Suggestions to "fix" the NHL? Give your thoughts.
lonroy
Posts: 77
in Sports Talk
I know someone who works with a guy in the NHLPA.
Post some good suggestions about how to FIX the NHL and it's problems and I will email him the thread.
Probably won't help the current CBA dispute but I will do it in the hope of helping.
Hockey fans and non-hockey fans can post...I want to hear from all.
Post some good suggestions about how to FIX the NHL and it's problems and I will email him the thread.
Probably won't help the current CBA dispute but I will do it in the hope of helping.
Hockey fans and non-hockey fans can post...I want to hear from all.
0
Comments
(2) Absolutely NO TIES ever! (do a shoot-off or whatever, but no ties)
(3) bigger rink
(4) bigger goal and smaller goalie pads
(5) heavy penalties for fighting
(6) no more "goons" who serve no purpose other than to disable other players
People will enjoy seeing a 10-9 game come down to the wire with Gretzky style of skills and scoring......people love to see scoring.
0-0 is bad for business.
One of these things is not like the other..
- Larger nets or more strict rules on the size of goalie equipment.
- The NHL should have forced the cap months ago and still should now... Don't bother wasting anymore time with the negotiations with the NHLPA. Time to get replacement players from the minors and other leagues. If the current players who are against the cap would rather play in Europe for far less than they would make with a cap let the stubborn babies rot there or let them retire early.. Who needs them.
- Get rid of half of the teams in the league (no Canadian teams) If anything move some teams to Canada... the Devils to Winnipeg.
That's all I can think of right now. I had 3 hours of sleep
Goalie pads are too big as well but I can't see them making the nets bigger--that's a tough one though because a guy who's 6'2 shouldn't be wearing the same sized pads as a guy who's 5'7.
Jay
I agree on the need for rule changes to make the game more exciting and attractive for the fans, but at the moment it looks like a purely business decision will save the league and the teams.
Reduce the number of teams and move some of the remaining teams to cities that are guaranteed to support a hockey team. Don't put an NHL team in a city just because it doesn't have the NFL or NBA thinking that they will support any sport. Some people just don't like hockey.
This is beginning to trickle down and affect the game itself. Case in point -
I live in Ft. Myers, Florida. The owners of the Carolina Hurricanes started an ECHL franchise, Florida Everblades, about 6 years ago. They also built an own the arena they play in. The teams actively supports the community and in turn is financially successful. Many people who spend their winters here like hockey since they come from up north. Tickets are cheap and the play is good. Due to the NHL lock out the team and arena are being sold to help the owners hold on until the situation improves. Hopefully the Hurricanes will still preseason here and help bring soe NHL flavor to our area.
Make the game more attractive to ticket buyers, and have the sense to market your sport in pro-hockey areas.
1) Salary cap - will help, but I'm unsure if it is THE answer that NHL executives want us to believe. A properly structured luxury tax could be just as effective.
2) Reduce roster sizes - get rid of 3 or 4 players on each team. This would increase the ice-time of the skill players we all want to watch, and should reduce clutch'n'grab tactics without all those unskilled 4th-line grinders. Fighting should also decline, as it would make less sense to fill up a roster spot with a goon.
3) Implement shootouts and award 3 points for a regulation time win - get rid of regular season overtime and replace with a shootout. Award 3 points for an outright win, 2 for a shootout win, 1 for a shoutout loss and 0 for an outright loss. This will encourage teams to be more offense-minded during regulation time; too many boring teams like Minnesota are playing for the tie. For the logically-minded, this rule will also eliminate the current discrepancy that some games are worth 3 points and others only 2; all games would have the same three points up for grabs.
3) Move the goal line back to where it was - you can't score from behind the net
4) Reduce the size of goalie pads - the NHL's real problem is not lack of scoring but lack of scoring chances; however, netminders are getting away with ridiculous amounts of padding. You can't tell me JS Giguere would have been as successful in the 2003 playoffs if he was wearing pads like Ken Dryden used to wear.
5) Automatic ejection for fighting - I enjoy a good fight, but this simple rule, already used in Canadain junior hockey, would prevent a simple scuffle from devolving into a full-blown brawl
6) Call obstruction - THE RULES ARE THERE ALREADY. The NHL just needs to get the referees used to calling obstruction consistently, rather than for the first two months of each season.
DON'Ts:
1) Enlarge the ice surface - if obstruction is called properly, this should not be an issue. I recently heard an interview with Markus Naslund, a Swede, who stated he prefers the NHL ice because you can score from anywhere in the offensize zone. The international ice suface is so big that there are dead zones where nothing happens.
2) Enlarge the goal - as I mentioned above, scoring is not the the problem with NHL hockey. This would solve nothing.
3) Contract teams - Maybe move some teams (as a Canadian I would certainly endorse moves back to Winnipeg and Quebec), but given the above DOs, the NHL should have a chance to grow the sport and become successful in non-traditional markets. All that is required is time and patience.
2. Re-align the divisions.
3. Back to the old names
4. Salary Cap
5. Restrict size of Goalie Pads.
6. New Commissioner (get rid of the basketball guy)
7. Move NHL office back to Toronto
8. What about having two red lines instead of one? That way you still have a two line pass but increase the size of the zone allowing for longer breakout passes.
Wales
Patrick
Philly
New York
New York
Washington
New Jersey
Pittsburgh
Adams
Boston
Montreal
Tampa Bay
Buffalo
Carolina
Ottawa
Campbell
Norris
Minnesota
Toronto
Dallas
Detroit
St. Louis
Chicago
Smythe
Edmonton
Calgary
Vancouver
Colorado
Los Angeles
San Jose
Gone: Anaheim, Phoenix, Columbus, Atlanta, Nashville and Florida. 120 more guys among the 24 teams should increase the talent.
<< <i>Suggestions to "fix" the NHL? >>
Flush it down the toilet. Screw 'em.
<< <i>You can't fix hockey no one has ever cared a bout the sport. >>
Outside if a handul of locations I agree with this. People in Canada, East, Northeast and the Midwest do care. Hockey is too much of a regional sport. No matter how hard they try to make it a national sport it won't work. Accept the fact that its regional and move on. No more franchises in Columbus, Phoenix, Nashville etc.
<< <i>You can't fix hockey no one has ever cared a bout the sport. Soccer in America and the Areana Football Leauge get more respect. Just let the sport die! >>
There's about a million people in Massachusetts that disagree! If Bobby Orr ran for Govenor he'd win by a landslide and it's 30+ years after he made Boston a hockey town.
Bob
61 Topps (100%) 7.96
62 Parkhurst (100%) 8.70
63 Topps (100%) 7.96
63 York WB's (50%) 8.52
68 Topps (39%) 8.54
69 Topps (3%) 9.00
69 OPC (83%) 8.21
71 Topps (100%) 9.21 #1 A.T.F.
72 Topps (100%) 9.39
73 Topps (13%) 9.35
74 OPC WHA (95%) 8.57
75 Topps (50%) 9.23
77 OPC WHA (86%) 8.62 #1 A.T.F.
88 Topps (5%) 10.00
<< <i>1. Get rid of 6 teams
2. Re-align the divisions.
3. Back to the old names
4. Salary Cap
5. Restrict size of Goalie Pads.
6. New Commissioner (get rid of the basketball guy)
7. Move NHL office back to Toronto
8. What about having two red lines instead of one? That way you still have a two line pass but increase the size of the zone allowing for longer breakout passes. >>
this could work...and they aren't even talking about this stuff......their current product is garbage....complete garbage
2. Salary cap
3. With cap in place, expand the revenue sharing, and let 4 to 6 franchises move back to Canada ( & Portland)....
Or reduce the size completely by 6 teams or so.
Dan
Hockey set! Always looking to buy, trade or upgrade 1966 Topps to 1969 OPC.
I like the no ties, ever rule, sudden death hockey is watchable. Smaller pads, larger goal. More fights. Cheerleaders on ice!
Eliminate about ten franchises in warm weather cities like Phoenix, Anaheim, etc.
While you're at it, eliminate the center red-line to open the game up some.
<< <i>
<< <i>You can't fix hockey no one has ever cared a bout the sport. >>
Outside if a handul of locations I agree with this. People in Canada, East, Northeast and the Midwest do care. Hockey is too much of a regional sport. No matter how hard they try to make it a national sport it won't work. Accept the fact that its regional and move on. No more franchises in Columbus, Phoenix, Nashville etc. >>
I agree. Expansion to the south has been a big failure. Tampa could care less about the Stanley Cup. The Canes made the finals but the fan support was short lived. They sucked in Hartford and still got more fans than the winning Carolina teams.
Move all the southern teams back to the regions that will support them, and have the players live within the means of the revenue streams (i.e. salary cap). I do not see the salary cap making paupers out of NBA and NFL players!!!