The pre-overtime dry scrape will be one of the topics discussed at today’s NHL GM meetings in Toronto and, prior to tonight’s game against Nashville, a few Maple Leafs players shared their thoughts on the procedure -- including one that spends more time on the ice than anybody.
“It’s too bad it takes so long,” Toronto goalie James Reimer said of the dry scrape. “It’s a good idea, it really is, to get so that you can have more offense and better play.
“It’s a great idea, but it’s just too bad that it takes so long.”
Today, TSN’s Darren Dreger reported that the dry scrape -- where Zambonis clear the ice without flooding it -- might be scrapped as early as this weekend, with the NHL implementing shovel crews to clean the playing surface instead.
The pre-OT dry scrape, in its first year of existence at the NHL level, has been met with its fair share of critics thus far. Some say it takes too long for a maximum five minutes of hockey; others say it breaks up the momentum between regulation and overtime, and critics often note the Ontario Hockey League got rid of the dry scrape in early October.
As for Reimer -- while he said the procedure can be lengthy at times, he also acknowledged how beneficial it is for the ice surface.
“It’s great for the game play,” he said. “It obviously helps. It’s the end of the game, the end of the period, the end of any period, but especially the third.
“The ice is just chewed up and gross and so snowy so for them to dry scrape, it’s great for that reason.”
(Quotes gathered by PHT’s Dhiren Mahiban)