We’ll never know whether John Tortorella would have chosen to leave the fate of the Rangers’ season on Olli Jokinen’s stick if the head coach had been allowed to select his shootout participants one by one last Sunday in Philadelphia.
But Slap Shots has learned the NHL is preparing to institute a new rule for the shootout that will allow coaches to name their skills competition shooters one at a time rather than having to designate the first three shooters before the penalty shot show commences.
A well-placed source told us that the issue was raised at the general managers’ meeting in March, when it was argued that the current system essentially prevents coaches from coaching with games on the line. It’s as if baseball managers were required to designate their ninth-inning pinch-hitters and relief pitchers in the fifth inning.
The current rule was adopted, we’re told, primarily to service television, and give production people extra time to build their graphics, but that doesn’t seem to be a concern at this point.
It is unclear where this change in the format would require assent from the competition committee or whether the NHL unilaterally can modify the regulations, but in any event, we’re told that the new rule should be in place for next season.
That’s unless Donald Fehr objects.
(Pause for laughter … or for gnashing of Gary Bettman’s teeth.)
Seriously, the move is the proper one — well, abolishing the shootout gimmick is obviously the proper move — and should face no opposition. As such, if this were then, we’d know whether Tortorella would have chosen to leave the season on Tin Man Jokinen’s stick.
One would most certainly hope not.
*
Herb Brooks had his Smurfs. Tortorella is going to have his Hobbit — the Norwegian Hobbit, Mats Zuccarello-Aasen, the diminutive 22-year-old winger with world-class skill, who will sign a free agent contract with the Blueshirts at the conclusion of the next month’s World Championships.
Regulations included in the NHL’s newly adopted transfer agreement with the Swedish Elite League prohibit the signing of free agents until then, so no contract has been signed or registered. News of the pending agreement broke on Friday after Zuccarello-Aasen’s representatives at Newport Sports sent a letter to his other suitors, including Detroit, Toronto, Colorado, Chicago and Boston, thanking them for their interest.
The Blueshirts did not get a Dear John (dear John? uh, not quite) or Dear Slats letter.
The 5-foot-7, 160-pound Oslo native, who attracted serious attention following his performance in the Olympics, comes highly recommended to the Rangers by Markus Naslund, his teammate with Modo Hockey this season. Zuccarello-Aasen, scouted at the Vancouver Games by GM Glen Sather, led the SEL in scoring while capturing the league’s MVP award.
Two years ago, the Blueshirts signed Swedish free agent Andreas Jamtin. Last year it was Finnish defenseman Ilkka Heikkinen. Neither was able to create enough of an impression to crack the Rangers’ roster. Zuccarello-Aasen, a brilliant skater, will have to surmount the challenge of adapting his game to the smaller rinks of the far more physical NHL.
If he’s able to do that, the greater challenge would then fall to Blueshirts’ equipment manager Acacio Marques, who would then have to figure out how to sew the player’s name on the back of his uniform.
*
A few words of explanation following an inartfully worded sentence I wrote last week about the structure of the Rangers’ organization and how it might apply to AHL Wolf Pack head coach Ken Gernander.
I believe that a team’s AHL coach should always be a candidate for the NHL head coaching position when it becomes open and wrote that.
But in writing that if Gernander is not considered a candidate for the Rangers’ post, then he should not be coaching in Hartford, I was most definitely not suggesting that Gernander would not become a candidate to move to New York at the appropriate time.
Indeed, everything I have been told is that Rangers’ management has high regard for Gernander’s coaching ability.
*
So Mark Messier, GM of Team Canada for the World Championships, has selected Steve Ott to play for his team. This begs the question of why not Sean Avery for the tournament that will be played in Germany.
Oh, OK, the words “International Incident” spring to mind.
But Ott’s selection also serves as a reminder that when operating as assistant GM of the Rangers in 1996 — uh, captain of the Rangers in 1997 — Messier thought it was a good idea to send Mattias Norstrom away in a deal for ancient Oilers Marty McSorley and Jari Kurri.