LAS VEGAS -- It appears the "staged fights" rule recommended by the NHL's 30 GMs will not see the light of day.
The players discussed it at their meeting here this week and they recommended to their members on the competition committee to vote against it. The committee needs seven of 10 votes to pass a new rule and won't get them if all five players vote "no" next Thursday when the group meets in Montreal.
The union brought in a number of tough guys Wednesday and they shared their universal thumbs-down on the "staged fights" rule proposition.
"They gave the group a pretty clear message," said NHL Players' Association executive Glenn Healy. "What's the code? What are the rules of engagement? Everyone talks about it, but what is it? So we had these guys come in and talk about it.
"We're about safety, but we also understand that if a fight breaks out in a game, Gandhi isn't leaving; he's going to stay and watch it. We understand that it's part of our sport, it cleans up our sport, it polices our sport, and it's entertainment. Goals, saves, fights -- thank you."
The rule would see players receive an automatic 10-minute misconduct for a fight right off a faceoff, or a staged fight. Montreal Canadiens tough guy Georges Laraque said Friday the rule would never work.
"It would turn into a mockery anyway because I would turn to a guy and say, 'OK, we can't fight right now because of the rule, so we'll do six Mississippis and meet in the corner.' It's true, we would make a mockery out of it," said Laraque.
Laraque said the players also discussed the mixed martial arts tactics that some fighters are bringing into the NHL; he singled out Brad Staubitz of the San Jose Sharks and his fight with Jordin Tootoo of the Nashville Predators where it appeared Staubitz was connecting with his forearm instead of his fist, like MMA fighters.
"That's an elbowing major, attempt to injure," said Laraque. "That should be an automatic suspension. We're totally against it."
Goalie talk Buffalo Sabres netminder Ryan Miller, a member of the NHL's competition committee, said he thinks the NHL needs to do more to ensure goaltenders are abiding by new equipment rules by beefing up league enforcement of those rules.
Former NHL netminder Kay Whitmore currently measures all goaltenders' equipment at the league's Toronto offices and then sends that equipment on to the goalies.
"The main thing we have to do is just regulate more. There needs to be more representation. One guy per conference and putting a little bit of the onus on the league," Miller said. "You want the rules, you've got to enforce them. We're more than happy to follow along.
"I think it's a lot of pressure on Kay Whitmore, to be one guy for 60 guys if there's no injuries or call-ups," Miller added. "It's a lot of stuff for him to handle. It's one guy doing a big job. We respect what he does but we'd like to see the league help him out. We do have pretty solid guidelines, but it's tough to enforce, tough to get to the rink."
Pronger's future Chris Pronger doesn't know where he'll be playing next season. He hopes it's in Anaheim, but he doesn't know what the Ducks will do. If defenseman Scott Niedermayer decides to return for another season, Ducks GM Bob Murray may be forced to shed some payroll. That's why Pronger's name keeps surfacing, even though Murray is a huge fan of the player.
In a perfect world, we believe the Ducks would much rather find a new home for goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere and the $13 million and two years left on his deal. But that's easier said than done.
"I don't know," Pronger said Friday when asked about his future with the Ducks. "I don't think there's a definite answer right now. They've got internal meetings this week. I'm sure it'll clear up before the draft on Friday. But we love living there and I love playing there. But it's out of my hands right now. It's up to them."
We also bumped into Rob Blake and the veteran blueliner reiterated that he intends to play next season and his agent, Pat Brisson, was trying to hammer out a new deal with Sharks GM Doug Wilson.
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