Friday, February 8, 2002
The (no) red-line district
Olympic offside rule sure to be a crowd pleaser
By AL STRACHAN -- Toronto Sun
In the Olympics, the red line will be a lot like a Canadian goalie in a game against Nigeria -- on the ice for the entire game, but not doing much.
In the Olympics, the red line matters only for icing, not for off-side calls. As a result, a team stacked with NHL players who live by the two-line, off-side rule, will have to make some adjustments.
But Red Berenson, a former NHL star and the coach of the perennially powerful University of Michigan hockey team, doesn't think that Team Canada needs to be overly concerned.
Berenson's teams play without using the red line as a factor on off-side decisions and as far as he's concerned, the NHL forwards will adjust quickly.
The defencemen might need a little longer to adapt, but since the first three games are all but meaningless, they'll have ample time to get accustomed to the change.
"I don't think there's a big adjustment, particularly for the forwards," Berenson said. "It's more of an adjustment for the defencemen, just to make sure that players aren't getting behind them and then receiving that long pass.
"In college hockey, it's amazing how few breakaway passes you see, but I think you'll see more in the Olympics."
SMALLER PLAYERS
Berenson played in the NHL at a time when scoring was not as rare as it is today. In fact, he once had six goals in a game.
And the biggest impact of the rule modification, he says, will be to give the players an opportunity to re-create that open game of an earlier era.
"They can make the long pass and the forwards can jump into the holes," he said. "They'll have a little more width on the ice, so I think in theory, it makes the rink the way it used to be years ago when you had smaller players.
"Players seemed to be able to find more room on the ice to play hockey than they can now. I think it will be good."
But the same people who deserve the blame for taking the scoring out of the NHL may also impose their grinch-like tactics on the Olympics.
Coaches know it's easier to teach defence than offence, so that's what they do. It's always easier to destroy art than create it, so they teach slugs how to prevent creative players from using their skills.
Strangely enough, one of the primary culprits is Sweden, a nation once overflowing with skilled players.
Berenson agreed. "There will still be teams trying to play good defence like the Swedes," he said. "They play a trap more than anyone and they play on the big ice so they can still ruin a good hockey game by playing intense, close defence whether you have a red line or not."
The Swedes use a torpedo defence, but really, if you're determined to play defensively, the tactics don't matter much.
As Berenson said, "No red line doesn't matter. If you've got four guys lined up at the blue line, it's dump-and-chase hockey at its worst."
But should a team choose to take an offensive tack, it can make inroads, and Team Canada certainly is not ignoring the potential impact of the rule variation.
Calgary was chosen as the site of the September training camp because it has an arena which features an Olympic-size ice surface.
Every scrimmage was played under Olympic rules and although, in the early going, the forwards tended to slow down at the red line if they were anticipating a pass, they quickly learned to make the adjustment.
MAJOR IMPACT
Conversely, retreating defencemen learned that they couldn't set up camp at the red line and force the play. They had to worry about a forward going past them and still receiving an on-side pass.
But will Team Canada try to maximize the impact by releasing a player out of the zone in anticipation of a breakaway pass?
They might, on occasion, but not as often as fans might think. After all, once you do that, you're effectively giving the opposition a power play, and in this tournament, one goal can have a major impact.
You'll probably see a forward far ahead of the puck when a team has a man advantage, but that's a tactic that's already in common use in the NHL.
Part of the problem is that today's hockey is so complex that variations are also, by definition, complex. As such, they need time to creep into the game.
But the absence of the red line has its potential and its primary importance in the Olympics may turn out to be its impact on the NHL.
"I think the NHL should really watch this carefully," Berenson said, "and think about whether or not this wouldn't be good for the NHL on a regular basis. I think it would be.
"I bet there won't be two players after the Olympics who won't say, 'I wish we played without the red line.'"
2002 Games Men's Hockey Coverage
