Remember how I talked about carping? Well, here we go. The following is from today's edition of the Ottawa Citizen (registration required):
The NHL has listened to its TV broadcasters, allowing for more time between periods and during stoppages in play. Intermissions will now be a standard 17 minutes, meaning more features will be shown during the break between periods. All commercial breaks will now be two minutes. There will also be, at minimum, a 40-second delay before play resumes following goals, allowing time for several replays.The changes come after the NHL had taken steps to speed up the game, including hurry-up faceoffs and line changes, and the tag-up offside rule. 'We still have to tell stories to the fans at home,' NHL executive vice-president Colin Campbell said during a conference call yesterday. 'The game was really flowing fast (last season). In some ways, the game was going too fast.'
I guess this is a good news/bad news sort of thing. As far as I was concerned, I enjoyed the changes that sped up the game. And as I recall, most fans gave the changes a huge thumbs up. One thing for certain, it certainly improved the game night experience inside the arena, and I really enjoyed getting out of the barn earlier after the game.
On the other hand, despite what Mr. Campbell said, the league doesn't have more stories to tell, but it does have more ads to sell. Which has to mean that advertisers were asking for more time. And if the league makes more money, all the better for everybody involved.
