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Bigger ice — and no red line
NHL pros will have to adapt to several changes
By Jody Genessy
Deseret News Olympic specialist
The NHL stars are in the Olympics. The NHL game isn't.
During the Olympics tournament, the pros — especially those born and bred with North American hockey skills — will have to adapt to a completely different style than they are used to. It features a bigger rink and no red line, along with a handful of other changes, too.
It might especially be difficult, though hardly impossible, for the U.S. pros, who are looking to win a medal for the first time since 1980.
The most noticeable difference is the size of the rink. The international ice is 200 feet long, just like the NHL, but the surface is 15 feet wider — 100 feet compared to 85. Many believe the big ice gives a big advantage to the Europeans, who grew up playing on that size rink and know how to maneuver on it better as teams.
"The Europeans, when they get on that international rink, it's like old home week," said U.S. men's coach Herb Brooks. "They play an entirely different game. It's unbelievable."
Having 3,000 more square feet of playing surface really opens the game up, putting emphasis on speed, passing and offense, rather than bruising defense. It's like getting used to driving at freeway speeds on a wide-open I-15 rather than being clogged up in two lanes during the old orange-barrel construction days.
"That Olympic ice sheet," said Brooks, "boy, skating ability and creativity is very important."
"The game's gonna open up more, and there's more room for the offense," said Finland right winger Teemu Selanne of the San Jose Sharks, who tied for the scoring lead in Nagano. "There will be more skating, more excitement."
Though the Americans only had a couple of days in the summer and one day (Thursday) to practice because of the NHL season, Boston Bruins forward Bill Guerin is confident the United States will manage to hold its own.
"Just because it's big ice doesn't mean anything," Guerin said. "We can adjust."
Having so many Europeans play in North America now could also help neutralize their advantage since they, too, are used to the NHL's smaller rink.
"I haven't played on the big ice since, I don't know, probably since '94," said Russian goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin, an All-Star with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The biggest stress will be on the defensemen, who will have to work different angles, make fast adjustments and won't be able to rely on the boards quite as much. Trapping becomes trickier, and defending the power play is also harder and more important.
"It's definitely a change. The wider ice surface makes a big difference," said U.S. defenseman Brian Leetch of the New York Rangers. "It's more difficult for a defenseman to play."
Everybody will have to adjust to not having the red line, a change from Nagano.
Without the red line — the big stripe down the middle of the ice — players can essentially make a 150-foot pass from their own goal to the opposite blue line because there is no off-side pass infraction. That can lead to more quick-strike rushes and opens the already bigger ice up more for fast forwards and definitely puts even more pressure on defensemen to get back in their zone faster.
"This is the first time they've done this," said U.S. captain Chris Chelios of the Detroit Red Wings. "It will be a test to us. We're not familiar with this at all."
"We're going to have to play a different sort of game with no red line," said Canada head coach Pat Quinn. "Not only (learn) how to attack well, using the open ice, but how to defend it as well."
Some other notable changes:
- OFFSIDES: An offensive player who gets into the offensive zone before the puck can back out and "tag-up" on or behind the blue line and return as long as another offensive player doesn't touch the puck first.
- ICING: Play is stopped as soon as the puck passes the opposing goal line if the puck is hit from a player's own half of the ice. A defending player must touch it first in the NHL.
- FACE-OFFS: Following stoppage, the visiting team gets five seconds to make player changes, then the home team receives five seconds and then both sides get five seconds to adjust before the ref drops the puck. The ref doesn't wait as long as in the NHL, so players must be alert.
- SHOOTOUTS: In quarterfinals, semifinals and medals games, a five-player shootout will be used if teams cannot break a tie in a sudden-death overtime.
- FIGHTING: Sorry, fight lovers, but a match penalty (ejection) will be assessed to any player who starts or engages in fisticuffs.
E-MAIL: jody@desnews.com
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February 14, 2002
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