from Dave Feschuk of the Toronto Star,

The NHL, it’s been said, isn’t a star-driven league.

If there are plenty of reasons for that, maybe a significant one goes like this. We’ve reached a point in NHL history when offence has been overwhelmingly stifled by defence, when the goalies are too big and too skilled to create historically prodigious goal scorers, when time is too short and space is too tight for the fantastic skills of the game’s elite talents to be sufficiently showcased.

The NHL’s best players are great chefs reduced to life as short-order cooks. They slap together what they can in the split second allotted, and it’s palatable enough. But they could be unleashing next-level masterpieces if conditions allowed.

That might be the best thing about the league turning its five-minute overtime period into a three-on-three contest this season. The new format is going to allow the very best players in the league a chance to operate with the luxury of open ice at a moment in time when five-on-five play often presents only closed door after closed door.

The previous overtime format, featuring five minutes of four-on-four action, was occasionally electric. But coaches found a way to bog it down.

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