Weekend roundup
Since I was away for the weekend at a family event, I missed Game 3. I heard it was an exciting game, and the reports I read said both goalies shone. Sounds like Rexall Place took a page out of the Madison Square Garden fans' playbook and jubilantly screamed the name of the goalie they were booing the last time he played in front of them. Hey, even if bandwagoners are screaming your name, it's gotta feel pretty darn good if 17,000 of them are doing it. Since I don't feel I can really comment on a game I didn't see, I have some Euro-tidbits to offer you.
Firstly....
The Czech Extraliga is continuing to fine-tune their rulebook. After making a few rule changes last summer, including the controversial lifting of the no-touch icing rule, they continue to make adjustments for the coming 2006-2007 season. So far three changes have been announced:
The 2010 Winter Olympic games, to be held in Vancouver, will feature North American sized ice surfaces. This will allow for games to be played at existing facilities, and of course will allow for more seating, which translates into more ticket sales. Since many European players play in North America, it shouldn't be too much of an adjustment on the whole.
Thirdly....
(and most vaguely) Some NHL teams will play exhibition games against some Russian Superleague teams. Details such as who, when and where have not been decided upon (or maybe just not released). The NHL has not issued an official statement as yet. Stay tuned, this sounds like it could be fun.
Firstly....
The Czech Extraliga is continuing to fine-tune their rulebook. After making a few rule changes last summer, including the controversial lifting of the no-touch icing rule, they continue to make adjustments for the coming 2006-2007 season. So far three changes have been announced:
- the Extraliga will adopt the "3-point rule", which I am assuming (yeah, I know, never assume) is similar to how the Swedish Elite League awards points: 3 points for a regulation time win, 2 points for an overtime win, 1 point for a tie or an overtime loss and a big fat goose-egg for a regulation time loss.
- post-season seeding has been changed. Instead of the first 8 teams automatically going to the playoffs, teams 7 through 10 will play a preliminary series (best-of-5). The top two teams from that series will join teams 1 through 6 for the quarterfinals.
- and perhaps oddest of all, at least to NHL fans, no secondary assists will be awarded on goals. This should make stat-geeks' heads explode when trying to compare points across leagues.
The 2010 Winter Olympic games, to be held in Vancouver, will feature North American sized ice surfaces. This will allow for games to be played at existing facilities, and of course will allow for more seating, which translates into more ticket sales. Since many European players play in North America, it shouldn't be too much of an adjustment on the whole.
Thirdly....
(and most vaguely) Some NHL teams will play exhibition games against some Russian Superleague teams. Details such as who, when and where have not been decided upon (or maybe just not released). The NHL has not issued an official statement as yet. Stay tuned, this sounds like it could be fun.
posted by maalivahti @ 8:39 PM
1 Comments:
At 9:29 PM ,
Anonymous said...
1. I am not a fan of the new ruling for the Czech league. It should be the best of the best and throwing in teams 9 and 10 for no good reason is just a waste of time. This is another show of rewarding mediocre play.
2. It should be interesting to see how international teams do on teh smaller ice surfaces. In the NHL you only have a fwe seconds with the puck to set something up, while the greater sized ice area of international leagues give the players a lot more space to work with in the other team's zone. I don't think this will be a huge benefit to Team Canada or Team America, but it definitely gives the North American teams a bit of an edge.
D-man
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