NHL's hybrid icing rule could have legs

Hockey Betting Lines

08/20/2010 - Toronto, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 2010 NHL Research, Development and Orientation Camp took place on August 18-19 at Toronto's MasterCard Centre, drawing many of hockey's most critical thinkers.

Grouped together at the Toronto Maple Leafs practice facility, they watched demonstrations and tests of 21 potential new rules aimed at improving the game. While some of the rules were considered too radical, there was one that was greeted with almost unanimous approval; the hybrid icing rule.

Under the hybrid icing rule, which is already being used in the United States Hockey League, the linesman determines whether a play will be called icing based on which player reaches the faceoff dot first. If he believes the attacking player will be the first to the puck, icing is waved off. If he believes the defending player will eventually win the race to the puck, the whistle is blown and the play stops dead at the faceoff dot, instead of inches from the end boards.

"The race for a loose puck is an exciting play for our fans and we have to keep that play in, but we have to figure out a way to eliminate the injuries to the defensemen," Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke told NHL.com. "This is something I've put on the GMs agenda now for five years, and the injuries these defensemen get on those plays are often catastrophic. I think we have to change that.

"I like the hybrid rule. They have used it in the USHL for a couple of years with success. I've studied some video of that, and I think that will work."

The NHL's touch icing rule has been a hot button topic for years because of its potentially dangerous nature, just ask Edmonton Oilers defenseman Kurtis Foster. Foster made headlines after breaking his femur in 2008 trying to beat out an icing call, an injury that sidelined him for more than a year.

"Anything we can do with icing to protect our players we should do," said Ottawa Senators GM Bryan Murray. "If the linesman can make the call earlier, then obviously it will benefit the good players in our league."

The catastrophic nature of Foster's injury didn't go unnoticed by NHL officials as a new rule was implemented in 2009 to reduce nasty collisions. The rule states there should be no unnecessary or dangerous contact between opposing players who together are pursuing the puck on an icing. If they hit each other it must be for the sole purpose of playing the puck and not eliminating the opponent from playing the puck.

Definitely a step in the right direction, but is it enough? San Jose Sharks forward Jamie McGinn seems to think so.

"I don't really like the new hybrid rule, I think the league has done a good job of protecting players with the new penalty rule on making a check on an icing. I don't think they need to change anything if they keep that rule intact," said McGinn, via text message.

Surely there will be players on both sides of the fence, some supporting a push for hybrid icing and others toeing the line in favor of the status quo. But even with the NHL's existing rule in place, the accidental injuries will continue to happen.

What about the accidental trip or off-balance head-first fall into the boards? With the size and strength of players these days and the speed they can generate on the ice, looking at hybrid icing as a further precaution may be in the best interest of the league and its players.

In the end, if it can be proven that the new rule maintains the excitement of the current touch icing rule while eliminating the dangers, there is no reason why it shouldn't make its way into the game as soon as possible.

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Huskers' Lucky hospitalized for undisclosed reason

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska running back Marlon Lucky was hospitalized Monday for undisclosed reasons after Lincoln police responded to a call at his residence.

The Nebraska athletic department said in a release Monday that Lucky was admitted Sunday night.

MySportsbook.com has the Cornhuskers listed at +2500 to win the BCS National Championship odds.

A nursing supervisor at the hospital said all questions about Lucky were being referred to the athletic department. The athletic department said there would be no further comment from the department or Lucky's family.

A Lincoln Police spokesman said officers responded to a call at Lucky's residence 11:30 p.m. Sunday. The spokesman said he didn't know Lucky's condition at the time he was taken to the hospital.

Lucky, from North Hollywood, Calif., started six games last season as a sophomore and was the team's second-leading rusher, with 728 yards and six touchdowns. He also caught 32 passes for 383 yards. He averaged 19.1 yards on eight kickoff returns.

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.