Wild notes: Lemaire has plan to open up game

By Michael Russo, Star Tribune

Last update: December 16, 2007 - 11:39 PM

ANAHEIM, CALIF. -- With players today bigger, stronger and faster than yesteryear, maybe the only way to increase scoring is to increase the size of the ice.

Unfortunately, that's impossible in these new, state-of-the-art arenas.

So Wild coach Jacques Lemaire has a unique idea that he believes could dramatically change the game.

With space so tight now in the offensive zones, Lemaire thinks the NHL should make the zone larger -- half the rink from the red line in.

Lemaire's proposal? Once teams gain the blue line to stay onside, the red line in becomes the new offensive zone. In other words, the offensive team can pass the puck outside the blue line and regroup without going offside.

Lemaire's thinking? Currently, the defensive team's five players are packing themselves tight around the net and staying stationary, which has taken the skill out of the game.

By making the offensive zone half the rink, defenders would be forced to reposition when offensive players skate with speed.

That would open up passing and shooting lanes, Lemaire believes, which in turn would bring the skill back into the game.

"The league wants more goals. This is how you do it," Lemaire said. "You would have more puck control, more speed, more chances, more goals. Now, sometimes it turns out to be an ugly game because there's no finesse. You need a bulldozer to get the puck inside.

"How many times are you pressured at the blue line and the puck comes out [an inch] and you have to start over? This would change that."

Wild General Manager Doug Risebrough loves the idea.

"Room is so confined now in the zone," Risebrough said. "With Jacques' idea, there would be a half-rink counterattack coming with speed. Imagine [Vincent] Lecavalier coming in with [Brad] Richards? It's time to try something that's novel."

Mixed emotions

Todd Fedoruk does wonder what might have been. On Nov. 13, 2006, the Wild winger was traded from the Ducks to the Philadelphia Flyers. Seven months later, Anaheim won a Stanley Cup.

"Mixed emotions at the time," Fedoruk said. "You want your buddies to win, but there's times during the playoffs you're not quite excited for them. I told [Ducks GM Brian Burke] in November they'd win the Cup. It was a special group.

"I guess it wasn't my time."

Fedoruk said ex-teammates Dustin Penner, Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry called him from the celebratory locker room after winning the Cup.

Last season, Burke told the Star Tribune that Fedoruk "refused to sign a contract extension," so he traded him. "That's not true," Fedoruk said.

After Fedoruk was injured in a fight with now-teammate Derek Boogaard, "they needed a heavyweight. They couldn't go three months without one, [so they traded for George Parros]. At least, that's what Burkie told me. Had nothing to do with money."

Etc.

• A stomach bug ran through the team in the past few days, affecting more than a dozen players. Five players didn't practice Thursday and Friday morning; Brian Rolston and Brent Burns rushed back to the team hotel.

But no players missed Friday's 5-0 victory at Anaheim with the illness. Kurtis Foster, Matt Foy and Branko Radivojevic were healthy scratches.

• Lemaire loves the character Fedoruk and Aaron Voros have shown in the third period of recent blowout losses by finishing checks and getting into fights, saying: "I like it better than the guys that say: 'They're beating us. Let's go home and have a drink.'"

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