And Joe Whitney, a 34-year-old Boston College product who had five NHL games in his career before playing with the Iserlohn Roosters in Germany last season, leading the league in scoring. There is Brandon Hawkins, a dominant ECHL scorer, getting the chance to hit the SportsCenter highlight reel with an electrifying scoring move. The league's debut season was built on stories like these. Instead, he was tied for second in the league in goals with 20 heading into the final weekend. Murovich went to Las Vegas for the recruitment showcase thinking that, at best, he'd be on a taxi squad this season. The 3ICE executive team had him on its radar as someone who could play with the speed and creativity needed for 3-on-3 hockey.
A Pittsburgh native, the 32-year-old is a youth hockey coach at the Ice Castle in Castle Shannon, Pennsylvania.
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Tyler Murovich hadn't played professional hockey since the 2017-18 season with the ECHL Wheeling Nailers, the ninth season of a minor league career. The players were mostly minor leaguers, and only a handful had NHL experience. "You would think that they were just faces behind the bench, but all these guys actually worked really hard to get a system down or match their lines," he said. Jeremy Brodeur, an ECHL netminder who played on Carbonneau's team, said the coaches weren't just window dressing. "But once we got the guys on the ice and we could see how it was working, it really was pretty cool to be a part of it." Bryan Trottier, left, and Guy Carbonneau are two of the five Hockey Hall of Famers who served as coaches in the first season of 3ICE. I mean, it's a whole new start-up league," Mullen said. "We were all kind of looking at each other in the meetings when it started. The coaches were an early selling point for the league and by far the biggest stars associated with 3ICE: Hockey Hall of Famers Mullen, Guy Carbonneau, Bryan Trottier, Larry Murphy and Grant Fuhr and former Philadelphia Flyers star John LeClair. That became six teams named for the former NHL players coaching them. Initially, the plan was to have eight teams named for different sponsors. The sky's the limit."ģICE WAS ANNOUNCED in January 2020, a league that sought to capitalize on the kinetic qualities of the NHL's 3-on-3 overtime format that was adopted in 2015. When the fans come and see us, they're so psyched we're here," he said. What Johnston is certain about is that 3ICE hit most of the targets he envisioned. But after nine weeks of exhausting, exhilarating and frequently innovative hockey, there's a celebratory mood about this first campaign - and not just because there's $1 million on the line in Vegas this weekend (with around $127,000 going to each player on the winning team).Īt the end of his six-team league's first season, Johnston is left wondering about how the imaginative rules could influence the NHL's 3-on-3 overtime - like allowing the puck to be played off the netting - and whether 3ICE is ahead of a curve that could see the format adopted as a Winter Olympic event in the near future.
There are other weighty issues facing 3ICE as its first season concludes. Answering the offseason's lingering questions.Johnston said the plan is to create a lighter championship trophy for the second season of 3ICE. "I hope I get the chance to win it, but I'm not even tryin' to lift it," he said, chuckling. Joe Mullen, who coaches the eponymous top seed in the 3ICE championship tournament, hoisted Lord Stanley's Cup three times as an NHL player. Time being of the essence, the trophy-makers used a heavy porcelain base for the Patrick Cup, which is named in honor of league commissioner Craig Patrick. To create the trophy that 3ICE wanted at a lighter weight would have taken a year. "We'll likely take if off the table and then have them skate it below their waist. "It's a running joke internally," Johnston said. ET, CBS) - would end with a string of meetings about the proper way to present a trophy that weighs as much as a German shepherd. So it's only fitting that the 3ICE season - which concludes with a four-team tournament at Orleans Arena on Saturday (4 p.m. The first year of this start-up league has been defined by inventive thinking, creative solutions to challenges and an untraditional approach to hockey. Just don't expect the winning players to lift it over their heads. The 3ICE 3-on-3 hockey league will award the Patrick Cup to its inaugural champions this weekend in Las Vegas.
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