The N.H.L.’s general managers will convene at a suburban Toronto hotel Tuesday for their annual fall meeting to debate whether a rule change is needed to limit the neutral-zone trap, after exactly one mildly controversial game.
The trapping debate could divert general managers’ attention from matters many would consider more important, like a measure to adopt no-touch icing, after a serious injury early this season.
The general managers cannot formally propose rule changes at the meeting. Those proposals are made when the general managers reconvene in March, but the fall meeting is when they decide which matters to study and revisit in the spring.
The trapping issue emerged last Wednesday at Tampa Bay, when the Philadelphia Flyers refused to advance the puck against the Lightning’s 1-3-1 trap. The Lightning, in turn, refused to forecheck, so on several occasions totaling about four minutes of playing time, a Flyers defenseman stood motionless in his own zone with the puck while four Lightning players stood motionless at their various stations in the neutral zone and a fifth stood idle deep in his own zone.
It was a tactical standoff, brief and somewhat amusing, in a single game, but it drew plenty of attention.
“I think it’s been called an embarrassing moment,” Commissioner Gary Bettman said Thursday on his radio show. “We play 1,230 regular-season games, and in the course of seasons played things happen that are unusual, teams will do things that are unpredictable and unexpected.”
Yet despite the singularity of the event, there will be discussion among the 30 general managers on Tuesday about whether something should be done about the trap. The focus may be on Lightning Coach Guy Boucher’s 1-3-1 trap, which is slightly different from the 1-2-2 used by other teams.
One idea being talked about is a proposal to allow icing if a defending team goes into a passive 1-3-1.
The general managers may also look at abolishing traditional icing and installing no-touch icing, as in the N.C.A.A., Canadian junior and international hockey.
There were many calls for the N.H.L. to adopt the no-touch rule after Edmonton defenseman Taylor Fedun fractured his femur crashing into the boards during an icing race with Minnesota’s Eric Nystrom in a preseason game in late September.
It is not known when or whether Fedun can return. In 2008, Minnesota defenseman Kurtis Foster required surgery after breaking his femur in an icing race. It took him almost a year to return to the ice.
N.H.L. general managers have kept the traditional rule — although the league did update to the rule to try to prevent unnecessary contact during an icing race — saying fans enjoy the excitement and effort of the races. While commentators spoke a lot about the issue after Fedun’s injury, there has been little talk of it heading into Tuesday’s meeting.
The general managers will also hear reports from the N.H.L.’s chief on-ice disciplinarian, Brendan Shanahan, on the effectiveness of the revised rule on head checking and boarding. He will also report on supplemental discipline for offenders. There were more suspensions in the preseason, and during the regular season the supplemental discipline has been exclusively in the form of fines.
The general managers will also talk about realignment for next season, but their role in the matter is strictly advisory. The Board of Governors will decide how to realign at its early December meeting in Pebble Beach, Calif. They are expected to reduce to four divisions from six.
The big questions there are whether Detroit, Columbus and/or Nashville will end up in the East or West, and whether rivals Pittsburgh and Philadelphia will be separated into different divisions.
The general managers’ fall meeting always takes place in Toronto after Hall of Fame induction ceremonies; this year’s inductees, Ed Belfour, Doug Gilmour, Mark Howe and Joe Nieuwendyk, were honored Monday night, and Nieuwendyk stayed on for the meeting in his capacity as the Dallas general manager.
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