Juniors to get taste of potential NHL rule changes
Strategic innovations also part of research and development camp
Last Updated: Friday, August 6, 2010 | 1:21 PM ET
By Doug Harrison, CBC Sports
Former NHL coach Ken Hitchcock will put more than 30 draft-eligible junior players through their paces at the upcoming NHL Research, Development and Orientation camp. (Larry MacDougal/Canadian Press)Junior hockey players will spend two days experimenting with potential rule changes and strategic innovations that could become part of their daily life should they graduate to the National Hockey League.
Former Columbus Blue Jackets head coach Ken Hitchcock and current Phoenix Coyotes assistant Dave King will oversee the 2010 NHL Research, Development and Orientation camp Aug. 18-19 in Toronto.
More than 30 prospects eligible for the 2011 NHL entry draft will take part in four on-ice sessions at the Toronto Maple Leafs' practice facility in Etobicoke, Ont.
"I think everyone involved with the NHL thinks that our game is in really good shape," former Detroit Red Wings forward Brendan Shanahan, now NHL vice-president of hockey and business development, said in a statement.
"I think that this [camp] is just a way of being progressive and keeping ourselves well informed of not just the fact that things work but why they work. … It's studying our own product."
During the morning session of Day 1, players will learn a hybrid icing rule, play with no line change for team committing an offside and experiment with overtime, playing three minutes of four-on-four; three minutes of three-on-three, three minutes of two-on-two and then a shootout with five players per side.
In the afternoon session, Hitchcock and King will also talk about a bigger crease, wider blue-lines, a line change zone and no icing the puck.
"Ken and Dave are two men who never turn off their hockey brains," Shanahan said. "They're always thinking of ways to make the game better and to approach game strategy from different and innovative angles."
Day 2 will involve no-touch icing, a delayed penalty rule, variations of special-teams play, no icing the puck while short-handed and a faceoff variation in which the opposition centre may choose his faceoff opponent following a violation.
This camp precedes the World Hockey Summit, set for Aug. 23-26 in Toronto, and headlined by NHL general managers Steve Yzerman and Brian Burke.
The summit will bring together key individuals from all levels of the game to discuss a myriad of issues that affect it.
The agenda includes issues such as women's hockey in the Olympics, player safety, skill development and potential harmonization of major international events such as the Olympics, world championship and World Cup.
