Shanahan Sees Changes for Better

When Detroit forward Brendan Shanahan convened a meeting of players, coaches and executives last December to discuss how the game could be improved, he couldn’t have envisioned the sweeping changes those conversations would generate.

By giving players a say in the decisions, and by linking ideas that were intended to boost scoring, the participants gave disparate groups a common interest. By combining a crackdown on obstruction, limits on goaltenders’ equipment, pushing the nets back and other measures, the game has been revitalized this season. And Shanahan, a member of the new competition committee, likes what he has seen.

“It took us 10, 15 years to get where we were in ’04 with the hooking and holding and clutching and grabbing and the video technology and the improvement in coaching and goaltending,” he said. “It’s been two weeks, and I think it’s just going to get better. Players are learning how to be aggressive without holding and hooking. I think that teams over time will become less tentative in their own end. And referees are learning too.

“People had just gotten too good, with defensive systems. You put a whole bunch of things together; you connect them all. We always said any one of them by itself wouldn’t have been sufficient. But we felt that we had a series of rules that, put together, would hopefully open the neutral zone up a little bit and create more speed and at the same time, create more exciting, more challenging hockey.”

Shanahan said the group’s objective was “to hurt the trap” and create more opportunity for lead changes. So far, the changes have succeeded on both counts.

In 2003-04, teams that trailed after two periods were 97-752-89, meaning they won about 10.3% of those games or got a point through a victory or tie in 19.8% of those games. In the first 86 games this season, teams that trailed after two periods were 9-52-6, meaning they’d rallied to win on 13.4% of those occasions or got a point through a victory, overtime loss or shootout loss in 28.8% of those games.

The key to continuing the lively tempo, flow and scoring pace is consistent enforcement of anti-obstruction rules. Shanahan said he’s confident that referees will be reminded to maintain their vigilance.

“We can’t change the standard in the last five minutes and, also, in the last month of the season or the Stanley Cup finals,” he said. “We can’t punish teams who have built themselves for a certain style and say, ‘OK, let’s go back to rodeo hockey.’

“I’m excited by some of the things I’ve seen, but I still think it’s going to get better. Referees and players and coaches, it’s kind of like uncharted territory for us. But I know the direction of the fans, and they’re quite happy with it all.”

Seeing Stars

Dallas center Mike Modano says he sees allowing NHL players to represent their homelands at the Turin Olympics as a win-win situation.

“It’s great for the players who play in it, and great for the players who don’t, because they get two weeks off,” said Modano, a Michigan native who played for the U.S. in 1998 and 2002. “I was really for it because of my past experience. It’s something we’re still striving for, to say we’ve won another gold medal in hockey.”

The U.S. hasn’t won gold since the 1980 Lake Placid Games but took silver at Salt Lake City in 2002.

Team USA General Manager Don Waddell, the GM of the Atlanta Thrashers, has begun scouting potential Olympians. His job has been complicated by the time it has taken some veterans to get into shape, as well as by injuries to players such as Brian Boucher (groin) and Rick DiPietro (concussion). “We have a lot of players that didn’t play hockey last year, and it’s important for us to see [their fitness],” Waddell said.

Nashville Cats

Rumors of the Predators’ demise have been greatly exaggerated. Forward Steve Sullivan, who shares the NHL scoring lead, said fan interest was high even before his team’s 5-0 start.

“It’s been unbelievable. It’s probably bigger and stronger,” he said Monday. “Nashville took a huge hit during the lockout from the media saying ours was a market that might not be able to make it and might not be strong after the lockout. But everyone’s talking about the Predators.”

He said he’s recognized in the street “10 times more than ever in Chicago. It’s a very close-knit community here. Everywhere you go they tap you on the back, they’re such friendly people, and they want to talk hockey.”

Sullivan said the elimination of obstruction has greatly helped the small, speedy Predators. Signing Paul Kariya, “just puts a name to our organization,” Sullivan added. “I think teams are starting to take us more seriously now.”

Slap Shots

* Bitterness remains over Ted Saskin’s contract extension and the new labor deal. When Saskin met with the New York Islanders on Monday, goalie Garth Snow called the union leader a “backstabber,” then threw his can of tobacco into a trash can before putting on his jacket and leaving the room, a source said. Saskin tried to calm the gathering by saying the union’s executive committee was responsible.

* The NHL Players’ Assn. is conducting an online survey of members’ attitudes on visors, and indications are that players will resist attempts by the NHL to make visors mandatory. Players are required to wear them through junior and college hockey but often dump them as soon as possible.

NHLPA spokesman Jonathan Weatherdon said that because the survey is internal, the results won’t be made public.

* The Edmonton Oilers will retire Paul Coffey’s jersey tonight, appropriately enough before they face Coach Wayne Gretzky’s Phoenix Coyotes. Coffey’s slick skating and superb offensive skills made him a catalyst in the Oilers’ Cup championships. He won three there and added a fourth in Pittsburgh.