Comments on: NHL research and development camp will test out a host of potential new rules

By: BobaFett

BobaFett — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 06:14:07 +0000

The only rule they should change is that if you are on the PK, you can’t ice it. If you do, you can’t line change.
A team that got a penalty should not be rewarded.
PPG rates would go way up, and that’s good for the game.
Leave the crease where it is, and remove the trapezoid.
Leave OT the way it is, 10M with a shootout (3).

By: Alex

Alex — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 15:21:56 +0000

No Touch Icing, Wider blue lines and the “Verification Goal line” assuming Facteau is correct in his interpretation (and I agree with him … but this IS the Bettman run NHL office sooo lets not assume anything…) are each rules that should be agreed to.
No touch is the one I especially cheer for since it just makes too much sense … I’ve seen way too many injuries in the NHL over the years from the race to tag the puck. Please let this one pass!

By: Chad

Chad — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 15:03:18 +0000

I like the idea of “no touch” icing, which should significantly cut down on injury when players are racing to a potentially iced puck. 2 on 2 would actually be fun… if it was half ice! Four people trolling around the ice would look like a poorly advertised Rat Hockey Session. 3 on 3 is a little better, but it is not really Hockey at that point. I have to disagree about off-sides though Fecteau. I like the idea of keeping a stringent off-sides policy. 2 inches or a foot… off-sides is off-sides (we wouldn’t make the bases bigger is baseball to allow more singles, would we?). All the other stuff is silly and has zero value-add (whistled face-offs, etc.) The goal line verification is actually pretty hysterical. I have yet to see an instant replay that would have benefited from a second goal line (if that is what it is). They have like 6 angles now as it is. I also DO NOT like the “no-icing puck while shorthanded” idea. Killing penalties actually brings fans into the game and “clearing the puck all the way” is a rich part of the penalty kill. I think fans would suffer at the hands of that rule.

By: Fecteau

Fecteau — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 13:32:56 +0000

Great Article! I feel there are a lot of things that make sense and theres a lot of things that are overkill.
Joe, I agree with you about the delay of game penalty for firing the puck out of the zone. I think not allowing a line change is penalty enough.
Verification Goal line? They must be talking about a line that is distances at exactly the width of the puck, located behind the goal line that the net cameras could tell if its completely behind the line. Once its touching, we know its a goal! Not a bad idea, presuming that’s what they mean…
Trying out 4 different OT rules? I actually like the 3 minutes of 4 on 4, three minutes of 3 on three. Afterwards there should be the normal shootout rules. Two on two? Ridiculous, we don’t even see that when the penalty box is full… Toss it! (Its like they’re trying to find any gimmick, logical or senseless, that will draw in more fans. I doubt that will work NHL!)
Faceoffs don’t need to change, although I would think that the player picking an opponent for an infraction is a good idea. They just can’t pick goaltenders and D-men… Only C, RW, and LW.
I have a problem with the penalty on a SH team that ices… The entire point of icing the puck is to stop the game from being too boring. But taking it away from teams that are short handed would cause the PPG ratios to go off the charts!
Larger creases and wider blue lines make sense. The wider blue lines might not only give the offense more room to attack, but also stop those frivelous offsides calls too. I hate it when an offsides is called and the player specifically made an effort he was off by 2 inches though… And line change zones? I would imagine that is a color coded section in which a player cannot get on the ice until someone enters the aptly colored zone? I have no problem with that, but I think that for the most part its well enough managed. There’d probably be too many colors on the ice anyways… Ice USED to be whitish blue…
Anyone else’s thoughts?