GM’s recommend three-on-three overtime, change faceoffs
Every March the National Hockey League’s (NHL) general managers conduct an annual meeting to discuss potential rule changes so the league will continuously improve. This year, the main issues that were addressed were the high amount of shootouts and the lack of offence seen in games. While back in the 1980’s fans could watch Wayne Gretzky score 90 goals in a season and there were multiple players breaking 150 points, this year the leagues top scorer has 74 points with about 10 games remaining. Unless a point-per-game player triples their scoring rate over the next 10 games, the scoring race will be won with the least amount of points since 1955.
The proposed three-on-three overtime format will not be settled until the rules are passed by the National Hockey League Player Association (NHLPA), but some ideas have been put forth and have gained popularity. The American Hockey League (AHL) used a seven-minute overtime this year, switching from four-on-four play, to three-on-three once the whistle is blown following the three-minute mark. Using this format 76 per cent of games that have gone to overtime finished in overtime, compared to last year’s mere 35.3 per cent – including 15.6 per cent of games requiring a shootout resolution. This season, with the new format, only 5.8 per cent of games needed a shootout decision. Those are some pretty convincing numbers, but imagine how exciting sudden death three-on-three hockey would be.
In addition, when games finish in shootouts, the winning goal is not added to anyone’s stats. That’s one goal, and potentially three points, lost every time a game goes to a shootout. Shootouts are fun and exciting, but in a close game some fans argue that they would rather a goal occurred naturally rather than in the flip-of-a-coin that is seen as the shootout. From the decreased amount of shootouts alone, the league would likely see a considerable increase in scoring, which may not sound good to goaltenders, but it is exactly what the NHL general mangers are looking for.
The recommended faceoff change is also aimed at increasing scoring and benefits the league’s stars offensively. Currently one of the major advantages to playing a game at home comes when taking faceoffs. The player on the visiting opposition must put his stick down first allowing the home center to get the better positioning to win the draw. The new rule proposes that the defensive centre will have the disadvantage when the faceoff is taken on their side of the red line. In contrast to the current rule, the centre who got the advantage had nothing to do with creating offence, rather, it was to give the home team an additional advantage on top of being in their home building with their fans.
With all the faceoffs that occur in your average game, this should increase the amount of time that a team can stay on the offensive before the other team can force a turnover. In other words, when a team is outplaying the other, they will have the added advantage during each offensive faceoff, which should increase scoring. Another effect may be centres on high scoring teams having higher faceoff percentages than the rest of the league, so take notes for next years fantasy draft if these changes become official.