atlantic on 08/06/10 at 06:48 PM ET

The first and the last coaches Columbus ever fired. Nice combo.

Posted by Viqsi on 08/06/10 at 07:05 PM ET