NHL possible rule changes to make the game better...when it starts.
mintluster
Posts: 926
in Sports Talk
Story on ESPN.com:
"Creativity is the Key to Success"
By John Buccigross, Special to ESPN.com
The NHL's 30 general managers will meet in Detroit April 7-8 to discuss the league and its future.
One of the items on the agenda is rules changes.
The league intends to implement several new rules when it eventually resumes business, so the GMs will spend some time examining how the American Hockey League has fared with some of its own this season, which included limiting the goalie's ability to play the puck behind the net, wider blue lines, tag-up offside and shootouts.
Hopefully, the GMs will be open-minded and creative. Hopefully, they'll look at the game as if an NHL never even existed. It is my belief that if the NHL relies solely on GMs to shape the "new" NHL, we will see little change in how the game looks and feels. These are the same men who largely have driven the game into the ground with overspending, shortsightedness and a lack of vigilance and diligence on how the game is called and how it has evolved over the years.
The NHL itself also is culpable of not keeping the game slippery and fast, by expanding too quickly, getting clutched and grabbed by Bob Goodenow on every conceivable issue, and not paying enough attention to the product on the ice. The toxic relationship between the NHL and the NHLPA has dragged the game along like a car with its emergency brake on.
The NHL's new lines don't need to be orange, just wider.
Certainly, there are some GMs who should be a big part of any committee overseeing the league's relaunch, but the NHL should look outside for all and any ideas. I'm sure they are doing that as we speak.
Here would be my 10 recommendations to the NHL on how to give the game a much-needed tune-up and Hakkan lube job.
1. Bigger nets
This is the ONLY way to increase scoring. While the AHL's rules changes appear to be good ones, scoring has not risen appreciably. Player equipment – goalies and skaters – is too big and too effective. Also, the goalies are too good. In 1968, when Bob Gibson led Major League Baseball with a 1.12 ERA, Carl Yastrzemski won the AL batting title by hitting a paltry .301 and Glenn Beckert led the major leagues with a measly 98 runs. The next season, MLB lowered the pitcher's mound from 15 inches to 10 to increase offense. The NFL continually tweaks its rules to give the offense the advantage – from pass coverage rules, blocking allowances, moving the kickoff yard line back and, to a lesser degree, introducing the two-point conversion. The NBA, like the NHL, has become bogged down with too much grabby, clogging, defense.
Flow and legal contact is the most important attraction of a well-played hockey game. But to sell the NHL game and grow the fan base – as well as to keep it stimulating and theatrical – there has to be more goal scoring. We need more long slapshot goals from streaking, Cam Neely-like power wingers and more come-from-behind victories. Too many times we hear the stat, "The Stars are 196-2-4 in their last 202 games when leading after two periods." This robs the game of the two most important words in the NHL language: hope and stimulation. The offense always needs to have the advantage in the marketplace of which the NHL is a part. I think the same goes for college right now.
2. No skater interference
This is probably No. 1, but I wanted to get your attention with the bigger nets. The rule should be very clear and along the lines of NFL passing-game rules, NBA fast-break rules and soccer rules. If an opponent is in front you, has position on you, you simply cannot touch that player. The practice of tugging on a skater's shoulder, hip or hands from behind with one's stick or gloves is absurd. The ruling, most applicably in the neutral zone, should be that you can't impede a player's progress by intentionally blocking his path, or by reaching out and slowing down a player with or without the puck. In the attacking zones, the rule should be like soccer, once the defender has position he can play the man and the puck at the same time with more force and contact. Those battles of will are the essence of athletics. But skaters need the freedom to generate speed in the neutral zone, and the freedom to use their strength and lateral movement in the attacking zones to create highlight goals and exhilarating plays.
3. Penalty deterrents
Enforcing the rules above would result in numerous penalties, especially early in their implementation. I would attempt to offset that by having all minor penalties served for a full two minutes. Additionally, I would eject a player after four minors in a game. (I could be talked down into three minors, as well.) Maybe this is implausible and/or silly, but the point is to create a culture in which infractions, especially involving obstruction, are penalized consistently and with substance. The point is not to have a lot of power plays; the point is to implement penalty deterrents so we have fast and fluid hockey, few penalties and players who respect each other and the game.
4. Adopt all AHL rules changes from this season
Move the nets back to as close as the boards as possible. Make the lines as thick as possible and paint pictures of Carmen Electra on them. Restrict the goaltenders from going in the corners to foil the forecheck. Bring back the tag-up offside rule to create more flow and keep tired players on the ice to create more time and space. And yes, bring on the regular-season shootout after a 10-minute period of 4-on-4. The fewer shootouts the better, because the more rare, the more special. No more ties. We need to simplify the standings and always have a winner as we launch and market this game anew. Shootouts televise well and they're sexy to the untrained eye. No shootouts in the playoffs, but I wouldn't be averse to having them after three overtimes. I'm concerned about the health consequences and subsequent medical costs of eating arena hotdogs and nacho cheese for four uninterrupted hours. Let's try it. If it's offensive, we shelf it. But let's give it a shot.
5. Paint the helmets
I want hockey helmets to look cool, to be the topper of these world-class athletes who train so hard and play so hard. I want helmets like Michigan's hockey helmet, or the ones Ohio State wore against Michigan. Bold paint jobs and logos. The hockey helmet should join the ranks of cool memorabilia items and not just a smelly piece of equipment to cover Tie Domi's huge noggin'.
6. Mandatory player and referee microphones
Every game one player from each team and one on-ice official should wear a microphone. Players are funny, emotional and, in some cases, smart. We need to showcase them and put on an entertaining television show. What the NFL realized a long time ago that most NHL GMs and PR people don't is that televised games are TV shows. A TV show won't get good ratings unless it is creative and compelling. I don't want to turn this into "Real World Raleigh," but the NHL should have the full authority to tell teams what to do in terms of cooperation with its national TV partners, whether it's ESPN, NBC or CBC. Individual NHL PR departments, as well as coaches and GMs who sometimes veto the moves, have too much authority. Bain Capital Partners LLC and Game Plan International's leveraged buyout of the NHL would be positive in a lot of ways. Most importantly, the NHL would have one owner and thus decisions would be made, like better TV production methods, for the good of the league as opposed to individual teams.
7. No music before faceoffs
No one loves music more than me, but I don't want to hear music, especially bad music, cranked up while I'm watching a game. I want to talk about the game with the people around me. When I go to a Wilco concert, they don't play hockey play-by-play over the PA in between songs. So why do I have to hear Guns N' Roses played full blast during a stoppage in play of a hockey game? At least play some Ween, and in the words of Dr. Evil, "TURN IT DOWWWN A NOTCH." I want the fans to be proactive, not reactive. While in Florida in January, I went to a Miami Heat game because the ticket was free and I sat with an old college buddy, Mike Torres. When it was all over I barely felt like a basketball game had just occurred. The NHL and NBA have too much stuff going on and their arenas are too big. There isn't enough intimacy and there's too much noise. It appears the next new NHL arena will be built in Newark for the Devils. Please, Lou Lamoriello, oversee this structure and make it intimate. Keep it in that 15,000-17,000 capacity range. Put the seats on top of the ice, and conveniently forget to put speakers, a video screen and speakers on the Jumbotron. It would be nice to see the eyes in the stands looking down on the ice and not up at a gigantic TV set.
8. Take out the red line
I'm convinced this would create some space. The skill and talent of the NHL player would take advantage of this more so than the college or international player who simply isn't as talented. No rule against a two-line pass. The fewer rules the better.
9. Play-in games
After the last day of the regular season, which I would make a Saturday, I would have the eighth- and ninth-place teams in each conference play a game that decides who gets the last spot in the playoffs. Regular-season ticket prices, the eighth-place team gets the home game, teams and players split the gate. The games would be part of a double-header that Monday night. At the start of the first game, I would have the arena completely dark after player introductions on the blue lines. I'd bring up powerful music, mix in some Stanley Cup playoff play-by-play calls, but keep the arena dark. Then, after a minute, I'd have a spotlight on the Stanley Cup, sitting alone on the center-ice faceoff dot. All the players and fans in attendance, and those watching on ESPN2, would be staring at the Stanley Cup, the richest artifact in sports. Every player and fan would have an image in their minds all their own. That's what great artwork does. What a way to start the playoff season. It would be Opening Day of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
10. Congressional hearings on NHL and NHLPA leadership
Can we really expect or entrust Gary Bettman and Bob Goodenow to be the stewards of the game? Can we expect this poisonous relationship between the NHL and the NHLPA to heal with the current leadership in place? Stranger things have happened: Barry Melrose played in the NHL and Milli Vanilli won a Grammy in 1990, but can we envision these sandpaper personalities working together and in harmony for the good of the game? This is a bad marriage. It has wrought lower ratings and a diminishing on-ice product. It has been the lack of leadership from the heads of state that, in the end, must shoulder most of the blame. Someone should lean in and take one for the team. Step aside as the NHL moves forward. Goodenow woefully has misread the landscape and cost his players hundreds of millions. Bettman and the owners should have fought this fight in 1995, but the persistence of Goodenow surprised them. Didn't they realize that expansion increased players' options and thus salaries would explode with individual market interests and no salary cap? How can we trust this group of owners and its hired help to move forward in this very important rehabilitation if they are so emotional and lack so much foresight?
"Creativity is the Key to Success"
By John Buccigross, Special to ESPN.com
The NHL's 30 general managers will meet in Detroit April 7-8 to discuss the league and its future.
One of the items on the agenda is rules changes.
The league intends to implement several new rules when it eventually resumes business, so the GMs will spend some time examining how the American Hockey League has fared with some of its own this season, which included limiting the goalie's ability to play the puck behind the net, wider blue lines, tag-up offside and shootouts.
Hopefully, the GMs will be open-minded and creative. Hopefully, they'll look at the game as if an NHL never even existed. It is my belief that if the NHL relies solely on GMs to shape the "new" NHL, we will see little change in how the game looks and feels. These are the same men who largely have driven the game into the ground with overspending, shortsightedness and a lack of vigilance and diligence on how the game is called and how it has evolved over the years.
The NHL itself also is culpable of not keeping the game slippery and fast, by expanding too quickly, getting clutched and grabbed by Bob Goodenow on every conceivable issue, and not paying enough attention to the product on the ice. The toxic relationship between the NHL and the NHLPA has dragged the game along like a car with its emergency brake on.
The NHL's new lines don't need to be orange, just wider.
Certainly, there are some GMs who should be a big part of any committee overseeing the league's relaunch, but the NHL should look outside for all and any ideas. I'm sure they are doing that as we speak.
Here would be my 10 recommendations to the NHL on how to give the game a much-needed tune-up and Hakkan lube job.
1. Bigger nets
This is the ONLY way to increase scoring. While the AHL's rules changes appear to be good ones, scoring has not risen appreciably. Player equipment – goalies and skaters – is too big and too effective. Also, the goalies are too good. In 1968, when Bob Gibson led Major League Baseball with a 1.12 ERA, Carl Yastrzemski won the AL batting title by hitting a paltry .301 and Glenn Beckert led the major leagues with a measly 98 runs. The next season, MLB lowered the pitcher's mound from 15 inches to 10 to increase offense. The NFL continually tweaks its rules to give the offense the advantage – from pass coverage rules, blocking allowances, moving the kickoff yard line back and, to a lesser degree, introducing the two-point conversion. The NBA, like the NHL, has become bogged down with too much grabby, clogging, defense.
Flow and legal contact is the most important attraction of a well-played hockey game. But to sell the NHL game and grow the fan base – as well as to keep it stimulating and theatrical – there has to be more goal scoring. We need more long slapshot goals from streaking, Cam Neely-like power wingers and more come-from-behind victories. Too many times we hear the stat, "The Stars are 196-2-4 in their last 202 games when leading after two periods." This robs the game of the two most important words in the NHL language: hope and stimulation. The offense always needs to have the advantage in the marketplace of which the NHL is a part. I think the same goes for college right now.
2. No skater interference
This is probably No. 1, but I wanted to get your attention with the bigger nets. The rule should be very clear and along the lines of NFL passing-game rules, NBA fast-break rules and soccer rules. If an opponent is in front you, has position on you, you simply cannot touch that player. The practice of tugging on a skater's shoulder, hip or hands from behind with one's stick or gloves is absurd. The ruling, most applicably in the neutral zone, should be that you can't impede a player's progress by intentionally blocking his path, or by reaching out and slowing down a player with or without the puck. In the attacking zones, the rule should be like soccer, once the defender has position he can play the man and the puck at the same time with more force and contact. Those battles of will are the essence of athletics. But skaters need the freedom to generate speed in the neutral zone, and the freedom to use their strength and lateral movement in the attacking zones to create highlight goals and exhilarating plays.
3. Penalty deterrents
Enforcing the rules above would result in numerous penalties, especially early in their implementation. I would attempt to offset that by having all minor penalties served for a full two minutes. Additionally, I would eject a player after four minors in a game. (I could be talked down into three minors, as well.) Maybe this is implausible and/or silly, but the point is to create a culture in which infractions, especially involving obstruction, are penalized consistently and with substance. The point is not to have a lot of power plays; the point is to implement penalty deterrents so we have fast and fluid hockey, few penalties and players who respect each other and the game.
4. Adopt all AHL rules changes from this season
Move the nets back to as close as the boards as possible. Make the lines as thick as possible and paint pictures of Carmen Electra on them. Restrict the goaltenders from going in the corners to foil the forecheck. Bring back the tag-up offside rule to create more flow and keep tired players on the ice to create more time and space. And yes, bring on the regular-season shootout after a 10-minute period of 4-on-4. The fewer shootouts the better, because the more rare, the more special. No more ties. We need to simplify the standings and always have a winner as we launch and market this game anew. Shootouts televise well and they're sexy to the untrained eye. No shootouts in the playoffs, but I wouldn't be averse to having them after three overtimes. I'm concerned about the health consequences and subsequent medical costs of eating arena hotdogs and nacho cheese for four uninterrupted hours. Let's try it. If it's offensive, we shelf it. But let's give it a shot.
5. Paint the helmets
I want hockey helmets to look cool, to be the topper of these world-class athletes who train so hard and play so hard. I want helmets like Michigan's hockey helmet, or the ones Ohio State wore against Michigan. Bold paint jobs and logos. The hockey helmet should join the ranks of cool memorabilia items and not just a smelly piece of equipment to cover Tie Domi's huge noggin'.
6. Mandatory player and referee microphones
Every game one player from each team and one on-ice official should wear a microphone. Players are funny, emotional and, in some cases, smart. We need to showcase them and put on an entertaining television show. What the NFL realized a long time ago that most NHL GMs and PR people don't is that televised games are TV shows. A TV show won't get good ratings unless it is creative and compelling. I don't want to turn this into "Real World Raleigh," but the NHL should have the full authority to tell teams what to do in terms of cooperation with its national TV partners, whether it's ESPN, NBC or CBC. Individual NHL PR departments, as well as coaches and GMs who sometimes veto the moves, have too much authority. Bain Capital Partners LLC and Game Plan International's leveraged buyout of the NHL would be positive in a lot of ways. Most importantly, the NHL would have one owner and thus decisions would be made, like better TV production methods, for the good of the league as opposed to individual teams.
7. No music before faceoffs
No one loves music more than me, but I don't want to hear music, especially bad music, cranked up while I'm watching a game. I want to talk about the game with the people around me. When I go to a Wilco concert, they don't play hockey play-by-play over the PA in between songs. So why do I have to hear Guns N' Roses played full blast during a stoppage in play of a hockey game? At least play some Ween, and in the words of Dr. Evil, "TURN IT DOWWWN A NOTCH." I want the fans to be proactive, not reactive. While in Florida in January, I went to a Miami Heat game because the ticket was free and I sat with an old college buddy, Mike Torres. When it was all over I barely felt like a basketball game had just occurred. The NHL and NBA have too much stuff going on and their arenas are too big. There isn't enough intimacy and there's too much noise. It appears the next new NHL arena will be built in Newark for the Devils. Please, Lou Lamoriello, oversee this structure and make it intimate. Keep it in that 15,000-17,000 capacity range. Put the seats on top of the ice, and conveniently forget to put speakers, a video screen and speakers on the Jumbotron. It would be nice to see the eyes in the stands looking down on the ice and not up at a gigantic TV set.
8. Take out the red line
I'm convinced this would create some space. The skill and talent of the NHL player would take advantage of this more so than the college or international player who simply isn't as talented. No rule against a two-line pass. The fewer rules the better.
9. Play-in games
After the last day of the regular season, which I would make a Saturday, I would have the eighth- and ninth-place teams in each conference play a game that decides who gets the last spot in the playoffs. Regular-season ticket prices, the eighth-place team gets the home game, teams and players split the gate. The games would be part of a double-header that Monday night. At the start of the first game, I would have the arena completely dark after player introductions on the blue lines. I'd bring up powerful music, mix in some Stanley Cup playoff play-by-play calls, but keep the arena dark. Then, after a minute, I'd have a spotlight on the Stanley Cup, sitting alone on the center-ice faceoff dot. All the players and fans in attendance, and those watching on ESPN2, would be staring at the Stanley Cup, the richest artifact in sports. Every player and fan would have an image in their minds all their own. That's what great artwork does. What a way to start the playoff season. It would be Opening Day of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
10. Congressional hearings on NHL and NHLPA leadership
Can we really expect or entrust Gary Bettman and Bob Goodenow to be the stewards of the game? Can we expect this poisonous relationship between the NHL and the NHLPA to heal with the current leadership in place? Stranger things have happened: Barry Melrose played in the NHL and Milli Vanilli won a Grammy in 1990, but can we envision these sandpaper personalities working together and in harmony for the good of the game? This is a bad marriage. It has wrought lower ratings and a diminishing on-ice product. It has been the lack of leadership from the heads of state that, in the end, must shoulder most of the blame. Someone should lean in and take one for the team. Step aside as the NHL moves forward. Goodenow woefully has misread the landscape and cost his players hundreds of millions. Bettman and the owners should have fought this fight in 1995, but the persistence of Goodenow surprised them. Didn't they realize that expansion increased players' options and thus salaries would explode with individual market interests and no salary cap? How can we trust this group of owners and its hired help to move forward in this very important rehabilitation if they are so emotional and lack so much foresight?
0
Comments
I do believe they should eliminate the red line. That will speed up the game and create more scoring. This will allow more fluidity to the eye and allow the scorers to do their thing. The play-in game is a terrible idea IMO. They have a play-in season of 82 games... If you couldn't cut it then, you don't deserve to be in. The NHL needs to stress that the refs call the game exactly the same in OT as they do in the first 3 periods. There would be less ties and more excitement if the refs didn't swallow the whistle during OT. Finally, I believe they should have a shootout after OT. 5 players a side. If you're tied after that, it's done. It would create more excitement for the fans and would still allow the NHL the comfort of keeping the old record books in tact, not allowing a team to forcibly contend for records such as the most wins for a team or goalie in the NHL's history.
I mean the NHL has turned into eastern conference basketball. Who wants to watch what essentially turns into a period-long grab session so the team ahead can prevent the other team of getting any sort of flow offensively.
Make the nets bigger, make the goalie equipment smaller (and follow the rules! don't let the big-name goalies get away with it), allow 2-line passes, get people excited about the game. Take cues from other sports, like he states. Basketball, for example, it doesn't get much better than a good run-and-shoot fast-break type of game. Take that and carry it over to the NHL.
Scoring is down in the Eastern Conference because of good D, but maybe the NBA needs to remedy this by making bigger baskets so that even the lousy shooters can score. If football, they need to shrink the field to 50 yards like Arena football, thus making it more exciting with high-scoring games. In baseball, we need to go to aluminum bats and short porches so everyone can stop taking steroids and start hitting homeruns. Wahhhhh.
If you're currently a fan of hockey, the scoring is fine where it's at. If you're not a fan, new changes creating more scoring will not turn you into a fan. You will become a fan by learning the game and watching. They do need to make some changes and the goalie equipment size is certainly one of them. Scoring is down partially because the goalies have larger equipment. Decrease the size of them, but leave the nets alone. They need to try to change the rules if they want more scoring, but changing the size of the net will change the records & history of the game... Every goal after will have an * indicating it was scored with the larger nets.
I hope the NHL just does us all a favor and fade away forever!
Care to do me the same favor then?
Scoring DOES need to increase, as who really wants to sit and watch 1-0 games? I am not saying they should be 14-9 shootouts, but a fair number of scores is a much more interesting game.
Dirtmonkey, your points are ridiculous, at best. There is better defense in the eastern conference? Uhm, no, its because the teams there play the same boring, clutch and grab crap that has permeated the NHL. It means teams can win despite only scoring 80 points. Give me a Sacramento or Phoenix run and gun, exciting style game ANY day.
Hey bud, that's called defense... If it's not a foul, it's defense. It gets players out of their rhythm which is what good defense is all about. You may prefer a more open style and it can be more entertaining to watch at times, but Detroit proved last year that it is not always the best way by destroying the Lakers. I, on the other hand, prefer a defensive style of play. I like a great block, a big rebound or a guy taking a hard charge over a boring layup anyday. I like to see guys working hard to slow another team down. I don't want to see a glorified layup drill every night.
My point is actually quite simple. Would the NBA ever consider making the baskets larger to increase scoring? If they do, that will be the end of the league, guaranteed! To increase scoring, they tried moving the 3 pt line in, but too many people said it was nearly a lay-up for the good shooters and the mid-range guys were also taking advantage of this move. It didn't help the scoring as they had hoped, so they moved it back and implemented rules changes to try to help scoring by other means. To parallel that thought, increasing the size of the nets will only cause more problems and arguments that it will scoring. Not to mention, most hockey fans would rather see an honest 1-0 game than a 7-5 game where perennial poor-shooting thugs are getting hat tricks. IMO, scoring will increase if they just eliminate the red line and limit the size of the goalies equipment. It wouldn't hurt to minimize some of the clutching either, but I don't believe allowing each skater to coast unabated to the goalie on every play would promote solid hockey either. Leave that for the All-Star game. I love a great defensive game, but can concede the fact that the game needs to be more fluid...
<< <i> Not to mention, most hockey fans would rather see an honest 1-0 game than a 7-5 game where perennial poor-shooting thugs are getting hat tricks. IMO, scoring will increase if they just eliminate the red line and limit the size of the goalies equipment. It wouldn't hurt to minimize some of the clutching either, but I don't believe allowing each skater to coast unabated to the goalie on every play would promote solid hockey either. Leave that for the All-Star game. I love a great defensive game, but can concede the fact that the game needs to be more fluid... >>
How many times have they said they are going to limit the size of the goalies' equipment? I can remember at least twice in the past few years they've said 'we're gonna really crack down on how big the pads are!' then see no change. I honestly think opening the size of the goal (not drastically by any means, but just a bit) will offset any of the cheating going on in equipment.
Another thing that needs to go is the fighting. Yes, I know it's part of the 'tradition'....but good god there are some games where it seems there is more fighting than hockey...all this does is contribute to the slowing down of the game, and make it even more unwatchable. I love a hit as much as the next guy, but the meaningless fighting has got to end. If a scuffle breaks out between 2 players, they should implement the same rule as basketball: anyone who comes off the bench is getting ejected, and suspended the next night. If any other skaters get involved? Immediate ejection.
I know the purists will hate it, but I think some compromises have to be met if (a) you want to attract a larger fan base, and (b) you want the sport to continue. If there arent more people watching on tv or going to games, ultimately, the league will be forced to fold forever.
NBA scoring is down because players can't shoot. If they can't dunk it they have probably less than a 40% chance of making a shot. I'm talking in a generality about all players. The Reggie Millers and Larry Birds could flip it behind their backs and make 40%....Shaq can't even make that from outside of eight feet (and definitely not from 15 ft!).......a lot more could be said but it's back to work.
1. 7-17-81 Warrenton GC Driver 310 yards 7th Hole (Par 4)
2. 5-22-99 Warrenton GC 6 iron 189 yards 10th Hole
3. 7-23-99 Oak Meadow CC 5 iron 180 yards 17th Hole
4. 9-19-99 Country Lake GC 6 iron 164 yards 15th Hole
5. 8-30-09 Country Lake GC Driver 258 yards 17th Hole (Par 4)
Collector of Barber Halves, Commems, MS64FBL Frankies, Full Step Jeffersons & Mint state Washington Quarters
Funniest thing is.. ESPN knows nothing of hockey. The only way to increase scoring is to make the nets bigger? Sorry but that isnt the way. As Zack has said, if the NHL would adopt some rules from the other leagues.. such as eliminating the red line when it comes to the offside passes, and bring back the tag up rule when it comes to a potential offside, that along with a decrease in the size of a goalies pads will result in a faster, higher scorring game, and will also help combat the clutching and grabbing which prevents the potential for breakaways. Also implement the shootout, to eliminate ties.
But here is the most true fact. The NHL expanded to locations that dont/wont care about the game. That in itself is killing the game. You have players who have minimal talents playing at a pro level. Get rid of some teams, which will get rid of some lousy players... and leave the better players playing.
I don't disagree, but this is common with every sport. They always talk about or actually implement changes, but inevitably sway back to the way things were. They should consider instituting something similar to what they do in NASCAR. The goalies must provide their equipment to the refs before every game to be measured. If they are within the guidelines, the refs hold them until pre-game skate and then give them to the player while on the ice. If they are not within the guidelines, they must either find some that are or sit out... It's not only the size of the pads, but the jerseys too. Roy looked like he was wearing a tent towards the end of his career.
If you make the nets bigger, they will find a way to make the equipment bigger... Vicious cycle
What? You're not serious - LOL. I remember watching my Pistons 20+ years ago. Even when they won 2 championships, most of the team could shoot to some degree... Rodman was one of the worst, but could still probably outscore 1/5 of todays players. There are not many great shooters anymore. Most are all athletes who can run the floor and dunk, but lack the fundamentals such as passing and FREE throws. The best team today would have likely been on the outside of the playoffs looking in 15 years ago...
<< <i>1. Bigger nets
This is the ONLY way to increase scoring. >>
Two important points here: 1. More scoring does not equate to a better game. One need look no further than the All-Star Game to figure this out. One of the most exciting games I saw last year was a 1-0 scoreline between Colorado and Vancouver. 2. Assuming more scoring is needed, why increase the size of the goal instead of reducing the ridiculous size of modern goaltending equipment?
<< <i>2. No skater interference
This is probably No. 1, but I wanted to get your attention with the bigger nets. >>
YES, it's absolutely #1. Clutching and grabbing has ruined the game to the point where 90% of the games are unwatchable, and teams of unskilled grinders regularly go to the the Stanley Cup finals. It is absolutely inexcusable why this is allowed to continue.
<< <i>3. Penalty deterrents >>
I like the idea of serving the full two minutes, as it used to be, and the idea of "fouling out" like in basketball is intriguing and worthy of exploration.
<< <i>4. Adopt all AHL rules changes from this season >>
I'm unconvinced that goalies playing the puck is a bad thing. To my mind, having the goalie play "fullback" to allow the defensemen to venture further up ice should in theory make the game more offensive-minded... Tag-up offsides needs to be brought back... The fat lines seem to have been a success in the A... Over the past year I have come onside with implementing regular season shootouts, but ONLY if they change the points structure to award 3 points for an outright win, 2 for an OT or shootout win, 1 for an OT or shootout loss, and 0 for an outright loss. I've never understood why some NHL games are worth two points and others 3; implementing the shootout gives them a golden chance to correct this.
<< <i>5. Paint the helmets >>
YES
<< <i>6. Mandatory player and referee microphones >>
Absolutely not. Most of what is said would have to be beeped out anyway. This is not done in any other major sport. Why would they do it in hockey?
<< <i>7. No music before faceoffs >>
Bring back the organs! Recorded music should be banned.
<< <i>8. Take out the red line
I'm convinced this would create some space. >>
I'm not, but I don't see that it would cause any harm, either, and it would reduce the number of whistles by one or two per game.
<< <i>9. Play-in games >>
LAME - completely unnecessary and would extend the already-too-long season even father.
<< <i>10. Congressional hearings on NHL and NHLPA leadership >>
The steroid hearings were such a resounding success that they need to get into hockey now, too? Stick to governing the country and let the rich kids sort themselves out. While I am on the owners' side in the current labour dispute, I think Gary Bettman's leadership has been an absolute joke, and if the owners have any sense, they will turf him after the dispute is settled.
Not mentioned:
A) Reduce the schedule to 72 games - playing 10 exhitibiton games and 82 regular-season games before even getting to any games that really matter is just plain stupid. Players are burning out from exhaustion, and fewer games would mean more exciting games.
<< <i>5. Paint the helmets >>
That's the least of their worries.
I always hated the fact that Michigan Hockey had their helmets the same as the football team. How about adopting your own identity?