Some hockey thoughts. I wrote this a few days ago, but the internet was down at Chateau Le Tapeleg.

– The NHL is going to play 3-on-3 overtime in some preseason games regardless of the score of the game after regulation. This is to give players a chance to see what it’s like and oh what was that?

NHL coaches are concerned enough about this season’s new 3-on-3 overtime format that the league and the NHL Players Association have agreed to allow extra experimenting time during select preseason games.

…

“Once we see coaches practicing and experimenting with 3-on-3 we will have a better sense of how it is going to work once the regular-season starts,” (NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill) Daly said.

Oh, so it’s not the players, it’s the coaches? Great. I can’t imagine NHL coaches will find a way to bog down 3-on-3 play that everyone has clamored for.

– Slava Voynov is self-deporting himself to Russia after US immigration officials were looking to deport him themselves. In a purely coincidental bit of timing, this was announced on the same day as the second GOP presidential debate.

The LA Kings are retaining his rights, so that if he comes back to the states, they have some value from his contract. Of course, they voided the Mike Richards contract as soon as humanly possible, showing that yes, hockey is a money driven business where the single highest expense is the players. The Kings are going to do what they can to improve their chances of getting back to the playoffs and maximizing their earnings. This is a perfect contrast of that.

– We put out episode 96 of the Avs Hockey Podcast this past weekend. Give it a listen. I like it. You might too.

– I plan on greatly reducing my social media presence this hockey season. It was nice to have a summer of downsizing, as I was in Canada and didn’t have much cellular data. Some recent events on twitter and facebook have led me to decide that I need some serious time away from their “services.” When my various blogs and podcasts and things update, so too will my social media accounts. For now, I think it best to remove myself from the path of oncoming trains.

I really like a lot of the people I’ve met on twitter, but the personal expense has been too great, lately. For every bunch of good interaction, one bad thing will ruin an entire day. I don’t think I need to subject myself to that.

I’ve been making free content for 9 years. Aside from the Avs Hockey Podcast and the great time I have with Jay, the best time I’ve had doing it was the first year, before twitter and the social media onslaught. I would like to get back to that.

The contact page is open. There is a link in the menu above. Those of you that need me can get in contact there.