No brainer new rules that have been tested at the NHL's research and development camp that should be adopted now:
A team killing a penalty should NOT be allowed to ice the puck with impunity. It never has made any sense. You break the rules and you can get (theoretically) out of it by just rifling the puck down the ice endless times for two minutes? Absurd.
And, full time should be served in penalties. The current scenario, where a scored-upon team's player (except for major penalties) returns to the ice if his team is scored upon dates to the 1950s when it was determined that the dynastic Montreal Canadiens' power play of the era was too devastating, so the rule was changed to what it is now. As so often seems to be the case, greatness is not celebrated but attempts are made to bring it to heel. Restore the old rule. You commit a foul and get a penalty, you better be prepared to kill off the entire two minutes, regardless.
Another no-brainer: the verification line for judging whether the puck entered the net. Self-explanatory. Implement it NOW.
What should NOT be adopted: So-called 'hybrid icing." This is the blowhard Toronto Maple Leaf general manager Brian Burke push wherein the linesmen are expected to determine who would win the 'race' to the puck on potential icings and either call icing or not. Burke believes people want to see the 'race' while at the same time protect players from being rammed into the end boards. Yeah, I've been kept up nights, as I'm sure you have, analyzing who 'won' the race to the puck on an icing call. Heck, half the time, if it's close, it's open to question who really touched the puck first. Sure, such calls might play a part in determining the outcome of a game.
But that's the point. Either way, you're leaving it open to human judgment. Hybrid icing would be just another judgment call. If it is ever adopted, it'll be yet another source of endless whining about calls. The solution? No-touch icing. Puck crosses the goal line, blow the whistle, faceoff at other end. End of story and, it'll speed up the game.
Another Burke beaut is his call for the so-called 'bearhug' rule. NO. Yet another judgment call, yet another recipe for more whining about calls. And he'll be the first to bitch about them.
Burke ought to spend more time trying to improve his Toronto Maple Leafs than advocating his usual nonsensical 'I'm a tough guy' alleged improvements to the game.
