NHL Rules Summit: Obstruction crackdown should benefit Penguins
By Matt Gajtka
Somewhat hidden behind the collective bargaining agreement negotiations scheduled for this week is the so-called NHL “rules summit” currently under way at league headquarters in Toronto.
This convocation of hockey minds is being conducted in lieu of the orientation, research and development camp that has been part of the NHL’s summer schedule for the last few years. This year’s summit calls to mind a similar meeting during the 2004-05 lockout that led to rules tweaks and reinforcements, opening up the game and supposedly ushering away the Dead Puck Era of 1997-2004.
Those standards established eight years ago have slipped, so this week’s get-together is aimed at addressing concerns about how to deal with the issue. The Pittsburgh Penguins have two representatives present in Toronto: general manager Ray Shero and 40-goal winger James Neal.
It’s appropriate for Shero to be in attendance as he, along with Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma, have publicly expressed concerns about the lack of power play chances negatively affecting their team. Although the Pens man-advantage unit is often criticized, it finished fifth in the NHL last season after several seasons of underachievement. Perception aside, it’s tough to argue more power play opportunities would hurt a team that ices Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and Neal.
So clearly the Penguins stand to benefit more from stricter rules enforcement than others, but what’s good for the Black and Vegas Gold will also be good for the league in general. After cracking six total goals per game in the 2005-06 season, offensive output has drifted back toward the lowest levels seen in the history of the NHL.
Inherently, any argument about the flow and aesthetics of the game will somewhat subjective, but hard numbers indicate that power plays are significantly down since 2005-06. Some of that decrease can be attributed to players getting accustomed to the officiating standard, but a comparison of game action from seven years ago to 2011-12 reveals that more and more obstruction fouls are going unpenalized.
I firmly believe that the rise in visible embellishment is directly related to referees refusing to blow their whistles. Players are intelligent and adaptive: if they feel that potential penalties are sliding by, they will do anything to make the unpenalized infractions more obvious.
Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo! Sports’ Puck Daddy blog argues that embellishment should be a primary focus of the rules summit; while I agree that soccer-like theatrics are unsightly, I contend they are born from frustration. Simply put, if the officials call the game by the book, players won’t feel the need to dabble in performance art.
At any rate, the NHL has a long history of being its own worst enemy. Previous commitments to rules enforcement inevitably lead to a backslide to muddled, skill-repressing hockey.
It is encouraging that league officials, managers, coaches and players agree that something is amiss, but more frequent formal discussions are needed to keep the constant cycle of reform and corruption from repeating endlessly. Not only will highly-skilled teams like the Penguins benefit, but the league will remain dynamic and appetizing to both existing and potential fans.
In an increasingly diverse entertainment landscape, staying fresh and exciting needs to be an urgent priority.
More from Matt Gajtka: Marc-Andre Fleury will play less next season, says Capitals goalie