NHL Considering 3-on-3, 2-on-2 Overtime Formats, Among Other Rule Changes

The coolest game on earth is looking to turn up the heat.

The NHL is looking into some rule modifications and innovations that will be tested during the 2010 NHL Research, Development and Orientation Camp on August 18-19 at the Toronto Maple Leafs practice facility in Etobicoke, ON.

The camp will be run by veteran skippers Ken Hitchcock and Dave King and it will feature more than 30 of the top prospects eligible for the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.

"I think everyone involved with the NHL thinks that our game is in really good shape," NHL vice president of hockey and business development Brendan Shanahan told NHL.com. "I think that this is just a way of being progressive and keeping ourselves well informed of not just the fact that things work but why they work. Most companies or industries have research and development and that's exactly what this is: it's studying our own product."

The itinerary is as follows.

Wednesday August 18 (all times ET; subject to change)
10:00 a.m. — Noon

• Hybrid icing rule
• No line change for team committing an offside
• Crease reset rule
• Face-off variation (face-off controlled by whistle in place of traditional puck drop)
• Overtime: three minutes of 4-on-4; three minutes of 3-on-3; three minutes of 2-on-2 followed by shootout (five players per team)

2:30 p.m. — 4:30 p.m.

• Bigger crease
• Verification goal line (additional line situated behind the goal line)
• Wider blue lines
• Line changes zone in front of each bench
• Face-off variations (infringement results in the offending player moving back further, three face-off dots down the middle of the ice)
• No icing the puck while shorthanded
• OT: three minutes of 4-on-4; three minutes of 3-on-3; three minutes of 2-on-2 with long line changes; followed by three shooters per team shootout (if tied after three shots then players who have shot previously can shoot again)

Thursday August 19
9:30 a.m. — 11:30 a.m.

• No-touch icing
• Team that commits an offside infraction cannot make a line change and face-off is in offending team zone
• Face-off variation: after a face-off violation, opposition center may choose his face-off opponent
• Second referee located off the playing surface
• Delayed penalty rule
• No icing the puck while shorthanded
• OT: 4-on-4 (with long line change) followed by a shootout with five players

1:30 p.m. — 3 p.m.

• Variations of special teams play
• OT: 4-on-4 (with long line change)