Some subtle rule tweaks get a big thumbs up, while others flop as if they hit a patch of bad ice. The “dry scrape” before overtime periods hasn’t been popular - just scan a beat writer’s Twitter feed when a game goes beyond regulation - and TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that its days may already be numbered:
GM's mtng: Source suggests dry scrape could be abandoned as early as wknd. Full shovel crews would handle pre-OT clean in 2 mins or less....
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) November 18, 2014
...Toronto and Buffalo are among arenas that use full shovel crew during commercial breaks. GM discussing today. Not a done deal...
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) November 18, 2014
The intentions of the tweak are reasonable enough - the NHL wanted teams to play on a higher quality sheet of ice during overtime, rather than merely improving conditions during shootouts - but it sounds like the delay is annoying enough to tower over any subtle improvements in OT.
If nothing else, the term “dry scrape” was added to the hockey fan lexicon, though it might not last long since the practice may just die out in about six weeks.
(Do note that an official change hasn’t been made yet, however.)
