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 <<<<< Color Voice of the Merrimack Warriors (station TBA for 94-95) >>>>>