Pass or Fail: Grading NHL’s new rules tested at R&D Camp

Perhaps the greatest misconception about the NHL Research and Development Camp, which just completed its second summer at the absurdly named MasterCard Centre for Hockey Excellence near Toronto, is that NHL VP Brendan Shanahan is an evil scientist. Sure, the R&D symposium has become affectionately known as "Camp Shanny," and the new NHL discipline czar is its spokesman. But it's not as if Shanahan is scribbling down faceoff variations in some tattered notebook at 3 a.m., waking up Rob Blake with a text message that reads "WHAT ABOUT A JUMP PUCK LIKE HOOPZ?" The rules tested at the camp are suggested from different corners of the NHL front office and its general managers. Some wanted to see different forms of the shootout; one guy in Toronto wanted to see if we could reduce boarding penalties with legalized obstruction, er, "bear hugs." The reality is that Shanahan doesn't dig every rule tested, as the camp was quick to delete the ones from t...