|
|
|
Thursday, October 5, 2000
Bettman puts his signature on rulebook
By Al Morganti
Special to ESPN.com
|
Since taking over command as the NHL's first commissioner in 1993 Gary Bettman has ruled the league with an iron grip. However, most of the maneuvers made by Bettman have been done at a business level, and the product on the ice had
been directed by others under Bettman's command.
Now, as the NHL heads toward the next century, the product on the ice will have
more and more of Bettman's influence. The two biggest changes to the game for
the 1999-2000 season have Bettman's fingerprints all over them -- the relaxing
of the rules concerning a goal scored while a player is in the crease, and the
four-on-four rule for overtime play.
|  | | Bettman, once just focused on the business side, has become more aggressive concerning on-ice affairs in the NHL. |
Additionally, as the NHL heads toward the start of the season, there is a small army of players engaged in contract squabbles as free agents. Again, under Bettman's
guidance, the league's general managers are reassessing their spending
habits as they try to make the league work financially. The goal is to avoid a war with the players association when the present collective bargaining agreement ends in 2004 -- or even before that date.
The state of the NHL heading toward the next century is that of a still expanding
league, which has made some dramatic changes. The Atlanta Thrashers will
become the 28th franchise when they open in their new arena this season, joining
Carolina and Los Angeles as teams with new arenas.
The Washington Capitals will open under the new ownership of AOL magnate Ted Leonsis, joining the new breed of NHL owners who appear more interested in the health of the league as a whole, rather than the old "my backyard" philosophy.
But going into this season, the state of the focus can actually swing away from the decimal points and financial pages. Instead, the new standings with the "RT" column for regulation ties will be an immediate and daily reminder that the NHL has a new overtime structure. There will also be a lot less confusion about whether or not a goal has been scored because there was a "man in the crease."
The most dramatic change will take place in overtime, and make no mistake that
Bettman engineered the new four-on-four format.
"The league can say that the general managers worked out the new overtime rules," said one Western Conference general manager. "But we all know it's pretty clear that Gary (Bettman) really wanted this, and he did a good job of selling it
to the Board of Governors.
"We'll see if it is good or bad, but I don't think there is any doubt that Gary looked at this situation, and the crease rule, and he got what he wanted."
There was a committee assembled last season comprised of general managers, owners and team presidents to review the overtime situation. They discussed the four-on-four approach, which was then implemented in the AHL for half a
season with positive feedback to the NHL.
Armed with this report, Bettman never took it back to the GMs to endorse. Instead, he took it right to the governors who stamped it with their approval.
"I think tradition stands in the way of a lot of things," said Colin Campbell, the
former coach of the Rangers who is now the NHL's senior vice president and
director of Hockey Operations. "People say, 'Why change the rules?' There is this
sentiment to not change things at all. That when you change you are saying that there is
something wrong with our game.
"Well, there was something wrong with the game. We had too many tie games. More than that, we had games in which teams seemed much too content to just play for that tie. So, we had to do something.
"My theory is that it is so difficult to make the playoffs, that you were just not going to chance losing that point. No matter how well you played, no matter how much you outshot that other team, you just were not going to open it up in
overtime."
The league had been monitoring the tie situation for the past two seasons, and when it became clear the trend was not going to change, Bettman asked for suggestions.
"There were a ton of opinions," said Campbell. "Some questioned whether there
should be any change at all. We had the people who wanted a shootout. Surprisingly,
people who you would think of as traditionalists came up with sentiment to
change. You would think of all people a guy like (Philadelphia coach) Roger Neilson would be a traditionalist. But he wanted a shootout.
"There were a lot of people who had so many opinions. Including those who just
wanted to end the game after 60 minutes with the tie. What we ended up with is a format which is already part of our game."
One possible effect of the new overtime format could be that teams will now play for the chance to go four-on-four. Especially skilled teams, who would have an advantage over a dump-and-chase team.
Example: Going into four-on-four, would you rather be the Mighty Ducks or the New Jersey Devils? Everybody is looking at the Ducks with Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne up front and speedy Oleg Tverdovsky at one of the points as an overtime nightmare, while the Devils' patient style will be less worrisome.
"The danger is that with 10 minutes to go, a team might start holding back to guarantee the one point," said Flyers general manager Bob Clarke. "I guess it's a concern, but when you look at it from the point of view of the fans, four-on-four can be pretty exciting. I mean, instead of figuring the overtime won't add much, fans are
going to be standing and watching overtime."
"I like the four-on-four," said Rangers general manager Neil Smith, "It's part of our
game during the game at times, and I think it's not going to decide most games."
Now, for the second big change -- once teams get into that overtime there isn't
going to be a chance of a long wait to review a goal to make sure it won't be
called back for a man in the crease.
The rule was actually changed for this season well before the infamous Brett Hull goal to win the Stanley Cup for Dallas last June in Buffalo. Under the new guidelines
there will be a lot less confusion.
"I think you can forget all of the written stuff," said Clarke. "What this new rule
comes down to is common sense and the judgment of the officials. It's the
way it used to be, we're back to the referee's discretion, and I think it's a lot better."
Technically, there was a lengthy document sent to officials and teams over the
summer, explaining virtually every situation, along with the making of a video tape to help explain the rules. Boiled down to basics, the new guidelines state a player can be in the crease and the goal counts as long as he is not interfering with the goalie.
"You can go through the crease, but you also cannot go through the crease," said Campbell. "Let's say it's a five-on-three and a guy is deep in the crease, we said that's too much. Or if a guy like (Tomas) Holmstrom of Detroit or (Claude) Lemieux of Colorado is in the crease all night, and warned by the referee.
"Finally, he's been warned five times, he's in the crease, upsetting the goalie and a
goal is scored. It's no goal, the referee had told him to stay out of the crease. To that extent you've got to stay out of his way."
Over the next week, each team will be getting a video of five primary examples of
the new rule. Goalies would be advised to watch and take notes.
"We battled with it for about five hours with referees with all the 'what
if' scenarios," said Campbell. "In essence, if you go into the crease -- just
don't affect the goalie doing his job. But if you go in, bad things can happen in there. Go
in, go ahead. But get ready to have the thing called back if you interfere with him."
The referees have also been advised to come down hard on goalies who try to
draw a penalty. But what about the fear of goalies getting injured? After all, that was
the purpose of the rule in the first place.
"The rules against running the goalie is not going to change," said Campbell. "If
we feel it was intentional and there is injury, then let's suspend him for 20
games or whatever the case warrants. If we feel someone runs a goalie, if it was on
purpose, then we'll deal with it."
You would think goalies would be up in arms over the rule, but veteran goalie John Vanbiesbrouck who has played with the Rangers, Panthers and now the
Flyers has a unique perspective.
"I have no problems with it," said Vanbiesbrouck. "To be honest, I think it went a
little to far the other way. I remember when I came into the league as a
rookie, Tiger Williams came roaring at me. This crazy guy without a tooth in his head
charges at me, crashes into me and says, 'Welcome to the NHL rookie!'
"Maybe that was too much, but I think it's come to the point where goalies have
to earn some of that respect back. It can't just be no goal because you were
in the neighborhood. I think we've got people who can make the call right, I have no
problem with the rule."
Imagine, a goalie and forwards agreeing in a crease rule. Sounds like they finally
got it right.
|
|
ALSO SEE
Life without Gretzky is a whole new NHL era
|
|
