NAHL Showcase Tournament – Overtime Changes On Horizon For Lone Star Brahmas
By Kirk Estes
The start of the 2015/16 NAHL season is just over six weeks away for the Lone Star Brahmas. They will make a one game visit to Amarillo to face the Bulls on Sept 19th before heading to the NAHL Showcase Tournament in Blaine, MN. In addition to facing some opponents they do not see during the regular season, the Showcase will put the Brahmas’ player’s skills on display for over 300 from nearly every NHL and NCAA program.
More from Dallas Sports
- Re-grading the Dallas Cowboys 2017 draft: Looking back
- Dallas Cowboys defense is great but also has room for improvement
- FC Dallas products play major role in USMNT win over Honduras
- Mavs Gaming and WWP Honor Mental Health Month
- Texas Rangers: 3 biggest questions this offseason
The Showcase will get underway at 10:15 AM on Sept 23rd with the Fairbanks Icedogs and Aberdeen Wings taking the ice. Lone Star will see their first action at noon with a contest against the Springfield Jr Blues. They will play three more games over the next three days. On Thursday they will face Fairbanks at 4:15 PM. Friday the Brahmas will play against the defending NAHL Robertson Cup Champion Minnesota Wilderness at 10:30 AM. They will wrap up their Showcase action at noon Saturday against the Johnstown Tomahawks.
Head coach Dan Wildfong will have a good read on where his team stands heading into divisional play with Lone Star facing some formidable tournament opponents. Springfield has reached the playoffs five of the last eight years and finished 5-3-0 against Topeka last season. The Fairbanks Icedogs are a perennial power in the league, reaching the post every year since the 2003/04 season including two Robertson Cup Championships. Minnesota won the Robertson Cup Championship last season in only their second season in the league. Johnstown is no stranger to the post season either with the franchise seeing their six year streak come to an end last season.
New overtime procedures will be in effect for the 2015/16 season, so the tournament will give teams and officials an opportunity to work out any kinks. The NAHL Board of Governors has voted to follow the lead set by the NHL. Games not decided in regulation will see the teams skate 3 on 3 for five minutes before going to a three man shootout. Previously the rules called for a 4 on 4 overtime followed by a five man shootout.
Last season a full 20% of games went to overtime with 65% of overtime games decided in a shootout. With a 3 on 3 format, the ice will be wide open placing a premium on speed, puck handling and goaltender play.
“I think the fans will really enjoy it because the ice will open up and the players and goalies skill will be on full display.”
One only has to look to the AHL to see how the 3 on 3 format may impact the coming season. Yahoo Sports reviewed at the results when the league went to a hybrid overtime last season. The AHL moved to three minutes of 4 on 4 followed by a four minutes 3 on 3 then a shootout if nothing was decided in overtime. With the hybrid format, 75% of overtime games were decided prior to the shootout. That was more than double the number of games decided prior to a shootout in the previous season when they used a five minute 4 on 4 overtime.
NAHL Commissioner Mark Frankenfeld is sure that fans will quickly buy into the new procedures. “While the shootout is exciting and an extended way to determine the outcome of a regular season game, statistics show that moving to a 3-on-3 overtime potentially increases the number of overtime goals 30-40%,” he said in a league release. “I think the fans will really enjoy it because the ice will open up and the players and goalies skill will be on full display.”