3-on-3 may feel weird, but it's hockey now

It's new. It's exciting. But is 3-on-3 hockey really hockey?

"It is now," Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville deadpanned after their first preseason game on Sept. 22, a 5-4 OT win over the Red Wings.

The game was decided when a pair of Detroit players got caught up in their own zone, leading to a 3-on-1 break by the Hawks.

Artem Anisimov to Patrick Kane to Trevor Daley - and wham-o!

Goalie Tom McCollum had absolutely no chance and it was game over in 100 seconds.

The NHL decided last season that too many OT games - about 55 percent over the last five seasons - were going to a shootout, so league officials changed overtime from 4-on-4 play to 3-on-3 play. If nobody scores after five minutes, the game will then be decided in a shootout.

(Power plays will be played as 4-on-3s. When the power play ends, it will be 4-on-4 and go back to 3-on-3 at the next whistle).

This 3-on-3 thing has been called gimmicky and looks odd to hockey purists. But then again, the shootout is gimmicky as well, so perhaps this is the lesser of two evils.

"I think it's great," Hawks captain Jonathan Toews said. "It gives us a chance to finish with players on the ice.

"It's going to be entertaining in a lot of ways. It's a new element to the game that we're going to have to get used to, but I think it's a lot of fun."

Count Toews among those who expect most games to end in OT.

"That's my guess," he said. "Unless the goalies stand on their heads and they stop 2-on-1 after 2-on-1."

Hawks backup goalie Scott Darling played in 26 games for Rockford last season when the AHL adopted a slightly different version of 3-on-3 hockey. Instead of playing all five minutes of OT at 3-on-3, the AHL played 4-on-4 for three minutes, then went to 3-on-3 after the first whistle.

Only about 25 percent of OT games ended in a shootout.

"It's not exactly fun for the goalies, but it's new, it's exciting, the fans are gonna love it," Darling said, later adding: "Once the first big scoring chance happens, the game just blows wide open. If you don't score, it's like a 2-on-0 the other way. If they don't score, it's a 2-on-0 back the other way.

"It just goes back and forth until somebody scores. You're just trying to make the big saves. ... It's gonna be a lot of fun for the fans."

Winning the opening faceoff will be huge because the team that loses it may never have a chance to score. But if the team that gains first puck possession fails, now there are exhausted players chasing the puck 150-plus feet down the ice.

One thing's for sure: It's going to be a learning process for everyone.

"We've been watching other 3-on-3 games, and then once the regular season starts, I think we'll all be studious in watching other games and what's going to be going on in overtime," Quenneville said. "So, there's probably a lot to learn and everybody might have a different system, so maybe we can pick things up as well. But it's wide open, basically, the way I'm looking at it."

Will teams at a disadvantage roll out three defensemen and play for a shootout? Or maybe a high-powered team like Tampa Bay rolls out its "Triplets" line of Tyler Johnson, Nikita Kucherov and Ondrej Palat.

"Are you willing to put certain players out there that are high reward but also high risk?" Lightning coach Jon Cooper said to NHL.com's Dan Rosen. "It'll be interesting to see. I think there will be teams that put three defensemen out there, three forwards out there, the two and one. There's no question.

"We were borderline average at the shootout last year, maybe below. So I'm thinking, there is only a minute or two left in overtime, so maybe I should just go for it. We'll have to see how that plays out in 3-on-3."

Whatever the Blackhawks decide, they figure to have a sizable advantage over many teams, especially when they can start with Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa and Duncan Keith one minute, and replace them with Patrick Kane, Artem Anisimov and Brent Seabrook.

Or how about going with Toews, Hossa and Kane together? Toews, Teuvo Teravainen and Keith? Toews, Artemi Panarin and Seabrook? Toews, Keith and Seabrook?

Scary stuff.

"Yeah, we've got some options for OT," said a smiling Corey Crawford. "I'm sure we'll be set for that."

Putting a ring on it:

The Blackhawks presented players and staff with their 2015 Stanley Cup Championship Rings during a private ceremony Sunday night in downtown Chicago. The rings, created by Jostens, have 355 round, pear, marquise and custom princess-cut diamonds all set in a 14 karat white gold ring. This collection of stones creates an all-white ring that tops over 10.8 carats.