from Damien Cox of Sportsnet,
- The NHL Players’ Association will meet in New York City in the first week of June for its annual board meetings, and part of that will include formulating responses to the rule changes proposed by NHL general managers in March. The competition committee meeting between the two sides is tentatively scheduled for June 4th. At the top of the agenda will be using three-on-three in overtime next season.
The GMs threw out a couple of options, and the players have yet to formally respond. More and more, however, there seems to be a sentiment that there needs to be a trial period to evaluate this rule change. One option would be to try it out during the pre-season, then hold off on implementing it until the 2016-17 season if the results are favourable. The union sees the way in which shootouts have gradually lost popularity as a warning to just implementing three-on-three play without actually understanding the impact.
- The NHLPA is becoming increasingly concerned with the drop in scoring during the regular season and playoffs, which makes sense because lower statistics can impact bonuses, arbitration and contracts. Meanwhile, more and more you’re hearing out there that a growing number of coaches, players and executives believe that the move a decade ago to take out the red line for the purposes of two-line passes has proven to be a failure, producing a style of low-scoring hockey few contemplated.
more hockey topics...
Create an Account
In order to leave a comment, please create an account.