Meanwhile, down on the farm...

I've been reading up on hockey going on in the rest of the continent and I'm interested in what is going to go on with the American Hockey League if or when the NHL goes on strike. It looks to be that most of the NHL owners are going to keep a lot of their young talent to the minors. That way, they can be exempt and not sitting on their hands during the strike. Good idea!

While the NHL heads toward what could be a lengthy work stoppage, the AHL is flourishing. Should there be a lockout or strike in the fall, its top development circuit might benefit in popularity, exposure, even in significance.
But the last thing the AHL wants to see is a hockey Armageddon.

They also want to tweak with the game to make it match more of the NHL rules. Some of the NHL GMs made a few suggestions on
this article

A system that will give three points for a regulation victory, two for an overtime victory, and one for an overtime loss.
A game-deciding shootout. A shootout winner will get two points, while the losing team gets one. Tie games would be eliminated.
Expanding the width of the blue and red lines.