On the same day that it has been revealed that the WHA's Toronto Toros are homeless comes a story that another splinter league is in the works to capitalize on a possible lockout. The OSHL will teams in six Canadians cities- Halifax, Quebec City, London, Hamilton, Toronto and Kitchener- and will have a unique format. The season will be comprised of four 11-day tournaments each comprised of a round-robin and a playoff. Each game will also include a shootout which won't decide the outcome of the game but will contribute to points in the standings- wins will be worth three points, shootout wins worth two, making each game worth five points that can be split between the teams. Each team will have a roster of 12 skaters, including the goalie, who will play three 17 minute periods of 4-on-4 hockey. No red line, icing will be from the blueline and all penalties will result in penalty shots with a chaser (reminds me of 'face offs'' in Slamball which isn't necessarily a bad thing).According to Sportsnet the league already has arena deals locked up (do you hear that WHA?) and has numerous players interested including the Primeaus, Alexei Yashin and several goalies- Dan Cloutier, Dominik Hasek, Chris Osgood and Roberto Luongo.
More details should be available tomorrow but this already sounds more interesting and more credible than the WHA which is having trouble attracting arena deals, players and coaches. While the WHA is trying to be a competitive pro hockey league the OSHL comes across as a novelty act that knows its place and is willing to mess with the game to be different. I'd love to see it work. There's no word yet on whether or not a TV deal is being pursued but I'm guessing Sportsnet and TSN are going to have a lot of air time to fill if there's a delay in the start of NHL season.
Even if they do have arena deals in place, this whole enterprise sounds a bit kooky to me. It resembles a barnstorming exercise more than a bona fide league. If anything, NHLers might opt for it just to keep (somewhat) in hockey shape.
The 11-day tournament idea is perfect. A player can commit to that without worrying about ditching the team midseason to race back to NHL camp.
Nice find.
I don’t think it’s something that will be taken seriously as a long-term league but I think a lot of players will look at it and think it sounds like a lot of fun. 4-on-4 with penalty shots for every penalty? The scores are going to be insanely high and players are going to have all the room they want on the ice.