3ICE returns for 4th season with 'almost all offense'

Grant Fuhr knows a thing or two about high-octane offense from his vantage point as goalie of the five Edmonton Oilers Stanley Cup championship teams between 1984 and 1990.

Fuhr says he’ll likely get a sense of deja vu behind the bench as a coach in 3ICE during the eight-team, 3-on-3 professional tournament that begins its fourth season on Tuesday at Xtream Arena in Coralville, Iowa, near Iowa City.

“It's a lot like we played in the '80s. It's almost all offense,” said Fuhr, who has coached in 3ICE since the league’s inception in 2022.  “You've got to be smart about it. You can't miss the net, you can't have turnovers, because 3-on-3, it's a lot harder to recover. You can't get caught out on long shifts. It's just everything happens that much quicker.”

From Tuesday through Thursday, the teams will compete for the Patrick Cup, named for 3ICE commissioner Craig Patrick, who was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2001 in the Builders category, and for some $700,000 in prize money.

Among the teams' coaches are several NHL legends: Fuhr, 3ICE Chicago; Ray Bourque, 3ICE Boston; Pierre Turgeon, 3ICE Buffalo; Guy Carbonneau, 3ICE Iowa; Larry Murphy, 3ICE Minnesota; Ken Daneyko, 3ICE New York/New Jersey; John LeClair, 3ICE Philadelphia; and Joe Mullen, 3ICE Pittsburgh.

“This will be my second year coaching,” said Daneyko, who played 1,283 NHL games and won the Stanley Cup three times (1995, 2000, 2003) with the New Jersey Devils. “When I first got involved, it had a lot to do with the guys that were coaching and getting to hang out with them. But we’re all competitive like crazy, and to be behind the bench with (players), that just got my juices flowing more than I anticipated.”

Daneyko and his fellow coaches will have 56 3ICE players under them, several of whom carry NHL experience, including goalie Keith Kinkaid and forwards Dan Sexton, Carter Camper, Steven Fogarty, Anders Bjork and Danny O'Regan. 

Many others have skated in the American Hockey League, ECHL, European Leagues or the NCAA.

“I think the talent's getting better because the league is getting traction,” said Fuhr, who was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2003. “You’re seeing guys signing AHL contracts. Some guys are starting to get eyes on them, and I think they realize that. Guys want to be seen because they’re all trying to get a contract somewhere.”

And the players will be doing it at breakneck speed powered by 3ICE rules that feature two eight-minute running-time halves. There are no power plays. An infraction is penalized with a penalty shot awarded to the other team.

But it’s no ordinary penalty shot. It’s a “jailbreak” in which the shooter gets a head start toward the goalie and is chased by three defenders and his two teammates and the puck remains live.

There’s no overtime if a game is tied after regulation. Instead, teams go to one-round shootouts until a winner is determined. Goalies aren’t confined to the crease or trapezoid. They are free to roam the ice to move the puck.

“It’s relentless,” said Murphy, a Hall of Fame defenseman who played 1,615 NHL games with the Los Angeles Kings, Washington Capitals, Minnesota North Stars, Pittsburgh Penguins, Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings, winning the Cup four times (1991, 1992, 1997, 1998). “It’s a rock-solid product and it’s exciting to watch.”

The fast-paced league has a few tweaks this season, the most significant being the length of the tournament, where the games are being played and how they are broadcast.

3ICE moves to the Midwest after playing over five weeks last season in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, at Baptist Health IcePlex, the practice facility of the Florida Panthers.

“Xtream is a really great state-of-the-art arena that just looks great on television,” 3ICE founder and CEO E.J. Johnston said. “It's a great building, it’s the right size and it's fully wired.”

The games will be taped and delivered to air in five three-hour episodes that will appear on NHL Network, NHL YouTube, FanDuel Sports Network, Sinclair Broadcast Group, Game+ and DAZN in Canada along with regional sports networks like Altitude, NESN, MSG, Sportsnet Pittsburgh and others.

“We're in about 70-75 million households in the U.S., another 10 to 15 million in Canada,” said Johnston, a reality TV producer and son of former NHL goalie and executive Eddie Johnston. “We're really excited about this.”

Episode 1 is scheduled for delivery by July 24, Episode 2 by July 31, Episode 3 by Aug. 7, Episode 4 by Aug. 14 and Episode 5 by Aug. 21.