He and Colorado's Joe Sakic are tied for the NHL scoring lead. Officials have been instructed by the league to eliminate marginal calls such as hooking and holding, resulting in a drop in man-advantage opportunities for the 26 NHL teams. Minor penalties were down to 11.4 per game from 14.4 last season. The change in officiating philosophy this season has some players upset. Lemieux, for one, has complained because he feels that skill players have less room to skate with all the hooking and holding being allowed.
Some players feel the officiating has been a bit uneven in the first month.
I guess nobody wants to get in the way of a good hockey game. The NHL is cutting down on a lot of stick infractions. Such big-name players as Mark Messier of the New York Rangers, Detroit's Brendan Shanahan and New Jersey's Scott Stevens were suspended for a variety of violent penalties. Meanwhile, the drop in scoring hasn't resulted in decreased attendance. An average of 16,191 fans attended the first 103 games this season, filling arenas to 90.6 per cent of capacity, the league said.