An unusual style of hockey is being played for a select audience this week, as the National Hockey League tests new rules designed to transform their game.

An assortment of NHL general managers and coaches were at the NHL Research and Development Camp near Toronto's international airport on Monday, for the first of three days of experimental hockey.

The players -- new NHL free agents and university skaters -- took to the ice for three 15-minute periods of scrimmage hockey modelled on an "open game" concept proposed by Boston Bruins president Harry Sinden.

According to Montreal Canadiens general manager Bob Gainey, the aim is to test out ways of improving what many already consider a pretty great game.

"We're trying to shift the balance from a heavily weighted defensive style ... to give a little more strength to the offensive side of play," Gainey told CTV News.

So, following the modified rule book, the blue lines were removed. In their place, lines were added just a few feet above the faceoff circles at each end of the ice.

Because players could pass anywhere on the ice -- so long as the one with the puck reached the pass line in his zone -- the result was a free-ranging game with barely a handful of offside whistles.

The entire game, which ended in a score of 5-2, took just over an hour to complete.

New York Rangers boss Glen Sather said the game captured the freewheeling style of play popular in the 1980s, and even went a step beyond.

"It goes a step further because you've distorted the size of the rink," Sather told the Canadian Press. "It becomes a lot bigger without the blue lines. There's so much skating involved. I think it's exciting. I think it's a great idea."

A second session was played in which the goal was enlarged slightly, and the red line removed.

Other experiments on the ice this week include:

• automatic icing, but no icing on penalty kills
• hurry-up faceoffs,
• four-on-four, then three-on-three, followed by shootouts in overtime.

If the NHL can come to terms with players in time for hockey season next year, there's little chance the league's rules will be drastically overhauled.

But at least one of the new experimental rules, however, will be in place the next time fans cheer NHL hockey.

The goalies took to the ice Monday wearing smaller-than-current-NHL-standard equipment. In addition to leg pads two inches narrower than those used in the NHL last year, they had smaller gloves, narrower shoulder pads and form-fitting sweaters.

Considering the scale to which goalies' padding has grown, Toronto Maple Leafs coach Pat Quinn liked what he saw.

"You can look down at the game we're watching right now and you can see (net) space (behind the goalie). That's the way it was in the 1970s and before that," he told CP.

"We still want them protected properly because guys shoot the puck harder ... but if we want to increase scoring that's going to be a big step towards it."

A decision on implementing any of the rules being tested at this week's camp would only be made following recommendation by a competition committee.

The won't have such a committee until the league and owners have signed a new Collective Bargaining Agreement with the Players' Association.

To that end, the two sides will sit down on Tuesday, to continue the 34 hours of meetings that were described last week as progressive. It will be their 20th get-together since the season was officially cancelled in February.