USA TODAY's Kevin Allen reports NHL GMs yesterday "took a bold step ... by recommending the league use three-on-three play in overtime starting next season." GMs are also "recommending a limited coach's challenge rule for the first time in league history." The new changes are being implemented the "right way." The GMs "acknowledge fan surveys supporting the shootout." They also "haven't rushed into this," as fans "have been talking about this for two seasons." Most important, they are "asking players to weigh in" (USA TODAY, 3/18).
TANK YOU VERY MUCH: In Toronto, Kevin McGran wrote the NHL "ought to be embarrassed at the level of tanking going on this season" as teams jockey for the opportunity to draft C Connor McDavid. However, the NHL "isn't embarrassed because the league doesn't believe it's happening." There are other ways, "arguably better ways, to determine draft order" than the lottery. The league will "never go for them, but it should at least consider the merits" of a playoff for draft order or eliminating the draft altogether (THESTAR, 3/16).
GAVE PROOF THROUGH THE NIGHT: In California, Larry Bohannan writes following the final round of the PGA Tour Valspar Championship last Sunday, "whatever concerns you might have had about the future of American golf had to be laid to rest." Jordan Spieth (21) defeated Patrick Reed (24), and the presence of other "young guns of American golf" such as Harris English and Rickie Fowler "should give American fans a feeling of confidence about where American professional golf is heading in the next two decades." Bohannan: "The future is actually pretty bright" (Palm Springs DESERT SUN, 3/18).
BUSINESS OR PLEASURE? In Boston, Nick Cafardo wrote the problem with MLB is that it has "become boring to children and adults alike." It is a "simple game that has been muddled by the trends of recent years." The media landscape has also changed, with baseball stories "now reading like technical documents." The human stories of players and their histories "have gone the way of their WARs and WORPs, and I’m not sure kids see that as fun." The personalities "have changed, too." Players are "making so much money that instead of a game, it has become a business to them" (BOSTON GLOBE, 3/15).
