BOCA RATON, Fla. — It wasn’t that long ago when the league’s GMs gathered at this annual March meeting that their hair was on fire trying to figure out how to “fix’’ the game with the league’s hockey operations department.
It was a yearly ritual. The search for ways to increase scoring.
I still remember sitting in a near-empty news conference room in Henderson, Nevada, in February 2004 (yes they used to hold this meeting before the trade deadline) when NHL executive vice-president Colin Campbell emerged from the last day of those GM meetings and began to read off of a hand-written piece of paper. The announcement that followed was a slew of recommendations for rule changes, to which a handful of media people in attendance reacted to by dropping their collective jaws:
- Elimination of the centre ice red line for offside purposes
- The advent of the shootout to end tie games after overtime
- A major crackdown on obstruction/hooking/holding to open up the game
- Three points for a regulation win
While the last one never saw the light of day, much of the rest, along with more from that somewhat historic day (I was working at The Canadian Press back then and I vividly remember calling the desk and dictating an urgent bulletin because we were so shocked at what we were hearing), would break through on the other side of the 2004-05 lockout and change the game rather dramatically.
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Today, the game is still far from perfect.
Video review for goalie interference and offside remains a mystery at times. There will be more discussion of that, of course, at this week’s meetings. Player Safety? There’s a lack of consistency in my opinion. And I’m hardly alone on that. GMs will be on that this week. And yes, there’s lots of Player Safety items on the agenda this week.
But by and large, the NHL is in a good place. It has a game that’s fast, its got goals, its evolution has seen smaller, quicker players find a prominent place where 15 years ago that was next to impossible.
Simply put, the on-ice game is fun to watch.
Which is why when the GMs have met here the last few years it’s become about so much more than minor tinkering. There’s little desire for a facelift anymore.
Off the ice, there are still important issues to grapple with. Is the NHL doing as much as it can on the concussion (prevention/treatment) front? It’s come a long way but there’s lots of runway there to keep improving (as an aside, one agenda item this week is an update from the league to GMs on the concussion lawsuit settlement).
Also on the agenda is an update on the status of CBA negotiations between the league and NHL Players’ Association, to which there will be perked ears from GMs to be sure.
Hockey-wise, while there’s no urgency to make big changes, there are some interesting tidbits on the agenda up for discussion including:
Clocks in corner boards: I like this idea. Most coaches probably do. I think for defencemen retrieving the puck it would be handy to see the clock without having to look up over their shoulders, or for teams on power plays or penalty kills, an obvious advantage. Especially given that in today’s modern arenas and all the entertainment on the Jumbotron, sometimes the clock disappears between whistles. Now, where you’ll get pushback here I’m sure is from a marketing/business point of view because the clocks in the corner would be replacing some advertising.
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Change how penalties are awarded in three-on-three overtime: This is an agenda item that has been kicked around in the past but I sense more and more momentum on it. The idea is that a 4-on-3 power play is so much more dangerous than a standard 5-on-4 and so perhaps penalties in overtime should be cut down to one minute. Or perhaps certain types of penalties? Maybe puck over glass is just a minute but a roughing call is the full two? Discuss.
Change the “ROW’’ tiebreaker to the “RW’’ tiebreaker in the standings: A GM tabled this one and I like it. The idea with ROW was that it devalued shootout wins for determining a team’s spot in the standings via the tiebreaker. But now this GM in question is arguing that we should devalue the three-on-three OT win for the same purpose. I whole-heartedly agree. Regulation wins are king, they represent the true merit of a team’s value. I sense the league isn’t too keen on this change so it will be interesting if anything comes of it. Probably nothing.
Seattle expansion update: The league already announced the same rules as Vegas for the Seattle expansion process but no doubt GMs will be all ears as far as a refresher, not to mention any potential minor tweaks or interpretation of the existing rules when it comes to navigating the next expansion process.
Signing KHL players to future NHL contracts: This is an update from NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly to GMs on the new MOU with the KHL on procedures for signing KHL players on expiring contracts; there are some minor changes from the last agreement between both leagues.
There are other items on the agenda but that gives our readers a preview of what’s ahead this week. The meetings run Monday through Wednesday.
(Top photo credit: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)