Kamloops Blazers discuss potential three-on-three OT rule change, schedule changes, air travel

Once a team gains the blue line in overtime, a player cannot deliberately carry, pass or shoot the puck outside the blue line.

If that happens, there will be a faceoff in the offending team’s defensive zone and no line change will be permitted, unless the opposing team immediately gains possession of the puck.

The above rule change will be tested after every WHL pre-season contest this year and the league’s general managers will vote on whether the rule sticks for the regular season.

“They are doing it in some leagues in Europe,” Clouston said. “The NHL is on board as far as testing it. We’ll evaluate it.”

Three-on-three OT was introduced, in part, to incite frenetic offensive entertainment. In recent years, changing strategies have been a buzzkill.

“In general, you get into the offensive zone and if something doesn’t look great, a lot of times the player carries the puck back out or passes it back,” Clouston said.

Teams are often happy to regroup in the defensive and neutral zones before launching an attack.

“It can get a bit boring for fans or the other team, so I think with this new rule we’ll see a bit more action and guys taking more risks, so I’m really pumped for it,” Bonkowski said.

“I was pretty surprised. There are not that many leagues that have it. Maybe in Europe, but I know there are not many in North America, so I think it’ll be pretty exciting and I’m pretty pumped to see how it plays out in pre-season.”

Clouston was asked about the potential for idle play in the neutral zone to continue despite the rule change.

Is it possible the defending team may hunker down in its own zone and wait for the attack to come while the puck-possessing club takes time to craft its foray before crossing the offensive blue line?

“Yeah, I think so, and that’s why it’s a trial run,” Clouston said. “The league has looked at what it looks like and must believe that there’s the potential for an improvement.”

Clouston has been studying European leagues to see get a feel for the new-look OT.

“You end up with a corner,” Clouston said. “You end up with a tough spot out at the blue line, like, ‘I’ve got to keep that puck in. It’s in and I can’t just carry it back out, so I have to try to make a play.’ So, there are some turnovers there. You can pressure up high in the corner and now the player has to make a play and you get some turnovers and you get some chances out of it. I think they’re looking for more chances.”

Bonkowski has been pondering how to approach the attack.

“Guys are going to come up with strategies pretty quick,” he said. “For me, I think the biggest thing is just reading it. There are going to be teams that gap up and try and play you pretty tight. If they’re backing off, you could probably take a guy wide. If they’re a bit more conservative or stepping up, you could probably try and make a move.”

SCHEDULE, TRAVEL, BEST-OF-FIVE

In an attempt to improve life for its players, the WHL is extending the regular season by one week to decompress the schedule while retaining 68 games.

The season will begin on Sept. 18 and finish on March 28, one week later than it has been historically scheduled to conclude.

To accommodate the extra week, the first round of the WHL post-season will feature best-of-five series instead of best-of-seven series.

“There’s a lot of focus on player experience, making sure we find the right balance between playing time, practice time,” Clouston said. “I see the value in it.”

Clouston added the better team usually wins in a seven-game series and the chances of that happening lessen in series that features fewer games.

“You can’t start slow in a best-of-five because it’s over quicker,” he said. “But, overall, I like it.”

Bonkowski is a fan of the scheduling changes.

“I think it’s good,” he said. “There are a lot of times during the season where you have a three-in-three [weekend] and then you have a game on Wednesday. I think with this extra week, it’s going to give us, the players, a bit more time to recover and maybe get in the gym, get in an extra stretching session. The regular season is really long already. I think cutting that first series down to two less games will be a bit of a nice break.”

WHL teams are now permitted to travel by plane for one set of road games under the following parameters: Trip by bus must be greater than 10 hours; applies to out-of-conference travel only.

The Blazers are not likely to travel by air next season, as they are scheduled to tour the Central Division.

They may in the 2027-2028 campaign, when they visit the East Division.

“When we go out east, I think it’ll be really nice,” Bonkowski said. “It’s kind of a cool experience and, don’t get me wrong, the bus trips are fun, but after six or eight days kind of just want to get home.”

by Marty Hastings

Kamloops Blazers discuss potential three-on-three OT rule change, schedule changes, air travel

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