AHL Experiment Changes Game’s Flow

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The NHL work stoppage has now claimed over 400 games, and it is looking more and more like the 2004-05 season will not happen. In the meantime, the North American hockey spotlight is shining on the American Hockey League, the most important developmental league in the world.


This season, the AHL is testing some rule enhancements that should ultimately find their way into the post-lockout NHL. Many of these changes, such as widened blue lines and tag-up offsides, were designed to improve the flow of the game and provide it with a much-needed offensive boost. Others, such as shootouts to resolve tie games, arise from a concerted effort to improve the game’s public appeal.


The concept of ties has never been embraced by American sports fans, and the AHL has now eliminated them in favor of an exciting series of one-on-one showdowns. Additionally, the shootout has removed any incentive for coaches to play for the tie during the closing minutes of regulation time and the five-minute overtime period.


The shootout remains controversial, of course. Critics point out that it decides the outcome of a team sport with a contest that is all about individual skill. Greg Cronin, the head coach of the New York Islanders’ affiliate, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, says that “it takes away from the purity of the game.”


Yet there is no question that coaches have adopted more aggressive strategies in the later stages of tie games. During the past three seasons, a quarter of AHL games ended in ties; some 200 games into this season, fewer contests are going into overtime, and far more goals are being scored during the five-minute extra frame. As a result, rather than seeing 25% of games go to the shootout, it has only been required to settle 13% of contests.


Another creative rule change involves the widening of the blue lines from 1 foot to 2, which essentially in creases the surface area of each zone. As the blue line extends towards the goal, the neutral zone is increased, making it more difficult to implement the neutral zone trap. As the blue lines extend toward center ice, the offensive zone becomes bigger, providing more room for playmaking. The wider lines also increase the distance a pass can travel within the confines of the two-line rule.


The AHL has also reinstated the tag up offsides rule. Rather than immediately blowing the whistle when the puck enters the offensive zone and the attacking team’s players are offside, the referees now give those players an opportunity to skate out of the zone and then re-enter it onside. As long as the players don’t touch the puck while they’re offside, play continues, which invites more flow into the game.


“The game has been sped up, and we’ve already seen the result,” said Ryan McGill, the head coach of the Rangers’ AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack. Traditionally, games took between 2:20 and 2:30 to complete; now they are between 2:05 and 2:15.”


Finally, the league has moved the goal lines back 2 feet toward the end boards. Those lines were moved out in the late 1990s to give players more room to create plays in the area often referred to as Wayne Gretzky’s “office.” Of course, Gretzky’s creative instincts were unique, and that space has gone largely unused. This season, the line moves back to its original position.


“The players have really noticed the 2-foot difference,” Cronin said. “There’s a lot less room for the goalies and defensemen to make an exchange […] and there’s also a difference when cycling the puck down low. Teams got into the habit of using the net during fore-check and cycling. You can still do that, but there’s less room to run picks.”


Surprisingly enough, these rule changes have not had much of an impact on scoring. An average of 5.32 goals-per-game are being scored this season, an increase over last year’s 5.11 average, but still substantially lower than the 5.70 scored in 2002-03.


The ultimate goal, however, was to improve the overall quality of the game, and it is there that the AHL has succeeded. Game times have decreased by approximately 10-15 minutes, giving a much greater sense of non-stop action. Most importantly, the flow of the game has improved dramatically, a change that will undoubtedly help attract new fans during a challenging time for the sport. Hockey fans can only hope that the NHL will seriously consider implementing some of these changes once sanity is restored.


***


LUNDMARK JOINS WOLF PACK The Wolf Pack announced this week that they have come to terms with top Rangers prospect Jamie Lundmark. The talented center had been playing for HC Bolzano of the Italian League, where he’d been leading the team with 19 points in 14 games. Lundmark, 23, will be joining the Wolf Pack shortly, and his offensive skills should provide Hartford with a considerable boost.



Mr. Greenstein is the editor in chief of INSIDE HOCKEY (insidehockey.com).


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