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In an article on NHL.com, the suggested rules that will be tested during the August camp fueled by Gatorade are explained. The prospects will take part in numerous scrimmages and drills to give everything a test run and those tests are listed below.
The morning scrimmage Wednesday, Aug. 18, will display the USHL's "hybrid" icing rule that enables on-ice officials to whistle the play dead when they determine the race to an iced puck will be won by the defensive team, precluding a dangerous collision at the end boards.
Believe it or not this works, and I would know because this is how I grew up playing the icing rule in pee-wee and bantam hockey. Just last year we saw an example of what collisions during an icing touch-up race can cause. Remember when Callahan was injured against the Boston Bruins because he was trying to beat out an icing against Zdeno Chara? Yeah, perfect example. Cally's leg was pinned against the boards by Zdeno and he missed a good week or two at a crucial time late in the season.
The Wednesday afternoon scrimmage will focus upon the effect of changing the markings on the ice. A bigger crease, wider blue lines, painted line-change zones in front of each bench, face-off dots down the middle of the ice and a second "verification goal line" behind the goal line will be among the visual changes. The prospects also will be prohibited from icing the puck while shorthanded.
A bigger crease is going to cause problems for players like Sean Avery and Tomas Holmstrom, who thrive on being able to get in the goalie's face. It will give the netminder more room to move around and to cut down angles. I wonder if the elimination of the trapezoid has also been discussed.
For Thursday's morning scrimmage, one of the two referees will be stationed off the ice. No-touch icing will get a look. And on offside infractions, the face-off will be moved into the offending team's zone with it being prohibited from changing lines. On face-off infractions, the opposing center will be able to choose his subsequent face-off opponent. On delayed penalties, play won't be whistled dead until the offending team gets the puck out of its zone.
I think having a referee off the ice is a very smart idea. How many times during a game do you get up from your couch and yell "where was the call, ref?". That is usually due to one of two things: a) Sidney Crosby is the one committing the penalty, or b) (the more common one) the ref is caught up in the action and misses something that happened behind him. Having a ref off the rink gives him a fan's perspective, where everything that goes on can be seen. This may also cause problems for Sean Avery.
The final scrimmage, Thursday afternoon, will be played in two halves utilizing various special-teams innovations that will be deployed by coaches Ken Hitchcock and Dave King. For the 4-on-4 overtime, the teams will switch ends, requiring longer line changes. Overtime will proceed from 4-on-4 to 3-on-3 to 2-on-2 to a shootout.
While some suggested rule changes may seem counterproductive, I do believe Shanahan came up with some great ideas here. Among the ones I liked the most were the no-touch icing, wider blue lines (will prevent many offside calls), and a referee being stationed off the ice. These are all adjustments the National Hockey League should consider in my opinion.
Also, it is good to see that 'ol man Shanny is still putting that hockey-centered brain of his to work.