NHL: Just a Thought

There's been a consistent move over the past few years to get the clutching and grabbing out of the game. And to put the skill and offense back in. Because while the hockey connoisseur might appreciate a tightly played 1-0, lots of flashing goal lights are more of a draw for the average observer. One of the changes put in place has been, naturally, to the power play rules with tweaks to line changes and face-offs. So, I'm watching tonight's game and the thought occurs to me: Why do teams still get to ice the puck when they're killing a power play? It seems to me that if you took that immunity away they'd have a lot harder time clearing the zone and that leads to more offensive pressure and more goals – or at least more heartstopping saves. At the same time not being able to fire the puck down the ice as easily means they'll need to skate it out more and that could lead to more short-handed breaks and/or takeaways in the neutral zone. I know originally, the removal of the icing was done to help defending teams but if you're trying to increase scoring that's not exactly a good thing. But it was also done in a much different era and skaters are a lot faster and skilled now.