July 27, 2005
Steve Coates expects new NHL after lockout
By TOM WILLIAMS
Sports Columnist
Get out your orange and black face paint and your Simon Gagne shirts. The Philadelphia Flyers will return
to the ice in the fall.
The players and owners agreed on a bunch of changes in the National Hockey League over the last few
weeks, changes that might give fans a different brand of hockey this year.
“The game will be a lot younger,” said Egg Harbor Township resident Steve Coates, one of the stars of the
Flyers broadcast team, “because of the salary cap. Things like that just happen. And, of course, it’s the
older players who make the most money.”
The Flyers have already lost veterans John LeClair and Tony Amonte to the cap and are now preparing for
the NHL Draft on Saturday.
“Many of the older players will have a tougher time coming back from the missed season,” said Coates,
“and wouldn’t be as effective as they age. And the young players in the AHL had a full season last winter.
But money and the cap will force a lot of personnel moves.”
Coates, always one of the great spokesmen for the game with the type of personality all sports need in
greater abundance, spent last season doing some broadcast work with the Calder Cup champion
Philadelphia Phantoms and concentrating on the millwork business he owns in Buena. And, of course, he
got to spend a little more time on the golf course. But he will be glad to get back to the NHL.
“Hockey’s public image has definitely been damaged,” said Coates. “We lost a year of fans following
hockey, of kids learning to love the game. I guess we’ll find out in a few months how much damage was
done. For some franchises, it could be tough. But we’ll all have to work hard to regain the confidence of the
fans.”
Already the Flyers are offering special family sections with reduced ticket prices. And head coach Ken
Hitchcock thinks hockey will have to follow baseball’s lead – becoming more fan friendly. “Of the four
major sports, we’ve been the least accessible,” said Hitchcock. “I think we’ve been very cooperative, but
we’ve also been kind of closed door. Whatever they tell us to do, we’ll do, and we’ll do it gladly. But, I think
we have to become part of the marketing strategy of selling the game, too. People want access.”
Coates is pretty happy with many of the rule changes that were part of the final agreement.
“I think the ‘tag up’ is outstanding,” he said. It allows a player who crosses the blue line ahead of the puck
to retreat to the neutral zone, then re-cross the blue line.
Other changes reduce the size of goalie pads, move the net and goal line back three feet, limit where the
goalie can handle the puck, allow two-line passes, widen the blue line, crack down on obstruction,
eliminate contact during icing situations and eject fight instigators during the last five minutes of the game.
“We need to wait and see on some of these changes,” Coates said, “but at least they’re trying. I’m hoping
that by opening up the ice, they don’t eliminate physical play because that is a big part of our sport’s
history and appeal.”
Despite all the changes, the one that will really stand out is the new overtime rule. There will be two
overtimes, if necessary. The first will be four-on-four for five minutes, the second three-on-three for three
minutes. Then, if the tie still isn’t broken, there will be a sudden-death shootout.
“That’s a good change,” said Coates, “because people want a result. It will create some real excitement.”
And Coates is optimistic about the Flyers chances. “I think they are as good as any team in the league
going into this.”
Hockey is back and we’ll find out soon if Flyers fans will return with the same enthusiasm and dedication
that has made the franchise one of the league’s most successful.
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