NHL test drives new rules to boost offence
The repetitive theme of NHL’s Research, Development and Orientation camp was increasing offence. Nothing too radical but clear focus of the proposed tweaks and nips was to get more scores per game. The league tried out having bigger blue lines, getting rid of icing waivers for short-handed teams, having to clear the puck into the neutral zone instead of just touching it to stop play in case of an icing infraction and allowing line substitutions in stopped plays following those infractions.
The new rules were tried out at the Maple Leafs’ facilities over a two day period. The proposed rules would eliminate a few roadblocks to team offense strategies. Over the years, NHL’s goals-per-game average has consistently fallen. Goaltenders have gotten better and scoring has become difficult. As a result, the league wants to put on a show for the fans packed with goal scoring action. At least that is what the new rules suggest but the NHL denies any such idea.
Vice President, NHL Hockey and Business operations, Brendan Shanahan insisted there was no one focus of the camp. “I think, generally speaking, we felt that going into this camp, we wanted to reward skill. Maybe limit a coach’s ability to manipulate a game, to control a game.” He added that the aim was to protect the integrity of the game and to that end the camp had been highly successful.
However the new rules being tried out won’t get into effect any time soon. Shanahan said that there was no deadline to the project. He said that the real focus was to experiment with the rules and gather information on their effect in live play. That information, he added, could come in handy at any time in the future.
Some of the changes that were tried out during camp have gained a lot of backing and gotten positive reviews all around. Amongst them the most notable and practical was the proposed hybrid icing rule. At present, icing occurs when the puck crosses two red lines and play is stopped when a player other than the goaltender touches the puck. That gives rise to a frantic chase after the puck that can go all the way into the glass at very high speeds.
Under the new rules, the officials on ice could call an icing infraction based on his assessment of which team would win the race for the puck. If the official finds that the defending team would be the first to the puck, he would call the play dead. On the other hand, if the attacking team is more likely to get its hand on the puck, the icing infraction would be waived off. The new rules would effectively tame the hunt for a loose puck. That hunt is one of those moments of the game that fans absolutely love.
Leafs’ general manager acknowledged the fact and said that they wanted to keep that play but also wanted to minimize the chances of injuries to defensemen. Burke said that icing rules are on the GM’s agendas because the injuries suffered during those plays can be fairly severe and something needs to be done about them. Following Kurtis Foster’s injury while hunting for the puck that forced him out of the ring for an entire year, the NHL amended icing rules before the 2009 season. According to those rules, the only contact that two players can have during an icing play must be for the sole purpose of controlling the puck and any attempt to stop the opposing player from playing the puck would result in a penalty.
There are players who like the new icing rules just as there are those who want to keep them the way they are. The NHL must strike a balance between keeping the game exciting and keeping it safe. Perhaps, they can do both. Maybe the new icing rules won’t make plays less exciting. In that case, audiences could possibly see them in place within the next few years or sooner if another player is seriously injured in an icing play.
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