Tweet! Tweet! ECHL fans should get used to hearing those sounds again and again in the upcoming season as players head to the penalty box in record numbers.

Welcome to the new ECHL, where the slightest hook or smallest hold is worth a trip to the penalty box.

The 25-team ECHL has adopted a new strict standard of rules enforcement for the 2006-07 season. The standard, which cracks down on obstruction and holding, mirrors the radical rule changes the NHL first employed in 2005-06. The ECHL aims to get the same results the NHL is enjoying: a free-flowing game that allows its skilled players to skate and display their skills.

Rod Pasma, the ECHL's vice president of operations, knows the results won't happen overnight. There will be significant growing pains as players attempt to change the way they've played for 20 to 30 years. ECHL referees are expected to call a slew of penalties, particularly early in the season, as players adjust to the rules enforcement.

Sadly, this makes it really hard for the crowd watching to get into the game, as it ruins the flow of play...

ECHL lowers boom on penalties

For rookie defenseman Niko Tuomi, the wait was well worth it.

Tuomi, 22, was looking around the Cypress Club inside Germain Arena on Monday with a child-like grin on his face as he participated in the Florida Everblades' media luncheon.

"I've had to keep checking to see if this is real down here," said Tuomi, a native of Echo Bay, Ontario, whose arrival was delayed while he was waiting for his immigration paperwork to clear. "First of all, from the weather, and when I came to the rink I couldn't believe how nice the building was. Then the fan base and the booster clubs, it's so welcoming down here, I'm really impressed, also with how the practices are run and the professionalism."

Tuomi is glad to be a Blade