By Kurtis Elsner
The OHL regular season is now underway, and Ottawa 67’s coach and general manager Brian Kilrea says teams are not capitalizing on the increase in penalties resulting from changes to the rulebook.
In hopes of speeding up the game, referees are stepping up the enforcement of obstruction penalties such as hooking and tripping. This increase in penalties means the power play and penalty killing lines are spending more time on the ice. While league statistics show so far the 67’s penalty killing is among the top in the league, their power play is not. After seven games, the 67’s power play is ranked 12th out of 20 teams.
Kilrea says he was counting on more scoring from last year’s power play line to help carry the team.
“Right now we don’t really have any line that’s really scoring a lot,” he says. “We don’t have any line that’s knocking them over.”
Also, the 67’s power plays are being cut short by penalties called against them. In their first four games, the 67’s racked up 93 penalty minutes resulting in an average of 24 minutes a game. While league statistics show this is lower than most teams, the 67’s are still averaging 14 more penalty minutes a game than they did last season.
Other rule changes include new delay-of-game penalties, which should help speed up the game, as well as the removal of the red line in order to allow two-line passes. The new red-line rule is expected to open up the ice, leading to more breakaway passes and higher scoring.
The OHL instituted the new rules this year after the NHL made similar changes. The OHL is one of the top development leagues for the NHL and should maintain the same rules, says Ted Baker, the director of hockey operations and head referee for the OHL.
However, there are concerns that some of the rules might limit younger players’ ice time and restrict their development.
Halfway through the pre-season the league reversed one of the new rules, which had forbidden coaches from changing their lines after their team had iced the puck. Baker says they were concerned coaches would hesitate to play younger players in key moments, because they were afraid they would not be able to switch them for veterans. Also, the increased number of penalties means that there is more emphasis on power play and penalty-killing teams, which Kilrea says often cuts down on rookies’ ice time.
While the rule changes match the NHL, Baker says they also reflect the OHL’s plan to encourage the development of faster and more skilled teams.
The new rules represent both an opportunity and a challenge, says Ottawa 67’s defenceman Elgin Reid. He says the removal of the red line has opened the game up and made it easier to make offensive contributions, but it also makes it difficult to defend against fast and agile players. The stricter penalty calls also make defence more difficult. Reid had four points in his first three games, but had a plus/minus rating of -3.
“As a mobile defenceman, I think it helps my game a lot. You get to see a lot more skating now, a lot more puck movement and long passes,” says Reid. “In front of the net, [it’s] obviously a little tougher moving guys out of the way. [Referees] are calling a lot of that stuff.”
Although the opportunities granted by the rule changes seem clear to the players, most teams have yet to exploit them to their full potential, says Kilrea.
“I don’t think [any] team has played differently in any of the games we’ve played so far,” he says, while acknowledging he hasn’t made significant changes to practice strategy. “Just move the puck and skate.”
Difficulties aside, coaches and players admit that everyone in the league has to play by the same rules. Whether or not the teams will capitalize and whether the rules have their desired effect will be seen as the season progresses.
“If it’s going to make a wide open game, fine,” says Kilrea. “You don’t know until you try. It’s on a trial basis, let’s give it a chance.”