3ICE tournament puts premium on speed, movement, offense

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Most goalies would say playing 3-on-3 overtime is not their favorite part of the job.

Though goalies do get a chance to make some incredible, highlight-reel saves, they are mostly under siege for the five minutes (if they are lucky) the standard NHL overtime period lasts.

Now, what if you were in net for an entire game under overtime rules?

On Thursday, Cam Johnson settled in for what could have been a long evening in net for opening night of 3ICE -- an eight-team, 3-on-3 professional tournament.

The 31-year-old ended up winning each of his games, leading 3ICE Tennessee to the top of the early standings with a total of 13 saves in wins against 3ICE Chicago (5-3) and Pittsburgh (4-2).

All 3ICE games are played at the Baptist Health IcePlex, the Florida Panthers’ training facility, every Thursday night through Aug. 14.

“It’s different, for sure, but it is a lot of fun,” said Johnson, who has a contract with Springfield of the American Hockey League, the St. Louis Blues affiliate, but could return to Florida of the ECHL, where he has played for six seasons.

“It is a lot of fun for the fans because there is so much offense. The defense is limited. When you’re playing 3-on-3, that’s expected. But it’s a lot of fun for us, too. We have a great group of guys on all of the teams, and through hockey, we all kind of know one another. So when we all get onto the ice, we’re playing hard. We all want to win.”

The rules to 3ICE are similar to overtime in the NHL; the key takeaway is the game is constantly moving.

It's 3-on-3 hockey with each team carrying two lines of forwards and one goalie. Instead of a five-minute period, each game consists of two eight-minute halves using a running clock.

Whistles are rare; in the four games played in Fort Lauderdale on Thursday, not a single penalty was called. And when there is a penalty, 3ICE forgoes a power play but goes straight to the penalty shot.

When a game based on 3-on-3 overtime actually goes to overtime, there's a one-round shootout until a winner is decided.

“There are a lot of big chances out there, so the goalie has to make some big saves,” said Tennessee coach John LeClair, one of several former NHL players behind the 3ICE benches, a group that also includes Ray Bourque, Grant Fuhr and Guy Carbonneau.

“Cam did a great job for us, was a difference-maker tonight. But everyone played great, all seven guys were tremendous. This is not a defensive-style of game, but when the time was there, they came up big. Cam was rock-solid back there.”

The four teams who played Thursday -- Tennessee, Pittsburgh, Chicago, and Boston -- will be off next week.

Four more teams -- Buffalo, Dallas, Minnesota and New York/New Jersey -- will travel to Fort Lauderdale for the second week of games July 24. The round-robin schedule will conclude Aug. 14 with two semifinal games, and then a consolation round which leads to the title game to decide the 2025 champion.

“It’s pretty cool, a very interesting format,” said forward Josh Wilkins, who scored 22 goals for South Carolina of the ECHL last season and had two for Tennessee on Thursday.

“It's fun to play 3-on-3 hockey. You don't have to worry too much when Cam is in net, I've played him a lot over the years and know he can stand on his head. That was nice.’’

With training camp still about two months away, Johnson said playing at this breakneck speed could be beneficial when he goes back to having five teammates on the ice with him instead of just three.

“The pace is definitely up and everyone is trying to win so it is definitely helping me stay sharp out there,” he said. “You have to be ready for anything out there.”