The New Nhl

[Cock Throppled]

We're over one quarter thru the season of the "new" NHL and I'm not overwhelmed by the changes.
1- the shootout - hate it ,hate it, hate it. It cheapens the rarity of a penalty shot and I don't find it particularly exciting. Kind of like watching a skills competition. And what's so wrong with a tie? If they want fewer ties, then extend the overtime another five minutes. It wouldn't take any longer than sweeping the ice and holding the shootout. And why should a team that LOSES - get a point? Theoretically a team could lose every game in a season by shootouts and still pick up 82 points. Ridiculous. If they plan to continue to do this, at least give a regulation time win 3 points.
2- Also don't see any point in the restricted area goalies have to play the puck behind the net. If a goalie wants to get adventurous let him. That goes for letting them skate up ice a la Gary Smith. Why take out the excitement?
3- Smaller goalie equipment? That was probably the best thing done to increase scoring.
4- Why aren't the goalies being protected? Touching anyone with a stick garners a penalty, but everyone and his dog can flatten goalies with impunity.
5- The penalties. Okay, SOMETHING had to be done about all the grabbing, but this is ridiculous. Anywhere from 10-20 penalties per game? And many of them phantom that don't even show on replay. Get the hooking that impedes a player, but just touching someone with a stick shouldn't result in a penalty. Nail a defenceman for grabbing a stick or a player if he goes past, but not for putting out an arm. Let defencemen continue to clear the front of the net. No wonder it's becoming known as the No Hit League.
6- Two line passes. I'm probably in the minority, but I don't like them. I really don't want to see five breakaways a game. No centre line opened up play for a while, but teams are starting to adjust and leave a defenceman back. Instead of opening up play it lessens the chance a team can hold the puck in the attacking zone and susteain pressure. And it cheapens the aforementioned breakaway.
7- Really like the fact a team can't change players on a stoppage. Let the coaches sweat a while. Touch-up offsides is good,too.

 

[The Happy Tapper]

It's ALL good....

I'll go against the grain and state that I wouldn't change much of anything. If it just goes back to the old way, I'll stop watching in a heartbeat. The main issue above all this season is the zero tolerance for obstruction, which was LONG overdue. Those who won't admit it should wake up from their self-induced narrow-minded stupor and get with the times.

The NHL was has been going down the shitter since before the 93/94 lockout, and the people who most denied this fact are the most to blame. While player skill and talent globally has nearly doubled over the last decade, the best league in the world clearly was slowly choking itself to death, entrenched in a won't-change mentality that sent it back the late 1970's/early 1980's. If you recall, this league was literally saved by new talent such as Garter, Bourque, Goulet, Savard, Hawerchuk, Gretzky, and Yzerman among many others. These players were given free rein, making the 80's an era we now desparately wish to return. If massive change wasn't instituted quickly, the NHL would've turned into a mid-class minor league, stiffling talent at every turn while depending on talentless players to display a product they could never achieve, regardless of how many systems or experiements the league undertook. Players could never justify million-dollar salaries as much as organizations couldn't justify triple-figure ticket prices. The only solution would be to clean-up and present a product that might begin to offer value-for-pricing.

As for the penalties, don't stop calling them. After referring various leagues for close to 10 years, a penalty is a penalty regardless of what infraction takes place at whichever time of the game. If you can't play in the best league in the world, you shouldn't be there. The doubters blamed expansion or coaching for the dwindling quality of play. Guess what? They were dead wrong. Players are better than ever - there's no need to preach obstruction-dependent hockey as early as age fifteen. Many fail to recognize that Europeans are more skilled because they don't accept clutching & grabbing to succeed while our system relies on it to level every playing field. Allow players to develop their talent - this in itself will bring us to the same skill level as the Euros.

Do you want to go back to more than half the games on a Saturday night ending with scores like 1-0 and 2-1? Look at the records for shutouts and goals-against shattered since 1995. Goalies are much better these days but the players deserve as much credit for that as the referees. When was the last time you saw games with scores like 7-6, 8-5, and 10-2? When was the last time a team's top line took three of the top five spots in league scoring? The players must and eventually will learn: if you can't skate and play with the best, you won't play. If you need to hook, trip, and mug to succeed, you shouldn't be in this league. There's hundreds of skilled players to replace you.

Display the best product possible at all times and even poverty-stricken penny-pinchers like myself will pay top dollar to experience it.

As for the other changes, the restriction area for goalies is invaluable. Hard-work coupled with a speedy-forecheck is now worth it's weight in gold, resulting in many more scoring opportunties. Oversized immobile defensemen are exposed for what they are: lacking in the skill to adequately defend their zone and too slow to compensate for it (just look at the Flyers for an example). Ironically, cycling isn't as heavily relied upon now because of the ice opened-up by successful forechecking. This allows teams to set themselves up offensively, open passing lanes, and create more shots-on-goal/scoring chances.

Killing the two-line pass is excellent. Yes some teams will keep a man back but you can't deny that neutral zone play is far more important and exciting instead of simply being the area you plug-up to force a turnover.

The shootout is definitely an acquired taste. I like the fact that every game results in a winner and a loser, but the losing team shouldn't get a point. Whether the third column in the standing is ties, overtime loses, or shootout loses, it shouldn't exist and skews the standing as much as ties or overtime loses did.

The only gripes I have are:

1) the increasing liberties players are taking on goaltenders, but that's a two-way street. Much of my 20+ years playing the game of hockey have been spent as a goalie; one thing that's never changed is that when players overstep their bounds around the net, goalies must fight back. Maybe you take the odd penalty, but a blocker in your face hurts more than any punch you'll take in a fight.

2) the increase in penalty shots awarded. While a penalty should definitely be called, the original intent/structure of the criteria awarding a penalty shot is almost entirely forgotten, and should be completely re-written if this is the way it's going to be. By all means, call a penalty and have a power-play, but simply awarding a one-on-one breakaway because the infraction occured in the attacking zone (instead of a clear-cut scoring-opportunity breakaway) flies in the face of whole intent behind a penalty shot. It might create excitement but weren't the other rule changes designed to do the same, as well as the shootout to settle ties?

and finally
3) the fact that players can't take a bloody hit. All I'm seeing these days is players jumping someone because their teammate was hit clean and square. I could use many examples but since many PERB-erts are also Canuckleheads I'll use the following: why the fuck did Allen jump Coyotes d-man Ballard for hitting Park last night? Is it because Park isn't near six feet tall? Can't anyone take a bloody hit these days???? Park had his head down in full-flight coming out of the Canucks zone. The only thing Ballard did was take one-step and lay a shoulder into him. Park fully deserved it and there was nothing wrong with any aspect of the bodycheck. This is when, as Park's teammate, you're supposed to take Ballard's number and catch him clean later in the game. But Allan jumps Ballard for simply playing the game of hockey the way it's intended to be played: tough but clean. Everyone talks about the NHL turning into a "No Hit League" but if the players can't take the hit when it's given, they're to blame for the lack of hitting. The last thing that should result from a clean hit is being mauled by the opposing team. Conversely, you should always expect to get hit as cleanly later on if you laid a clean one earlier.

 

[LonelyGhost]

happy tapper

all good points ...

the hits on guys with their heads down is a marginal area ... yes, player should watch what's going on, but its almost the same as hitting from behind as the player is not expecting the hit ...

i like the way Allen plays ... he blocks shots, throws hits, and will drop the gloves ... he just makes Special Ed look worse every game ...

i think there may still need to be some tweeks with the game, but i give it two thumbs up etc for being waaaaaay better than watching the Wild play the Devils in the old days.

ironically, Ottawa seems to have figured out how to play this game really fast and may be on their way!