New York – The National Hockey League may be slowing their move to hybrid icing, but moving along with the idea that penalties issued for ‘message sending’ late in playoff games should carry over to the following game.
Those were two of the developments that emerged from the NHL’s general manager meetings Wednesday afternoon.
As recently as the GM’s meetings in March, the league was prepared to begin the steps to adopt hybrid icing for the 2012-13 season. But after further consideration, the rule change – still yet to be precisely defined – will be implemented in the American Hockey League first.
"From my perspective it’s something that makes sense, but the group is a lot smarter than I am, so we’ll try it in American League and see how it looks there," said Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke.
"I think the sense was that the players have been educated and they’re very careful on icing. Touch wood but we haven’t had a serious problem with it for a long time and the race is exciting and our fans like it, so the sense is it’s not the urgent issue that some people think it is."
In general with hybrid icing, the linesman would be required to make a judgment call at the faceoff dots in the offensive zone. If the forechecker is leading the race for the puck when he reaches the dots then play continues. If the defenceman is leading the race for the puck — or if he is even with the forechecking forward at the faceoff dots — then the linesman would whistle for icing.
In contrast, the NHL requires the puck to be touched by a player before icing is called, but concerns about players’ safety have prompted GMs to consider their options.
But with the players adapting their behaviour, the league wants to wait before making what is considered a radical change.
"We like it, but we want to make sure we’re not moving too quick," said Detroit Red Wings general manager Ken Holland. "We want to move it to the best league in the world below the NHL and evaluate it with those level of players. Obviously it’s in college and some lower leagues those players aren’t nearly as good as the players we’re dealing with."
Another idea that surfaced yesterday is the so-called ‘travelling penalty’ which deal with infractions that took place in the final minutes of a playoff game. If the full penalty can’t be served before the game ended, it would then be carried over to the beginning of the next, raising the possibility of one team starting a game short-handed.
"We all thought it’s radical, but we thought there is something there. Let’s stew on it and next year we can further discuss it," said Holland, who saw Henrik Zetterberg get his head shoved into the glass by Shea Weber of the Nashville Predators at the end of the Game 1 of their first-round series. Weber was assessed a $2500 fine, but with game over, the crunching hit went effectively unpunished.
"The reason they put rules in – you don’t want them to break the rules. But if they do break the rules you want someone with some power to discipline someone. And right now there’s a grey area; late games whereby there’s not a suspension and people can do a lot of message sending ."
"We’re going to think about [the proposed rule]. We’ve decided not to do anything this year and over the course of next year’s GM meetings we’re going to further discuss it."
Some general managers – including Vancouver’s Mike Gillis and the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Steve Yzerman – voiced concern about the trend toward teams leaving defencemen at the blueline uncovered in favour of retreating to the net and blocking shots, but said there was no discussion of rules to limit or alter how teams block shots.
"There was some discussion about the style of play we’re witnessing. My perspective is I want to see offence in the game and I want to see scoring opportunities and I think a lot people feel the same way," said Gillis. "But if your team is made up a certain way, they’re going to coach a certain way. It’s not something I agree with but it also puts the emphasis on other teams to find a way to be successful against them. We have a responsibility as well."
