BY: Greg W.

The NHL is in its second day of its Research and Development Camp, with today's focus on some of the more radical ideas (like having the second referee off the ice, on some kind of riser). After Day 1, it's clear that the hybrid icing concept and overtime variations that could limit -- or, god-willing, remove from our lives -- the shootout are the two most popular items.

What's interesting about the slate of rules being tested is that there are few-to-none that were inspired by specific incidents, teams or players in the NHL. Sure, perhaps you can draw a line from the icing concepts to the injuries suffered by a player like Kurtis Foster, but that was two years ago.

Even then, it's the closest we come to having direct inspiration for these rules changes. There isn't a team that's dominated the shootout every season. There isn't a player whose behavior in the face-off circle has warranted immediate action. We doubt there's a team that inspired doubling the size of the blue line


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