NHL Announces New Rules for 2014-2015

Last Thursday, the NHL announced rule changes for the upcoming 2014-2015 season. Among the changes, the biggest ones are:

• The trapezoid area will be expanded.
• The Spin-O-Rama is no longer allowed in penalty shots or the shootout.
• Slight expansion to video review.
• Fines for Diving/Embellishment.
• Overtime changes.

The Trapezoid

Since the NHL decided to put it in after the 2004-2005 lockout, I have hated it. I know the NHL thinks it's adding offence, but if anything, it slows the game down. The "new" trapezoid will be expanded by 2 feet from the posts. This might be the first step of the NHL eventually phasing it out.

No More Spin-O-Rama

I loved seeing the Spin-O-Rama in the shootout (and for penalty shots as well). I found that whenever a team complained about the move, it was because they lost. However, because of all the griping I'm glad this move has been taking out. There are a couple of reasons for the NHL removing the Spin-O-Rama. First of all, it's nearly impossible to tell if there is forward motion. Secondly, refs couldn't tell whether or not a player was interfering with a goaltender during the move, whether that meant sending a bunch of snow in their face or by physically bumping them. S

The end of the spin-o-rama also means the end of the debates about whether the spin-o-rama should be legal or not. That is a big win for everyone.

Video Review

As per the NHL:

Rule 38.4 (viii) has been modified to allow broader discretion to Hockey Operations to assist the referees in determining the legitimacy of all potential goals (e.g., to ensure they are “good hockey goals”).  The revised Rule will allow Hockey Operations to correct a broader array of situations where video review clearly establishes that a “goal” or “no
goal” call on the ice has been made in error.   The new expanded rule will
also allow Hockey Operations to provide guidance to referees on goal and potential goal plays where the referee has blown his whistle (or intended to blow his whistle) after having lost sight of the puck.

Essentially, the goal the Devils scored on the Kings last season would be reviewable. From what I understand, NHL hockey ops would call the refs from Toronto and declare the goal no good. According to Pierre LeBrun, other controversial goals, such as offsides, and goalie interferences will be made note of by the NHL. The league will then make a report to bring to the GMs in March. I'm not sure if that means if this goal would still count.

Fines for Diving

This is my favourite one. The NHL will now fine people who are penalised for diving. The fines are as followed:

        1       Warning 
        2       $2,000
        3       $3,000
        4       $4,000
        5       $5,000
        6       $5,000
        7       $5,000
        8       $5,000  

According to Darren Dreger, the NHL will release a weekly press release with all the diving fines on it. Players are also able to appeal the fines. All of the appeals will be dealt with by Gary Bettman. I have a feeling Ryan Kesler's wallet might be a little lighter this year...

Changes to Overtime

Starting this season, the teams will have to switch sides for overtime, therefore providing a longer change for the teams. The ice will also undergo a dry scrape prior to the start of overtime. Coaches will also no longer need to submit a list of their first 3 shooters in the shootout. 

To me, this sounds like the beginning of the end of the shootout. I've already talked about how to make the shootout less relevant by revamping the point system. This is a good start for the NHL, it will be interesting to see if this will actually make a difference (future blog idea?). The best part about make teams switch sides on the ice is that it doesn't really change the game, yet it still has the potential to make a big difference. 

The AHL has adopted a change to overtime that will see 3-on-3 overtime after the first whistle after 4 minutes of play. The NHL has used the AHL to experiment with rule changes in the past. Maybe next year this will be implemented in the NHL as well.