Olympic hockey splits the game open

by Paul Shugar
Staff Writer

Take the “Dream Team” concept and multiply it by about five or six.

That is about how many International All-Star hockey teams are descending upon Salt Lake City for the 2002 Olympics. Many teams made up of National Hockey League players from countries such as Canada, America, Russia and the Czech Republic will compete for the gold.

However, these “Dream Teams” have a big surprise waiting for them in the form of rule changes.

“Olympic hockey is definitely a lot different,” Ohio club hockey coach Dan Morris said. “It is more of a soccer mentality with a lot more open skating and good passing.”

The American and Canadian players have to deal with what is often referred to as the European hockey style. The red-center line across the rink is used to call two line passes and icing in the NHL. The two-line pass rule does not exist in Olympic hockey.

Assistant club hockey coach Mark Dean, who has played with the two-line pass rule used in the NHL, said this would definitely affect the way the NHL players approach the game offensively and defensively.

“It will stretch the game out quite a bit and prevent teams from using a lot of the defensive traps teams in the NHL like to use,” he said. “I think a lot of guys who went through college (to the pros) should not be thrown for a loop by that because they are used to playing without the red line.”

Another subtle change is the difference in ice surface. The largest an NHL rink can be is 200 feet long by 85 feet wide.

A standard Olympic-sized rink is 198 feet long and 98 wide. The added width does not sound like much, but Ohio defenseman Shane Print said those extra feet can add up in a game.

“There are a lot of different angles you are not used to on the wider ice, and you have to make sure you stay near the center of the rink and not over pursue and get stuck by the boards,” Print said. “There is just a lot more flow, and it is more open, and there is a lot more finesse and not so much hitting.”

Print knows quite a bit about playing Olympic-style hockey. He traveled with an elite team of American Collegiate Hockey Association players to represent the United State in the University Games in Zakopane, Poland.

Another change players will have to be aware of is no tag up call on icing. In the NHL when a player dumps the puck into the opposing zone before crossing the center line, the whistle is blown for a face-off in the defensive zone of the team that shot the puck.

The same rule will apply in the Olympics, but with a twist. In the NHL players are allowed to try and beat the other team to the puck after the long dump in. If a team does, icing is not called and play continues. At the Olympics, as soon as the puck crosses the third line the whistle will be blown.

Started at the Nagano Olympics in 1998, this will be the second Olympics to allow professional hockey players.

The European teams cleaned up and both North American teams finished well out of the medals in ’98, but Morris said he expects big things from both Canada and America this Olympics.

“I think the American team will take the lessons from the past along with a lot of energy from being on U.S. soil,” Dean said. “The team should do well and play a strong emotional game.”