Kings lukewarm on possible NHL rule changes

Potential rule changes being discussed by NHL general managers this week drew mixed reactions from the Kings, who said they needed clarification on the proposed hybrid icing rule before they could make their judgments.

Apparently, the general managers need clarification, too. They recommended that the idea be forwarded to the league’s competition committee for further discussion but want the language to be more specific and cover all possible scenarios.

Kings defenseman Matt Greene said he could see the rationale behind eliminating a full-length race to the goal line between the attacking and defending players--and he spoke from personal knowledge.

“Guys get hurt on it. It got me a shoulder surgery two years ago,” said Greene, who was injured when he tripped while in pursuit of the puck on an icing call. “It’s something that you don’t want to see. You don’t want to see guys get hurt. If they can come up with a fair way to do something, it’s worth looking into.”

Teammate Willie Mitchell said icing “is an exciting play when two guys are back skating hard for a puck,” but said he wouldn’t mind going to the automatic icing rule that is used internationally.

“You don’t want to take the speed out of the game, either,” he said. “When two guys are skating back hard for the puck, no one’s sitting there in their seat. Everyone’s on the edge of their seat, seeing who’s going to get it first.

“I’m neither here nor there on it. I think there’s other issues in our game that we need to look at much more closely than that.”

He also said the NHL is doing “a great job” in its efforts to punish shots to the head and minimize concussions. “The fact that we’re flat-lining on the number of concussions I think is a real good thing, considering the level of diagnosis is going up,” said Mitchell, who missed much of the 2009-10 season because of a concussion.

“On the discipline front, players are evolving and changing their game. I’d like to see shoulder pads get smaller. I think the league’s working on that.”

Mitchell would like to see the league remove the trapezoid behind the net that limits goaltenders’ freedom to play the puck. However, the general managers didn’t go along with that one. Nor did they support the notion of reinstating the red line for the purpose of two-line passes, though they asked the American Hockey League to experiment with a “ringette line,” which would govern two-line passes.

“How many times does a goalie come out to play the puck, and everyone knows they’re not great puckhandlers,” he said. “So everyone’s on the edge of their seat thinking, ‘Oh, what’s going to happen here?’ The league talks about goalscoring. What brings out goalscoring? Goalies giving away the puck.

“I think that one 100% has to change. We all have our views. It’s a great game. It’s good how it is right now. Little tweaks and stuff like that are fine but I don’t think major overhauls are necessary.”

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