So what happens when the penalty is killed? Can the player come out of the box? It will be back to 4 on 4 then!
If there is a 2-man advantage, we could be back to 5 on 5.
What if the penalty overlaps the under 4 minute whistle thing?
All SO SO SO stupid. Can't they just fix the system and go back to the old days?
Yes, it would probably be 4x4 or 5x5 until the next whistle blow. But, just thinking out loud and not looking at any stats, 5 on 3 seems to me to be a 1-in-10 games rarity at best.
Looking at extraskater.com for this year, the Bruins had 368 minutes on a power play, and 359 minutes spent playing 5-on-4. That's 9 minutes of either 4-on-3 or 5-on-3 action, out of 82 games. Multiply by 2 (for 2 teams), and bump it up to 20 minutes because the Bruins NEVER draw penalties. A lot of that time might be 2 minute chunks of 4-on-3 in OT, so 5-on-3 just doesn't happen often enough to warrant much worry.
I'm not too concerned that 3x3 turns into 5x3 and then into 5x5. I do agree with the point that it adds to some more time spent preparing for a 3x3 game, which is kinda lame. Then again, that time, in theory, would be taken away from prepping for shootouts.
While I thought TJ Oshie's Enterprise commercial was kinda cute and funny, nothing pissed me off about the Olympic coverage more than the story that Oshie saved the day with a shootout. Yeah, he's great at skills. But that's not hockey!(TM)(R) Plus, the win against Russia was a hollow victory at best. A shootout loss would have ensured virtually the same result.
As far as the change to the fighting penalties, I don't see it as a big deal. How many games would this have changed last year? You have to rack up 2 majors for fighting. Second one's usually a line brawl and somebody's going to get ejected anyway, no? Would this have changed any penalties in our games last season, either for or against?
Oh, and here's a third new rule nobody's mentioned so far (that I've noticed): helmets. The AHL is going by the Olympic/IIHF rule of no helmet, no play. You either immediately skate off the ice, or put it back on with chin strap attached. Sounds like a great rule.
Playing devil's advocate, I'd defer a little to IIHF fans if they say that it causes players to try and knock helmets off the opponent to get them off the ice, but somehow I doubt that happens.