This past month, visitors to the Sports Central Message Boards were able to ask myself, Lee Manchur, for my opinions and interpretations regarding hockey. In this article, I'll respond to your questions. If you have further ones you'd like answered in a future, there are appropriate links at the end of this article so you can ask them. Enjoy!

Posted by "Ross in Big D": Why do some people claim that the NHL will never go to Olympic-size ice?

Response: That's a good question, Ross. Many "experts" don't necessarily predict the NHL won't ever switch to the Olympic-sized ice surface, but instead, all the rules that go with the Olympic competition such as the modified offside and icing rules, "hurry-up" faceoffs, no fighting, and no two-line passes.

Adding or changing all or even one of these rules drastically changes the way the NHL game is played. However, I think the NHL should seriously look into changing to the Olympic ice surface. Currently, an NHL rink measures approximately 85-by-200 feet while an Olympic rink measures 98.5-by-200 feet.

In my opinion, the NHL should change their ice surfaces as players have gotten both considerably bigger and faster since 1985. Adjusting this, but not anything else, would create more room for the players to move while playing the same NHL-type game. However, 90% of NHL teams have built new arenas in the past 12 years with NHL dimensions, so the likelihood of the NHL making all teams modify their rinks is highly unlikely.

Posted by "mjames": Is hockey ever going to ban and discourage fighting like other sports?

Response: Simply, your answer is "no."

Like it or not, fighting has always been a part of the game - go back as far as you want and you will find out that fighting is just as much a part of hockey as an offside call or tripping penalty. For example, it's commonly known that a "Gordie Howe hat trick" is a goal, assist, and a fight in the same game! Even Mr. Hockey himself had fighting as a part of his game!

Generally, the American public is opposed to fighting in hockey. Why?, I really don't know. Why the NHL allows it, I really don't know. However, everyone has to accept the fact that fighting always has been and always will be a part of the game. You can't discourage it, and there will be a major uproar if it ever is banned.

Posted by "RaviPachai18": Exactly what is "icing" and why is it called that?

Response: That is a good question common to most "newbies" watching the sport of hockey. Simply, icing the puck involves a player from the defensive team shooting the puck from behind his half of the redline to the opposing teams' goal line, untouched. In the NHL, a player from the opposing team must touch the puck for the whistle to be blown. This creates some exciting races for puck in close games because if a player from the offending team touches the puck first, the whistle is not blown.

Unfortunately, many players have been hurt racing for the puck, and in the Olympics and other international competitions, the whistle for icing is blown as soon as the puck crosses the opposing goal line. The resulting faceoff in either situation occurs in the defending zone of the team that iced the puck.

If a player from either team touches the puck either intentionally or accidentally on its way to the other end of the ice, or he does not skate hard enough (at the discretion of the linesman) for the puck before it crosses the goal line, the linesman will wave off icing. It is also important to note that icing is never called when a team is killing a penalty.

Posted by "Josie2001": Now that that the Salt Lake City Olympic Games are over, it is already mentioned that the NHL won't probably go to Italy in four years. What is your opinion on this matter?

Response: I think the overwhelming majority of the hockey fan base would like to see NHL players go to Torino, Italy for the 2006 Olympics. However, the league owners and head office have obvious reasons to be opposed to it.

First, the NHL will have to shut down its play for more than 16 days as more travel time will be required than it was for the Salt Lake City games. Secondly, the owners have to decide if they want to lease their players away for that time period, causing their best players to possibly be "drained out" from jet lag and playing a condensed 82-game schedule. Thirdly, there are issues with the NHLPA, the six major national hockey associations, and the IIHF (International Ice Hockey Federation).

It will take a lot for everything to come together for 2006, but I think that with, especially, the North American success of the 2002 Olympic Games and the 10.6 television rating for the Gold Medal game not only in Canada, but a similar 10.0 rating in the U.S., all of the organizations will try to work something out that is beneficial for everyone.

Posted by "mjames": What was more enjoyable to watch, in your opinion: NHL hockey or Olympic hockey?

Response: There are good and bad points to both.

I like the Olympics because you get to show off your patriotism. I do like some of the Olympic rules, such as only 15 seconds instead of two minutes between faceoffs. An obvious reason to like the Olympics is less commercial time and, in Canada, no commercials at all were shown during playing time at the Olympic hockey games! I also like the larger ice surface as it allows more room for the skillful players to move.

However, the NHL format has some benefits, too. I like the more aggressive style which includes fighting, as well as bodychecks. I also like the fact that the NHL has the two-line pass rule. Contrary to popular belief, removing the redline for the purpose of offside passes will not stir more offense in the NHL game. By the end of the Olympics, every team found a way to gaurd against it and was highly ineffective. Personally, I prefer watching short, efficient passes instead of long passes with a high rate of being picked off.

The NHL is having by far one of the most competitive seasons in the past decade, and while the intensity in the Olympics was amazing, it's always just as high, or higher, when the Stanley Cup is on the line. To answer your question, though, Olympic hockey is more enjoyable to watch on TV because of the amount of time a game takes to play (2 hours or less) due to the time in between faceoffs and lack of marketing and company slogans.

If you have more hockey questions you want answered, log on to Sports Central's NHL board or e-mail me.

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