Dawn Of The New NHL

It is now officially offical. The new NHL is here (complete with a new web site and everything).

The Penguins lucked out this afternoon in getting the first overall pick in next week's entry draft. Nothing's set in stone but there's no way they pass up Sidney Crosby. Especially when he can have Mario as a mentor.

As expected, the Lightning ended up with the 30th (and final) pick in the draft. We did, after all, win the most recent Stanley Cup. What's strange is where the Stinkin' Panthers ended up on the list. Florida, a team that hasn't been to the playoffs something like a decade, got stuck with the 29th pick overall — a spot generally held for real playoff contenders.

Check out the NHL's official site for a complete list of the draft order.

But aside from all this draft talk and the new NHL logo, there's even bigger hockey news that was announced today. Many rule changes have been made, not the least of which is that shootouts will now keep ties from every happening again.

If the game is tied at the end of regulation, a four-on-four five-minute sudden death overtime is played. In the past, the result of that was the final. From now on, if the score is still tied, a six-shot shootout will take place. If the score is still tied after each team has had its three shots, the shootout will continue — in sudden death.

That will be exciting to see. According to the league, about 15 percent of games in the 2003-04 season ended in a tie. If that stat holds, we'll see about 15 percent of the games go to shootout. By the way, the shootout rule only applies for regular season games. Playoff games still get their continuing 20-minute overtime periods until somebody puts the puck in a net.

One new rule I like is the Instigator Rule. If a player is given an instigator penalty in the final five minutes of a game, he's suspended for one game and his coach is fined $10,000. In other words, if you cost your coach that kind of cash, do you really think one game is all you'll be missing?

There were also a lot of changes made to how goaltenders can handle the puck, how icings will be dealt with, and the dimensions of the lines on the ice. If you want to read about all the rule changes in detail, you can find them at the newly redesigned NHL.com.

To sum up, I'm thrilled to see the new NHL. And all those bitter so-called "fans" can sit down and shut up or get their heads screwed on straight and just enjoy the fact that hockey's back.

I have one last thing. Wednesday. October. Fifth. 2005. The Tampa Bay Lightning raise their first championship banner to the rafters. Nothing will stop me from being there.




Balls In The Air: This was the machine used for the 2005 NHL Draft Lottery in New York this afternoon. Pittsburgh won the first overall pick and, most likely, Sidney Crosby.