GMs recommend rule changes

NHL must evolve to survive

One of the changes would be the widely supported elimination of the red line. NCAA games are already played without the red line.

Among proposals enjoying unanimous support was having four on-ice officials, two referees and two linesmen, which was already tested in preseason games.

"If you go back and look at the preseason games, it wasn't a case of more penalties being called," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said. "In fact, the games were faster."

After the Olympic break the league also plans to examine goalie equipment and how the obstruction penalties are called.

Six changes will be tested in the American or International hockey leagues the rest of this season to see if they should be recommended:

• Moving the net out another 1-to-3 feet.
• Not allowing the goalie to handle the puck behind the net.
• Hurry-up faceoffs.
• Banning line changes in the neutral zone.
• Not allowing the puck carrier to stop behind his own net.
• Requiring players who commit minor penalties to serve the full two minutes.

The GMs rejected the radical idea of dividing the game by four 15-minute quarters instead of traditional three 20-minute periods.

"We have a good game, a great game," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said. "Despite suggestions of doom and gloom, the game's in pretty good shape. It doesn't mean we can't improve it. We're looking to put a little more offense in the game, to improve the flow of the game, but nothing is needed that is too radical, just some fine-tuning."