The NHL held it’s first research and development camp last week in Toronto. The camp featured some of the top prospects on-ice trying out some new ideas that the league office has thought up.

Some of the ideas are rather strange, some are ingenious and some are downright ridiculous. TSN has the details (and a second article).

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I’m not even talking about the recent R&D Camp that took place in Toronto. Numerous changes to the game were tested by the league in hopes that some may take hold and make the game better in the future.

The rule changes I am talking about will be instituted for the 2010-11 season.

The first tiebreaker will be a combination of regulation time and overtime victories, with shootout wins excluded, according to the online report.

In the past, the first tiebreaker had been total wins of any kind.

This is a wise choice for the NHL. The new rule will place more emphasis on the team portion of the game without sacrificing the history of the game by changing the point system. Now, say the Red Wings finish the season 42-28-12 with 96 points and the Blues finish 42-28-12 but the Blues had four more shootout wins, the Wings would win the tiebreaker.

I think this type of change is what the NHL needs to stick with. The same can be said for some of the proposed rules pitched at the R&D Camp. If the integrity and history of the sport are sacrificed there is a chance to lose fans. But, if the rich history of this great sport is maintained while improving the overall product, the NHL will benefit.