THE AHL made a rule change yesterday but missed a huge opportunity to improve its brand of hockey at a time when there's a major increase in attention being paid to the league.
Closer to home, the decision cost the Manitoba Moose a chance that would have allowed them to add Winnipegger and three-time Stanley Cup champion Mike Keane, or maybe given them room to bring back veteran Tyler Bouck.
Take your pick of the players or add someone else to the list, but it's still a bust for the Moose.
The AHL's board of governors approved the increase in the size of playing rosters to 18 skaters and two goaltenders, up from 17 skaters.
The change will begin immediately and be in effect until the end of the NHL lockout.
What the league didn't do was make a provision for that 18th skater to be of veteran status.
Rather than allow clubs to add the best player available -- and with the NHL lockout there are all kinds of quality players currently without a place to play -- they've made a rule change that will in effect allow clubs to add another fringe player or sign someone toiling in the ECHL.
The Moose pushed for the rule change to allow for an extra veteran but didn't get much support at the league level. The modification as it stands was so unpalatable to the Moose, they voted against it.
"Absolutely, it's a missed opportunity for us," said Moose GM Craig Heisinger. "It was appealing to us if it had been a veteran. It was a chance to improve the skill level in the league. If it had been an extra veteran we would have voted for it. As it is, it doesn't do a lot for us and I don't really know what it does for anybody else."
American Hockey League clubs are allowed five players with 260 or more professional games (AHL, IHL or NHL) in the lineup. Clubs can also dress one exempt player, which is a skater who has played more than 400 games in the AHL.
Manitoba has six veterans plus an exempt player under contract right now, as they've made the decision to carry an extra veteran and keep one out of the lineup for each game.
Had the AHL governors voted to go to six veterans and an exempt player, the Moose would have had a variety of options open to them.
They could have stood pat with the veteran group they already have but instead of sitting one of those players each night they'd be able to have all six in the lineup. The way the rule stands now, they'll have the choice of recalling someone from the ECHL or playing an extra prospect.
The Moose could also have gone out and signed another veteran, continuing with their decision to keep an extra experienced player around.
The names Keane and Bouck have been put forward and both scenarios would benefit the Moose.
Imagine having Keane, a big-time NHLer with a huge following in Winnipeg, skating in a Moose jersey when the team closes the Winnipeg Arena in a few weeks. Fast-forward a few more weeks and there's Keane representing his city in its brand-new downtown arena. It would be a homemade MTS Centre memory and a marketing bonanza for the franchise.
Making Bouck that extra veteran would be invaluable to the Moose and parent club Vancouver Canucks. Bouck has been a heart-and-soul guy for the Moose the last few years and is on the verge of becoming a regular in the NHL. Due to the lockout and the AHL's veteran rule, however, he's sitting at home in Kelowna wondering when he'll get his next paycheque.
Everyone's a loser in this situation -- the Moose are missing a tremendous player, Vancouver's watching a prospect rust and Bouck is wondering what he did to find himself in this mess.
The AHL is a development league and that's understood, but this rule change was made as a stop-gap measure due to the NHL lockout. That part makes sense but not going the extra step to allow teams the full possible benefit was an oversight.
It's an oversight that hurts the fans the most -- but these days that seems to be business as usual in hockey.
Rather than improving the AHL this rule will water down the product.
gary.lawless@freepress.mb.ca
