NHL takes the ice, implements new rules Online Exclusive

Mark Beck BEC04019@BYUI.EDU Scroll Staff

National Hockey League players and owners have resolved their differences and are ready to take the ice Oct. 5 for the start of the 2005-06 season. The NHL recently became the only major professional sports league in North America to lose an entire season to a labor dispute.

The league has implemented several rule changes with hopes of being more appealing to the fans.

“We are going to let our offensive players, our skill players, do what they do best,” commissioner Gary Bettman said of the changes according to NHL.com. “We are taking out the center line to open up the long pass. We are reinstituting the tag-up at the blue line to bring more flow and fewer stoppages in play.”

The rule changes are intended to speed up the game and increase scoring.

The most notable change is the shootout after a scoreless overtime period, meaning no games will end in a tie. Also, goalies will have new regulations on the size of their equipment.

Along with the rule changes, Bettman announced other plans for the league.

“We are going to have a more dynamic schedule, emphasizing rivalries within divisions, and predominantly in-conference play,” Bettman said. “We are going to energize our television broadcasts, both locally and nationally, by providing greater access and taking our viewers inside the game in ways we’ve never done before.”

The NHL, which is a distant fourth in popularity ratings among the four major sports leagues in the United States, hopes to avoid the same backlash from fans that hurt Major League Baseball after the strike in 1994.

Following the announcement, players expressed excitement for the new rules.

“It’s a new day,” said Flyers’ coach Ken Hitchcock according to ESPN.com immediately following the announcement. “It’s pretty exciting.”