from Fluto Shinzawa of the Boston Globe,

TJ Likens is a transportation engineer based in Lansing, Mich., at Bergmann Associates, an architecture and engineering firm. Through his professional prism, Likens views vehicle traffic as a relationship between speed and density. On a free-flowing highway, speed and density are in synch. When congestion increases, it reaches a point called critical density, where driving at a cool 65 miles per hour becomes a cruel joke....

“It’s not a problem of speed. The speed is there,” Likens said. “But scoring and front of the net play — between the dots, blocking shots — from that perspective, if I’m looking at it as an engineer, I want to identify the problem and come up with a solution.”

Likens understands roads and rinks. He is also an NCAA referee who works NCHC games. Likens knows that coaches demand stout play in front of the net and in shooting lanes....

For example, the NHL could look at a three-second lane violation, similar to that in basketball. Defenders could no longer spend entire shifts parked in front of the net. If they did, the attacking team would go on the power play. It would be somewhat akin to keeping slow-moving cars out of the fast lane.

Another change that Likens and some of his fellow officials have thrown around is making it easier for attacking teams to stay onside. If a team gains a clean entry over the offensive blue line, the play would remain onside even if the defenders clear the zone. It would only be offside if the defending team pushed the puck back over the red line.

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