So the NHL is now officially back, as the owners and players have all agreed to the new CBA. I got to catch the tail end of the press conference on this, and much of the talk was around rules changes. Many of these will feel familiar to fans of the college game (no red-line offsides and the introduction of no-touch icing), while others are directed at the net (changes in standards for goalie equipment and changing the location of the nets).

One rule change, however, stands out as polarizing: shootouts to determine a winner after OT.

I've mentioned the one glorious year of the Hockey East shootout in the past, and if you didn't catch it then I should point out now that my wistfulness wasn't exactly genuine. Not that the shootout didn't have entertainment value, given its relationship to the most exciting play in sports (the penalty shot), but as a method to determine a game winner it's not optimal. But I do understand that in order to attract more fans it helps to actually have a winner and loser for each game. Because, apparently, the average American can't handle the concept of a tie.

Though if it means an end to four-column standings, I'm back on board.

There was also some talk about the NHL working out their schedule in 2006 and 2010 to allow players to compete in the Olympics. NHL commish Gary Bettman kind of put it in the players' lap when asked about it, saying they had to sign off on some stuff to make it a reality. While hockey is one of the few team sports at the Winter Olympics, I'd hope that what happened to baseball at the last IOC meeting serves as a bit of an object lesson.

After the news conference was a league-wide draft lottery to hand out positions for next week's entry draft, done because (a) there was already an entry draft where teams were ranked according to their 2003-04 finish, and (b) most teams have very few players under contract, so team quality may really change over the next few weeks.

Anywho, the draft lottery show was great TV - if you ever wondered what it would sound like to hear Bettman count backwards from 30 to 3 (and then up from 1 to 2). The actual draw was held in a "secured location" (was Dick Cheney there?), and Bettman read the positions from envelopes. Each team had one, two, or three balls in the drum according to a poorly-explained system involving considerations of recent team history with the playoffs and, well, other stuff. Four teams had the maximum number of balls, and one of them - Pittsburgh - landed the top pick, which they'll use on phenom Sidney Crosby.

Most screwed were the Florida Panthers, the only non-playoff team from 2003-04 to land a pick in the bottom 10. They'll select 29th. Out of 30.

Hope that free agency thing works out for them.

And, like a good fantasy draft, the picks will snake; Tampa Bay has the last pick of round one, and follows it with the first pick of round two. No word yet on whether or not it's a keeper league or if teams will accumulate fractional points.

Anyway, NHL hockey is back October 5th. Please watch. They can use the exposure.