Wonder how players feel about 4-on-4?

Here’s a thought: Rather than asking the American League to experiment playing 4-on-4 as a means to decide overtime games, how about asking a representative sampling of NHL players and coaches what they think about playing one man down during extra time? When the league added two feet of workspace behind the goalline it didn’t talk to Wayne Gretzky, who changed the way the game is played by making 66 square feet behind the net his “office.” Nor did it ask, for example, Teemu Selanne, one of the game’s most electrifying performers, what he thought about an incredibly shrinking neutral zone-it’s four feet smaller than last season-where much of the game’s creativity and speed is generated. It’s good that the NHL uses the AHL as a laboratory-the development league was a testing ground…

NHL STATISTICAL REPORT

Myhres hit with major suspension

San Jose Sharks’ right winger Brantt Myhres expected to get a four-or five-game suspension. GM Dean Lombardi anticipated perhaps seven or eight. The sum of those two estimates equalled the conclusion drawn by NHL senior vice-president and director of hockey operations Colin Campbell, who handed Myhres a 12-game suspension for leaving the bench to start an altercation with Los Angeles Kings’ defenseman Mattias Norstrom Feb. 6. The suspension is the longest in the NHL this season and seventh longest in league history. “I’ve seen suspensions handed down this year (for actions) a hell of a lot worse and they only got four or five games,” Myhres said. “Obviously, the logic in giving me 12 games is something I still don’t understand. Whether they’re trying to set an example with me throughout the league,…

Kolzig asked to carry load in attempt at playoff berth

If the Washington Capitals are going to overcome the huge deficit they made for themselves during the first half of the season and make the playoffs, they’ll ride into post-season on the large shoulders of goalie Olie Kolzig, just as they did last season. “Olie is our No. 1 goalie and these are like playoff games for us,” said coach Ron Wilson. “If this were May and June you’d expect to see Olie in there every night, and as far as I’m concerned, this is our playoff run.” A Stanley Cup finalist last summer, the Caps are clinging to their belief they can put a horrible first half behind them and play well enough to claw their way past clubs in front of them. Ideally, the team would like to win the…