International Intrigue

It’s a small world, after all.

The NHL has taken on a distinct international flavor over the last two decades by absorbing hundreds of European players, and it enhanced that flavor this season by adopting two rules of the international game: It eliminated the center-ice red line for the purpose of two-line passes and instituted a shootout to break ties.

The Olympic hockey tournament has taken on a distinct NHL flavor since 1998, when the league took a midseason break to allow players to represent their homelands on the world stage. A repeat at Salt Lake City in 2002 resulted in a U.S.-Canada gold-medal finale, an international spectacle played in a familiar place and at a time convenient to North American viewers.

The Turin Olympic men’s tournament, which will begin Feb. 15, will bring the NHL and international hockey cultures closer than ever before.

International Ice Hockey Federation rules will prevail at Turin, most visibly in that rinks will be 100 feet wide (15 feet wider than in the NHL), each game will be officiated by one referee instead of two, and goaltenders will be allowed to use equipment that exceeds NHL size standards.

But in the most significant areas, the similarities between North America and the rest of the world will be more obvious than the differences.

The IIHF, encouraged by the results of the NHL’s crackdown on obstruction this season, has told referees in the Olympic tournament to adhere to the same tight standards. Cross-checking in front of the net also will be punished, all with the idea of freeing the world’s best players to showcase their speed and skill.

“For the first time in hockey history, we have the opportunity for the IIHF and the NHL to be on the same page when enforcing the rules and calling restraining fouls like hooking, holding and interference,” IIHF President Rene Fasel said in a directive issued in November.

“The world governing body of ice hockey and the most influential hockey league in the world are united in their efforts to make hockey the most exciting game in all sports.

“Now that we have reached this consensus, there is no going back. The rules must be enforced to keep the good players in the game and make the bad ones obsolete.”

It sounds good to NHL players who are headed to Turin.

“I think the hockey should always be played like that, and it’s going to be interesting to see how it works on the bigger ice surface,” said Mighty Duck winger Teemu Selanne, who will represent Finland in his fourth Olympics.

“I don’t think playing with one referee will be a problem. Lots of times when there’s only one, you have to pay a little closer attention to everything. When there’s two, I think they get confused. They expect the other guy is going to see things. I think it’s going to be good.”

King defenseman Mattias Norstrom was cautiously optimistic.

“It will be a good thing if it happens. I hope it does,” said Norstrom, who will play for Sweden. “I hope they tell the referees and show them some tape of how it’s been called this year in the NHL, because I do really feel it has benefited hockey for the crowds and for the players. And now we’re getting used to it, so it’s a good thing for the game.”

Unfamiliarity with the officials might produce conservative play at the outset. Four referees will be from the NHL -- Paul Devorski, Dennis LaRue, Dan Marouelli and Don Van Massenhoven -- and the remaining six from Europe.

“Until you get over there, you almost can’t believe them saying they’re definitely going to call it. It’s frustrating because you’re not sure,” King and U.S. center Craig Conroy said of the focus on obstruction. “They try to call it about the same, but it’s a variation from ref to ref and you’ve really got to be careful, especially in a short tournament....

“I’d hate to just see a parade to the penalty box all game. I’d like to see five on five, playing like the playoffs, when they used to put their whistles away and you could battle.”

NHL players’ participation in the Turin Games was negotiated in the collective bargaining agreement last July that ended a 310-day lockout that wiped out the 2004-05 season. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman had indicated that owners might be reluctant to halt play so soon after they’d resumed, but the players’ association favored playing in Turin. NHL players’ involvement in the 2010 Vancouver Games also was secured in the agreement.

“Our membership believes strongly in participating in the Olympic tournament,” said Ted Saskin, executive director of the NHLPA. “They participated in the last two, and both were great experiences, and the hockey was great for the fans.

“Our players understand that the way to build our sport is through events like this, with tremendous TV coverage. It’s a marketing tool and a competitive event.”

Said Bill Daly, the league’s deputy commissioner, “The NHL gets an interrupted season, but it also gets great theater and great entertainment. This broadens the visibility of the sport. And this year in particular, with our new partnership with NBC, we’ll be as front and center as we’ve ever been and as well-promoted as we’ve ever been.”

Olympic exposure hasn’t done much for the NHL’s TV ratings. The league is on its second TV deal since Nagano, having parted with Fox and ABC/ESPN.

“We have to keep working at it,” Saskin said. “It’s an opportunity for people in Arkansas and Oklahoma who don’t watch NHL hockey but will watch the Olympics, and hopefully over time they decide they will watch the NHL.”

Those fans, and others, might continue watching if the games in Turin are as fast-paced and flow as smoothly as many NHL games have this season. With players now accustomed to making two-line passes, they face fewer adjustments when the puck is dropped for the Turin tournament.

“I think it’s going to be the best ever,” Selanne said. “Salt Lake City was unbelievable hockey, and the guys are at least the same level right now.”