The Hockey Stop

Brendan Shanahan is shunning the hockey purists and that is a good thing for the future of the National Hockey League.

The NHL's new VP of hockey and business affairs wrapped up the league's first Research, Development and Orientation Camp on Thursday at the Toronto Maple Leafs' nearly one-year-old practice facility -- the state-of-the-art Mastercard Centre for Hockey Excellence.

The past week featured 33 top-rated 17-year-old junior hockey players hitting the ice to test a series of potential new rules in front of NHL coaches, general managers and executives.

Some of the rules will likely never see the light of day, such as during the overtime session reducing the number of players on the ice by a man every three minutes until it is two on two. However, there are some rules that fans could see in the next few years.

Right now icing the puck is incredibly dangerous, even by hockey standards, because it creates an intense race to touch the puck first (see picture above) and one little nick in the ice surface can send a player barreling into the boards head first and cause a serious injury.

That is why, in my opinion, automatic icing like they have in international competition is what the NHL needs. And no-touch icing is on the table and was tested this past week. But also tested was "hybrid icing," which would allow the linesman to rule an icing if it is clear that the defender would have touched the puck first. But this rule does nothing to mitigate the close races for the puck and would do nothing to prevent serious injuries. In my view, while hybrid icing would be a step in the right direction, why not just go full throttle and write no-touch icing into the rulebook. After all, if it could save one player from a serious and possibly career-ending injury then it is worth it.

There were plenty of other rules tested including a referee sitting on the sideline above the ice to get a better view of the action and any infractions (the coaches don't like this one because it is harder to yell at the ref), but the bigger picture here is a promising one. The RDO Camp is a reminder that over five years after the lost season due to the lockout, the NHL is still working hard to win back fans by making the game more dynamic and exciting then it has ever been.

The danger in so many new rules is that it will water down the game so much it will become a joke and that these are simply gimmicks to attract non-hockey fans in an era of sports entertainment overload where a guy on a couch can just as easily watch the Lingerie Football League on his 500-channel cable package than the nightly pro hockey game.

But if done in a careful and thoughtful way as the past week's testing proves, then it can really correct some outdated rules and make the game of hockey more exciting without detracting from the purity of the sport. Otherwise if nothing is done, then you have Major League Baseball, where managers still get ejected for arguing calls when video replay would have saved time and lowered the blood pressure of managers and umpires across professional baseball.

So kudos to Gary Bettman, Shanny and the National Hockey League for holding the Research, Development and Orientation Camp. By thinking outside of the box they are assuring a promising future for the fastest sport in the world.

Leafs-Ducks-Flames in huge deal

Toronto Maple Leafs General Manager Brian Burke had seen enough.

The storied franchise has been mired in mediocrity in recent years and this year has been particularly bad with the Maple Leafs sitting second to bottom in the league with a record of 17-28-11 for 45 points.

Toronto aims to get back on the right track with this blockbuster deal pulled off Sunday -- Toronto gets defenseman Dion Phaneuf from Calgary and Stanley Cup-winning goalie J.S. Giguere from Anaheim.

The rest of the seven-player deal with the Flames includes right wing Fredrik Sjostrom and prospect Keith Aulie to Toronto for forwards Niklas Hagman, Matt Stajan, Jamal Mayers and defenseman Ian White.

My opinion? This is a smart move for Toronto. They needed to shake things up and as the old saying goes -- defense wins Cups and the Leafs just added two stonewalls in back of their blue line. And Phaneuf has the ability to light the lamp often as well, which is always a plus with a defenseman.

Sale of Tampa Bay Lightning could come soon

The financial mess the Lightning face -- the NHL had to bail the ownership out to make payroll -- could soon be resolved, according to a report in the St. Petersburg Times.

The report says that talks are underway about selling the team to Boston hedge fund manager Jeff Vinik. The article says there is speculation that an NHL-brokered deal could happen swiftly.

Many Lightning fans are likely rooting for this deal because the current ownership is not very popular because of their non-hockey background and flashy Hollywood-type decisions such as hiring Barry Melrose as head coach. We all know how that worked out. On the other hand, Vinik is a minority partner in the Boston Red Sox so he knows about how to run a winning franchise. He also managed the Fidelity Magellan Fund in the 1990s so he is wise to the financials and would probably not get himself into a situation where he fails to pay his players.

But the most intriguing part of the story? The speculation from The Hockey News that Vinny Lecavalier may be traded in order for the team to cut costs. Lecavalier would have to waive his no-move clause. He is in his first year of an 11-year, $85 million deal. One potential place Lecavalier could end up is Los Angeles. To be continued ...

Caps aim for franchise record Tuesday

Speaking of the Lightning, the Washington Capitals beat them 3-2 in a matinee affair at the Verizon Center Sunday on a game-winning third period tally from Alex Ovechkin. The win was the Caps' 10th straight, which ties the franchise mark set in 1984.

The red-hot Caps have a chance to set the franchise record for most consecutive regular season wins on Tuesday when they face off against the struggling Boston Bruins at TD Banknorth Garden.

And while Washington's explosive league-leading offense has propelled the team to victory after victory, solid penalty killing and clutch saves from Jose Theodore and Michael Neuvirth have contributed as well.

I've been saying for awhile that the Capitals are one shutdown defenseman away from being a Stanley Cup contender. I still believe General Manager George McPhee will be shopping for a veteran sacrifice-the-body-in-front-of-the-net blueliner to put the final piece of the puzzle in place for a Stanley Cup run.

The goaltending situation I believe to be resolved as this past winning streak has shown. Number one goalie Simeon Varlamov is nearing a return from injury and has been getting some important schooling from Caps goaltending coach Arturs Irbe. Varlamov is sure to match his high skill level with more maturity when he returns. That said, veteran Jose Theodore is playing his best hockey since he became a Cap, and rookie Michael Neuvirth has been playing solid under pressure. Plus there is highly touted prospect Braydon Holtby, who has been tearing it up in Hershey but has yet to play an NHL game. Needless to say, the future between the pipes for the Caps is a bright one.

Jonathan Quick with save of the year?

I expect to be watching a replay of L.A. Kings goalie Jonathan Quick's unbelievable save on the ESPY Awards.

On Sunday in New Jersey, the talented young netminder was sprawled on the ice with bodies in front of him blocking his view when a Devil lifted the puck off the ice into an open net only to see Quick's glove hand rise up and snap the puck out of the air. All this while Quick's eyes were probably staring at the skate blade of one of the players in front of him. It was spectacular and one of the reasons the Kings rallied with two goals late in the third period to win 3-2 and go 5-0 on their road trip.

The Kings are certainly ready for the playoffs and could potentially ride their hot goalie deeper into the postseason than many pundits think they will go.

Here are the game highlights. Quick's spectacular save is at the 4:35 mark:

Montreal Canadiens fan Ryan Stotland, 22, is bringing his Le Tricolore (3 Colors) jersey and his bike to South America on a 12,000 kilometre (7.5 thousand mile) journey to raise awareness and funds for two causes -- climate change and skin cancer.

His four-month, seven-country expedition, which has already raised over $110,000 and is currently rolling through Ecuador, has been recognized by the Habs in a video message endorsing his charitable efforts.

The Habs are making news themselves with the announcement today that the storied franchise's sale to the Molson family has been approved by the NHL Board of Governors.



The ownership change comes the same week Montreal celebrates its 100th anniversary, culminating with Friday's game against Boston at the Bell Centre.

Hopefully, Ryan will be able to watch his Habs celebrate their 100th season wherever he will be in South America.





Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin has been suspended two games by the NHL for a knee-on-knee collision with Carolina's Tim Gleason during Monday's 3-2 Caps victory in Raleigh.

Ovechkin exited the ice with a sore knee following the hit and the MRI results have not yet been made available to the media so he is officially listed as day-to-day.

I attended the Caps-Sabres game at Verizon Center last week in which Ovechkin received a game misconduct and was ejected from the game after a hard check on Buffalo's Patrick Kaleta.

According to the NHL rulebook, a total of three game misconducts in the general category during the regular season results in an automatic one-game suspension. The general category includes charging (Buffalo game) and kneeing (Hurricanes game) so it wasn't a given that Ovie would have been suspended.

Here is the Game Misconduct rule:

23.1 Game Misconduct Penalty - A game misconduct penalty involves the suspension of a player or goalkeeper for the balance of the game but a substitute is permitted to replace immediately the player or goalkeeper so removed.

23.3 Fines and Suspensions – General Category - In regular League games, any player or goalkeeper who incurs a total of three (3) game misconduct penalties in the “General Category” and exclusive of other designated categories, shall be suspended for the next League game of his team. For each subsequent game misconduct penalty, the automatic suspension shall be increased by one game. For each suspension of a player or goalkeeper, his Club shall be fined one thousand dollars ($1,000).

OTHER NEWS:

• New Jersey Devils radio color analyst Sherry Ross made history last Wednesday by becoming the first woman to provide play-by-play of an entire NHL game in English.

• The NHL Network is currently previewing on The Dish Network. It is available to basic cable subscribers on channel 403, but not in HD. The promising network provides nightly highlights, live look-ins, full game broadcasts and expert analysis.

• Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens, the longtime former home of the city's NHL team, is being renovated after 10 years of neglect. The $57 million facelift will transform the historic arena, which opened in 1931, into a retail and recreation complex.