WEST VALLEY CITY ? Impressive as the international version of hockey has been so far in the 2002 Winter Games, talk at the E Center lately has been about aspects of the game the NHL might consider adopting.
Bigger ice and legalizing two-line passes are two possibilities, though fear from some NHL officials is that changing too much would bastardize the hockey North Americans have come to know.
American coach Herb Brooks, however, begs to differ.
"I've always said (international hockey) is a more dynamic, high-tempo game," he said Monday.
"I wish Mr. Bettman was here so I could debate this publicly with him," Brooks added with reference to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, scheduled to attend a Tuesday afternoon news conference in which the issue's likely to arise.
Brooks favors the bigger ice and argues more is good, since that's the surface on which hockey is played: "It's not blacktop, or grass, or cement."
He is not alone.
"If we had any (foresight) when we were building all those beautiful new rinks throughout the (NHL)," American forward Brett Hull said, "we could have made an accommodation for international hockey, and maybe tried that once. But, to me, it's all an attitude. The owners, the (general managers) and the coaches have to change the attitude on how they want the game played.
"The players will play any way you want them to play. If you're told to hold, not pass the puck and chip it in and chip it out, the game is never going to be any good. So what you need is a change in attitude more than a change in the size of the rink or a change in the lines."
UPON FURTHER REVIEW: Mario Lemieux's second goal for Canada against the Czech Republic on Monday stood up, but only after review by a video replay official determined three things ? the puck went into goalie Dominik Hasek's glove, momentum carried Hasek over the goal line, and no one pushed Hasek.
Inserting requisite figure-skating wisecrack here . . . good thing for Canada it wasn't a French judge making the call.
FASHION SENSE: When his loose-fitting helmet was knocked off his head Monday, Hull was given a two-minute penalty for illegal equipment.
"I read the rule on the board before the game started," he said. "It said 'If your helmet goes off, go straight to the bench, or immediately put it on.' I put it on."
But because the chin strap wasn't in its proper place, Hull ? much to his amazement ? was penalized anyway. Said Hull: "No one said it had to look good."
DELAYED REACTION: Belarus goalie Andrei Mezin said that because everything happens so fast, he usually can't tell who is shooting on him. Not so with Hull. "When he takes a slapper," Mezin said, "you can't see the puck. So it's tough to stop it. . . . (But) after the goal, you can see OK it's him."
SPEED DEMONS: Curiously, Belarus forward Vladimir Tsyplakov was blown away by the USA's team speed.
"They are so much quicker than our team. We've never played a team as quick as this," said Tsyplakov, who has also faced Russia and Finland, among others. "When we played the Russians . . . it was not like this."
E-MAIL: tbuckley@desnews.com