And do it a little faster than last year, if you would, please. No more of this dawdling. Get into position and let's get the game on.
NHL games will sport a different look this season, and we're not just talking about if your seat is behind the goal and you will be watching through the netting. Games should be significantly quicker, thanks to a hurry-up face-off rule.
By reducing the dead time between play, the NHL is making the game more fan-friendly. Some broadcasters aren't pleased with how it will affect their ability to analyze a game during stoppages, but fans will appreciate having to watch fewer dot races on the JumboTron.
The Olympics showed us how enjoyable a two-hour game can be. The preseason games have been clocking in around two hours, 17 minutes, slightly shorter than the 2:33 average last season. The hurry-up face-off dropped average game time in the AHL last season by 14 minutes, so the NHL has even improved upon that.
Visiting teams will be alloted five seconds to make their line change, then the home team will get eight seconds after that. The linesman conducting the face-off will blow his whistle 13 seconds after play stopped, and the face-off will take place within five seconds.
One thing that could counteract the efforts to make the game speedier is heightened enforcement of interference penalties. If the refs obey their new instructions, an NHL game should more closely resemble the Ice Capades than a WWE match. If the refs are lax on the clutching, they will get a talking-to from commissioner Gary Bettman and director of officiating Andy Van Hellemond.
The missive was presented by the league to all 30 general managers and head coaches in a Sept. 10 meeting in Toronto, an unprecedented rules summit designed to make sure everyone has a clear understanding of the new enforcement of the long-standing rule.
The NHL attempted to crack down on hooking, clutching, wrestling and interference twice in the '90s, but each time the rules enforcement slowly slipped back to the prior lackadaisical ways. This time the NHL is so serious that every televised game will be reviewed in the Toronto office to ensure consistency throughout the league. The hockey operations department will then meet with the screening committee after 20, 40, 60 and 80 games during the regular season to review how the rule is being called on the ice.
This should open up the game and give skilled skaters a distinct advantage. As Exhibit A, we present the 43 goals the fleet-footed Montreal Canadiens scored in nine preseason games. Body positioning for defensemen will become even more important, as they will no longer be able to lunge and tie up players who gain a step on them during a rush.
Safety nets Following Brittanie Cecil's death last March, the NHL made the right call by installing safety nets above the glass at the end of the rink in every arena. Some fans are sure to complain, but the nets have been in use in Europe for years and seem to be well received. If having to peer through the thin black nylon bothers you, think about it this way. Every time you think about how the new nets are partially obstructing your view, think about Mr. and Mrs. Cecil and how they only wish their daughter could share that view with you.
Calder crop Last year's rookie of the year race was distinctly southern fried, with Atlanta's Dany Heatley and Ilya Kovalchuk taking the top two spots. Who will top the rookie class this season? Ottawa's Jason Spezza, Columbus' Rick Nash, Florida's Jay Bouwmeester, Detroit's Henrik Zetterberg, Carolina's Jaroslav Svoboda, Los Angeles' Alexander Frolov, New York's Jamie Lundmark, Calgary's Chuck Kobasew and Philadelphia's Pavel Brendl are all possibilities to hoist the hardware. Our vote goes to the 6-foot-3, 196-pound Frolov. He has the size, speed and skating ability to make an impact as a rookie, and he will be aided by playing on one of the top two lines for the talented Kings.
Dallas @ Colorado -- Wednesday, 8 p.m. EDT
The NHL's 86th season kicks off with three games on Wednesday, but the best of the bunch is in Denver. The Stars and Avs have combined to win four of the past seven Clarence Campbell Bowls as Western Conference champions. Patrick Roy won't have old foil Ed Belfour to stare down anymore, but St. Patrick should be challenged by Bill Guerin and the Stars' deeper lineup.
Detroit @ San Jose -- Thursday, 10:30 p.m. EDT
The defending champs open up with a three-game West Coast road trip and will help the Sharks rechristen the former Compaq Center as the HP Pavilion. Hey, computer geeks, duke it out on your own time for the corporate name, we'll still be calling it the Shark Tank. And the Tank could be unfriendly waters for opponents this season, as San Jose looks like a threat to Detroit's desire to repeat in the West.
Montreal @ N.Y. Rangers -- Friday, 7 p.m. EDT
Bryan Trottier is going to get cheered in the Garden. Who'd have thunk it? Next thing you know, fans in the blue seats will be yelling, "Potvin rules! Potvin rules!" Bobby Holik and Darius Kasparaitis will be making their Broadway debuts, too, but Pavel Bure is likely out for the first week of the season.
Ottawa @ Toronto -- Saturday, 7 p.m. EDT Hockey Night in Canada kicks off its 51st season by broadcasting the Battle of Ontario, and Ron MacLean and Don Cherry will both be sporting big smiles. Fat new contracts have CBC's two golden boys in a whole new tax bracket. Maybe Cherry can even buy some new sportcoats with the extra scratch. I bet prime minister Jean Chrétien wishes he got as much ink as the MacLean contract squabbling did. At least Canadians have their priorities right, eh?
Plus: Anaheim Mighty Ducks The Ducks were among the most aggressive teams this offseason, signing free agent Adam Oates and trading Oleg Tverdovsky and Jeff Friesen to the Devils for Petr Sykora and three others. Paul Kariya must be giddy to have such an offensive upgrade around him. The Ducks have a lot of teams to leapfrog in the West to make the playoffs, but at least Disney is spending some dollars to improve the team.
Minus: Labor troubles Baseball just went through contentious negotiations before settling on a new pact at the 11th hour -- will the NHL learn its lesson? The NHL's collective bargaining agreement expires on Sept. 15, 2004, and NHLPA boss Bob Goodenow and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman already are posturing and drawing their battle lines. Hockey can't recover from labor strife as easily as baseball, so it's imperative that a work stoppage be avoided.
Plus: Don Meehan Hockey's super agent negotiated Jarome Iginla's two-year, $13 million deal with the Flames and Jose Theodore's three-year, $16.5 million pact with the Canadiens. The head of Toronto-based Newport Sports Management is hockey's version of Scott Boras or Leigh Steinberg ... without the pompous attitude.
Minus: Byron Dafoe Few players have cost themselves as much money as Dafoe did by overestimating his value on the open market. Instead of signing with a team for a slight raise from the $3.4 million he earned last season playing for a contender, he is now making diddly squat with no jobs available. Oops.
Plus: Sabres fans The fine, hardworking people of Buffalo will be treated to an extra-special promotion this season. The 723rd fan through the door each night at HSBC Arena will be declared owner for a night. All kidding aside, the hardcore fans in Western New York will end up with owners better than the crooks who ran Adelphia into the ground and almost cost the city its hockey team.
Minus: Nashville Predators A playoff guarantee is good for marketing the team, but pardon us for being skeptical. Was it the signing of Brent Gilchrist, Andreas Johansson, Denis Pederson, Pascal Trepanier or Clarke Wilm that will put Nashville over the top? In the loaded West, the Preds are going to be hard-pressed to improve by the 25 or so points needed to qualify for the postseason.
"I'd say right now, going into the season, we're looking at 164 points. Because if we are playing 82 games, we better expect to win them all or there's no sense playing them. If I was to tell you 100 points, then that would mean we are prepared to lose some games, and before the year starts, I'm not prepared to say that."
-- Los Angeles Kings head coach Andy Murray on his expectations for the 2002-03 season.
"I remember the first year we won, people said they didn't pick
us to win it again because they thought complacency would set in. But I think the opposite thing happens when you win a Stanley Cup. I think once you get a taste and win one Stanley Cup, you know what it takes to get there and you know it's worth it. It makes you hungrier, not complacent."
-- Red Wings left wing Brendan Shanahan on the desire to repeat this season.
Henrik Zetterberg, LW, Red Wings
Detroit's latest European import has a chance to make even more of an impact than Pavel Datsyuk did last season. Zetterberg was one of just three non-NHL players on the Swedish Olympic team in 2002. The 21-year-old has been compared to Peter Forsberg, thanks to his excellent two-way game and toughness on the puck. In the preseason, Zetterberg had three goals, four assists and a plus-6. All this puts him among the favorites to win the Calder Trophy.
.717
Winning percentage in season openers for the Quebec Nordiques/Colorado Avalanche franchise (14-4-5), tops in league history.
8
Consecutive division titles for the Avs (Pacific 1996-98, Northwest 1999-2002), tying the 1975-82 Montreal Canadiens for the longest streak ever.
74.3
Percent of the nearly 75,000 minutes played last season when the score was tied or within a one-goal margin.
Our latest best guess at what the postseason seeding will look like.
Eastern Conference
Western Conference
Philadelphia Flyers
Colorado Avalanche
Carolina Hurricanes
Detroit Red Wings
Ottawa Senators
San Jose Sharks
New York Rangers
Dallas Stars
Washington Capitals
St. Louis Blues
New Jersey Devils
Los Angeles Kings
Toronto Maple Leafs
Vancouver Canucks
Boston Bruins
Phoenix Coyotes
Each week during the season, this space will be devoted to your comments on a particular issue.
This week's topic: Which team will hoist the Stanley Cup next June?
Click here to send us your choice. Brevity and humor are good; naughty words and personal attacks are not so good. And don't forget to include your name and hometown.
Jon A. Dolezar covers the NHL for CNNSI.com. "Week at a Glance" will appear each Sunday during the regular season.
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Henrik Zetterberg, LW, Red Wings
