The NHL Needs To Adopt This New Overtime Rule Being Tested In Russia

When 3-on-3 overtime was brought to the NHL it was one of the most exciting things in hockey. I don't know if you remember the early days of it, but every OT turned into this wild, back-and-forth track meet with teams trading scoring chances.

However, over the years, coaches have figured out how to handle 3-on-3 overtime by making puck possession the name of the game and slowing it down, sometimes to a snail's pace.

However, over in Russia — the land of circus bears riding unicycles, so you know they're up for crazy ideas — they're testing out a new rule that would make things a little more difficult for the team in possession of the puck.

The Kontinental Hockey League announced that it's testing a new rule in the Junior Hockey League (the KHL's development league) that would prevent teams from that common move where a team skates the puck out of the offensive zone to allow their teammates to regroup or go for a change.

It's a pretty simple rule: a team with the puck can't skate it across the red line back into their half of the ice. If they do it twice, it's a two-minute minor.

Think of it like a backcourt violation but on ice.

I love this and am not really sure what the argument against it is.

Yes, I can appreciate the strategy involved in the puck possession game, but I'd much rather see shots on net and scoring chances.

Plus, each time a team backs out of the zone to regroup or change, it takes a big chunk of time off the clock, meaning there's less time for someone to score a game-winning goal and a higher likelihood of the game going to a shootout.

We don't need more shootouts, and I'm not just saying that because in the two decades since they were introduced, my Philadelphia Flyers have been pretty bad at them (but that is a reason).

I want to see more games decided in OT, and this would do it. Maybe if it works out well, the KHL will adopt it and the NHL will follow suit.

Now… if only we could go to a 3-2-1-0 point structure, so teams can't rely too much on loser points.