Changing the game

[Hawerchuk]

Just some thoughts to throw out there and see if hockey fans agree.

 

1. Use no touch auto icing during the regular season and then back to regular touch during the playoffs.

 

2. Reduce the schedule to 70-74 games.

 

3. Get rid of the two line pass. I know this will create more "Cherry Pickers" at the blue line but at least you'd get more excitement.

 

4. Make the protective gear for the upper body of goalies smaller. I don't mean give them less protection, but when a attacking player gets close, there is no room to shoot because their damn padding is so huge.

 

5. Stick with the 4-4 OT 5min session. Shootouts kinda suck! Ties are ties and you get a point.

 

6. Imply a performance I$N$C$E$N$T$I$V$E when a player reaches certain numbers in the season.

 

7. This one would be tough, but somehow increase the ice surface and open the game up more with less grabing and all that obstruction #%^$#!.

 

And never lose the Buffalo tradition of "TUX and PUCKS" new yrs night. A classic!!

 

Thoughts on the game changes and not the money problems?

[Swedesessed]

Just some thoughts to throw out there and see if hockey fans agree.

 

1. Use no touch auto icing during the regular season and then back to regular touch during the playoffs.

 

2. Reduce the schedule to 70-74 games.

 

3. Get rid of the two line pass. I know this will create more "Cherry Pickers" at the blue line but at least you'd get more excitement.

 

4. Make the protective gear for the upper body of goalies smaller. I don't mean give them less protection, but when a attacking player gets close, there is no room to shoot because their damn padding is so huge.

 

5. Stick with the 4-4 OT 5min session. Shootouts kinda suck! Ties are ties and you get a point.

 

6. Imply a performance I$N$C$E$N$T$I$V$E when a player reaches certain numbers in the season.

 

7. This one would be tough, but somehow increase the ice surface and open the game up more with less grabing and all that obstruction #%^$#!.

 

And never lose the Buffalo tradition of "TUX and PUCKS" new yrs night. A classic!!

 

Thoughts on the game changes and not the money problems?

Great Post!!! I especially liked your thoughts about Tux and Pucks, that was a classic tradition!!! I attended a Tux and Pucks night on December 31. 1993 Rangers vs Sabres...Sabres beat the eventual SC Champs 4-1...it was great to see so many people in tuxes and the women looked good too!! :lol:

 

As for the other ideas you had, I like all of them and support your ideas 100 percent. The only one Im not sure about is #6, with the incentives...that can be tricky...id like to see more incentive based contracts but that could also affect the integrity of the game in some cases, especially if every player has an incentive based contract.

[Eric]

1. No-touch icing is a good idea, and it doesn't change the game all that much, so I say bring it on. Any way to cut down on injuries. But why change it back when the playoffs arrive? Rule changes just for the playoffs is something I don't care for because you get used to playing one way an entire season, and it throws a monkey wrench into things if it changes once the real season begins (although, like I said, it's not that different one way or the other).

 

2. Reducing the schedule is something I agree with, but I don't know if it's necessary. It's not like these athletes are the first NHL players to play as many games as they do.

 

3. Taking out the red line isn't important to me. I don't think scoring is the most important thing to fix because defense and goaltending are key parts of the game that are also exciting. I can enjoy a 1-0 game just as much as a 5-4 game if it's played well, and I'm not in favor of rule changes with the sole purpose of trying to increase scoring. We don't need fans who only want to watch if the score is 9-7.

 

4. I don't think the goalies' equipment is a problem. I think goalies have gotten better, and they've raised the bar, and they shouldn't be put at any kind of disadvantage for doing so. Besides, skaters will cry about the equipment until the day they eliminate goalies altogether. If you do force goaltenders to change their equipment, I think you have to make skaters change theirs as well. Why should forwards be allowed to use new technology like composite sticks but goalies should be forced to downgrade to stuff they wore in the 80s?

 

5. The 4-on-4 OT is something the league finally did right, and I think it should stay.

 

6. I like the idea of performance-based incentives. I think guaranteed contracts have severely hurt the game, and I'm sick of watching players coast until the final year of their contract and then cash in because some stupid arbitrator or agent looks at nothing but that final contract year. If you want the big bucks, you should have to earn them night in and night out, not just once every few seasons.

 

7. To me, the biggest problem with the NHL is the clutching, grabbing, hooking,holding, etc. It's responsible for the decline in scoring, the slowdown of the game, the lack of excitement, and probably a number of other things. The sport is just fine how it is IF THE RULES ARE ENFORCED AS THEY'RE WRITTEN. Unfortunately, the league and, more importantly, its officials don't realize this, so they let it go and let it go until we're all forced to watch the WWE on ice.

 

Take it or leave it, but that's what I think. Hockey is the greatest sport in the world, and the world deserves a league that's representative of that fact.

[mphs mike]

I think point #7 is the most critical. The larger ice surface the Eoropeans play on makes for a much better game. Take out the first row of seats all the way around the rink - voila' a larger surface. Sure you've lost a row of seats BUT if the league ever plays again it will have some type of cost containment and can afford this change.

[Hawerchuk]

I forgot to put this in the original post. Another must for changes is to reinstate the "Tag-Up" Offsides rule where you have to leave the zone and then re-enter without stopping the play. This would definitely increase game tempo!!

 

I would love to expand the rink sizes, but wouldn't taking out a row or two of seats only create the 3rd row to be higher therefore you wouldn't have a ice level front seat?