----- Original Message -----
From: "Greg Ambrose" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, February 19, 2002 7:20 PM
Subject: Re: College Hockey/Olympic USA Hockey


> From what I have heard and read here in Boston, the speed of these Olympic
> games has caught the fancy of the hockey loving public.  In addition, I
saw
> a quote from Brett Hull today that, if it was up to him, he would have the
> no red line and larger rink become part of the NHL.  From all I have seen
on
> TV these past few days, a change in the rules should be a no-brainer.
> Hockey is supposed to be a game of speed and skill, not one about
clutching
> and grabbing.

Hull has been saying stuff like this for years.  We'll see if they ever
start listening to him.
>
> However, there is an opposing view.  These points seem obvious to most of
us
> but I did talk to a couple of guys in my office today who like the NHL
just
> the way it is.  They seem to think that opening up the game would
eliminate
> the physical part of things and make it more like the "prissy" European
> style.  They want to see some hard checking (and some fights), something
> that they think would be eliminated if the NHL went to Olympic rules.
When
> I told them that there was plenty of hard hitting in college hockey, they
> were pretty skeptical.

Tell them to ask Keith Tkachuk if *he* thinks that the larger ice surface
means that there isn't hard hitting.


J. Michael Neal