The NHL Board of Governors yesterday amended the
league constitution "to limit ownership interests by the
same investors in more than one team," a move that "could
immediately affect the Fox Group, which indirectly owns a
stake with the Rangers and has an option to buy a piece" of
the Kings, according to Joe Lapointe of the N.Y. TIMES.
Commissioner Gary Bettman, on Fox: "We're going to have to
sit down with them." In other news, the league began
"tweaking" its rules "to increase the offensive balance of
the game." The board passed measures which include a move
of the goal line from 11 feet to 13 feet away from the
backboards; the use of two referees for a limited number of
games; and the trimming of the goal crease by two feet on
each side to allow attackers to get closer to the goal line.
Lapointe adds that the board "tabled" a proposal that would
have made regular-season games worth three points, instead
of two, and that "no decision was made" on future Olympic
participation (N.Y. TIMES, 6/26). In Toronto, Tim Wharnsby
reports that the league will experiment with the elimination
of the center red line for two-line passes in some pre-
season games this fall (TORONTO SUN, 6/26).
