Arley Johnson and I spent some time tonight discussing Merrimack radio
plans with HE commissioner Bob DeGregorio.  Along the way, we also
talked about some of the changes that have been put into place for the
1994-95 HE season.  This stuff is either already public or about to
made so according to Bob.
 
SHOOTOUT A GO
First, the shootout will happen.  It was passed by the league ADs and
will be used in regular season games for the upcoming season.  Same
format as was discussed before: 5 min OT, then if tied, 5 rounds of
shooters.  If the shootout is tied after that, sudden death where each
team gets a shot until one team leads after a round, and that team
gets an additional point in the standings.  SO wins are worth 2 pts,
SO losses are worth 1.  The game will be considered a tie for NC$$
selection purposes.
 
Bob said he had read the comments I forwarded to him by HOCKEY-L
readers along with the poll responses, and many of the issues raised
were discussed during the process.  In the end, the ADs decided to
give it a shot for a season and see what happens.  It sounded like the
NC$$ rules committee was very interested in the experiment.
 
According to Bob, they agreed with the concerns about the amount of
time setting up for a shootout, and also with the need to spell out
rules regarding how it will be conducted.  If a game is a tie after
regulation, during the 3 minute intermission, coaches must present to
the officials a card with their 5 shooters listed in order.  Those are
the players who will take part in the shootout if the game is not
decided in OT.  The list cannot change unless a player is injured
during OT.  Goaltenders in net at the end of the OT are the ones who
will participate in the shootout.  If the SO is tied after 5 rounds,
sudden death will begin with the first set of shooters, then the 2nd,
and so on.  I am sure other rules were spelled out that we did not
discuss.
 
Bob also addressed the desire by many to see the league try to settle
ties by changing OT back to 10 minutes.  He said that it was decided
not to go that route because it would add too much time onto the game.
Resurfacing would be necessary, which would mean a 15 min intermission
and possibly another 20 minutes or so to play out the entire OT.
Another reason this was an unattractive option was that it would hurt
teams that were playing a 10-min OT on a Friday night and then had to
come back and play again against a different opponent on Saturday, and
many HE weekends consist of playing two teams in two nights.
 
HE PLAYOFF STRUCTURE CHANGES
All 9 teams will make the HE playoffs.  On Tuesday, 3/7/95, the 9th
place team will play at the 8th place team in a single elimination
game on campus, with the winner going on to play at the 1st place
team.
 
The HE quarterfinals will revert back to single elimination this
season.  The justification is the poor quarterfinal attendance last
season and the fact that area fans will be asked to shell out mucho
bucks for the playoff games being played in the area this season.
There will be the HE q-finals, followed by the HE final four, then the
NC$$ East Regional in Worcester and the NC$$ Final Four in Providence.
The league is concerned that if fans are asked to pay to see 2 or even
3 q-final games, they will opt to skip that round and wait to see if
their team makes the Garden.  Bob talked about the amount of money it
costs to play a game and expressed concern that 4 2 or 3 game series
which were poorly attended would cause the league to lose money.
Especially this season, with everything going on the area, I have to
agree that it is a potential problem.
 
I would not be surprised if HE goes back to best of 3 for the 1995-96
season.  I prefer best of 3, but I can understand the change this
year.
 
PROVIDENCE A NEAR SELLOUT
It sounds like the 1995 Final Four in Providence is getting very close
to selling out.  This is good news, but it also means that if you have
been waiting to order your tickets, you may wish to do so now.
---                                                                   ---
Mike Machnik                                            [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc.                                    *HMM* 11/13/93
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