You can tell it's the off season when I reply to newspaper articles.

My opinion about the proposed rule changes:
I like the idea of the 4x4 in overtime. While we all enjoy a good defensive
game, the parts of hockey I like best are the skating and passing and 4x4
hockey opens up the ice and promotes offense. Besides, no one is happy with
a tie; do what you can to allow a winner to emerge. I also think it's
beneficial for college hockey to mimic the pro rules when applicable.
(However, I do like the fact that the college ranks still have the automatic
icing rule even if the NHL reverted. I also like the harsher penalties in
college for fighting and other majors as opposed to the NHL where it seems
as if they encourage more violence.)

I have mixed feeling about the 4 officials system. I agree that there is a
lot of ice for one referee to cover and an extra set of eyes would be
helpful. However, the caliber of referees in the college game is not nearly
as good as the NHL. In addition, there are widely varying styles of rules
interpretation in the college ranks both across leagues and even within each
league.  Each team knows that some referees have zero tolerance for boarding
or hitting from behind while a different referee is really tight on holding
and hooking. If you put two referees on the ice and they have widely
differing styles, chaos can occur.  You wind up with a game that pits one
referee against another rather than one team against another.  It's happened
before when the NCAA had the 2 referee- 1 linesman setup.  I would agree
with the 4 official setup but only if the NCAA also mandates uniformity of
officiating both within each league and across leagues and I can't see that
happening any time soon.

On 5/16/06, Wayne T Smith <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> Larry Mahoney of the Bangor Daily News writes about a four-official
> system proposed for college hockey, Hall of Fame game at the Xcel Energy
> Center, the Maine hockey banquet and other items of interest ...
>
>    http://www.bangornews.com/news/templates/?a=133940
>
> cheers, wayne
>