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Lets play armchair NHL commisioner


thegame346

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I love opinions. Even if I don't agree with them I still love hearing them.

Hockey is classified as a niche sport. It's not highly publicized, the market is so-so, and only the most die hard fans usually go to the games. So tell me... what would you do as NHL commissioner to make hockey very popular?

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Good point, 90% of the people that tell me they cant watch hockey on TV say its because they cant follow the puck.

If you can't follow the puck then you shouldn't watch. There may be a small period where it takes some getting used to for those who don't regularly watch hockey, but it is nothing that difficult. The league needs to ADVERTISE their stars better and cross promote like other sports do. Even something small like getting Alex Ovechkin a cameo in Entourage would be better than what they do now. For the most part casual sports fans probably cannot name the 10 best players in the NHL, but could name the 10 best players in every other sport with ease.

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Good point, 90% of the people that tell me they cant watch hockey on TV say its because they cant follow the puck.

It was actually meant as a joke. The league tried this in the late 90s and it was more or less a disaster. They also added "streaks" that would trail the puck on particularly fast shots, and the whole thing looked cartoonish. Core fans were pretty adamant about getting rid of it.

You can see this effect, plus the ridiculous streaks, here:

Edited by Amberite
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It was actually meant as a joke. The league tried this in the late 90s and it was more or less a disaster. They also added "streaks" that would trail the puck on particularly fast shots, and the whole thing looked cartoonish. Core fans were pretty adamant about getting rid of it.

The "FoxTrak" or whatever the hell they called it was HIDEOUS. When the puck was along the wall it looked like it was in the 3rd row of the crowd! And on top of it, the pucks supposedly cost a few hundred bucks a piece!

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HD TV will do a lot to help the visually impaired in following both the puck and the flow of the game. Bigger screens, brighter colors make the game much more exciting. I think Tri's suggestion of two halfs isnt a good idea, the players and the ice are both pretty ragged after 20 minutes. If they were stretched another 10 minutes the play would really slow down.

My question is- Why do so many people think hockey is more violent than NFL football? Don't they actually look at the line of scrimmage and do they look away from every tackle? Beats me.

A sport that rides a single star is going to put itself in the same place that the NBA went when MJ retired, and look at what happened to the PGA when Tiger takes off a single Sunday. NOBODY watches.

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I'm clearly in the minority with this, but I liked the glowing puck. Then again, as a geeky type, I tend to be impressed by such gadgetry. It was technology before its time, and I remain convinced that had it not come out when it did, the viewing public never would have accepted the computer-generated first-down and scrimmage lines that came out soon after FoxTrax was retired.

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I would let one enforcer on each team wield a chainsaw.

Playing too many video games? lol...how about we just teach the players how to carry guns to night clubs?

How about eliminate the Trapezoid (its embarrassing), Shoot-Outs without helmets, Work a better primetime TV package (give it free if necessary), nix the instigator rule, more outdoor games, get with Sony and make hockey the 3D TV leader.

BTW, I love the 2 periods one overtime thing but it would ruin my seat location (by not being in the Devils offensive zone for periods 3 and OT)

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Playing too many video games? lol...how about we just teach the players how to carry guns to night clubs?

Less exciting but that could work too.

How about eliminate the Trapezoid (its embarrassing), Shoot-Outs without helmets, Work a better primetime TV package (give it free if necessary), nix the instigator rule, more outdoor games, get with Sony and make hockey the 3D TV leader.

good ideas.

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It was actually meant as a joke. The league tried this in the late 90s and it was more or less a disaster. They also added "streaks" that would trail the puck on particularly fast shots, and the whole thing looked cartoonish. Core fans were pretty adamant about getting rid of it.

You can see this effect, plus the ridiculous streaks, here:

:blush::argh: OK OK I ADMIT IT...

I was just looking at Stevens the whole time... :urg:

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I'm clearly in the minority with this, but I liked the glowing puck. Then again, as a geeky type, I tend to be impressed by such gadgetry. It was technology before its time, and I remain convinced that had it not come out when it did, the viewing public never would have accepted the computer-generated first-down and scrimmage lines that came out soon after FoxTrax was retired.

I was pretty young when it came out, but I remember liking the glow puck. I wonder with newer technology what a more modern glow puck would look like. It could be more subtle, maybe only highlighting the puck slightly and leaving quick streaks on hard shots. Might be cool... Plus seeing the speed of shots is interesting.

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I'm clearly in the minority with this, but I liked the glowing puck. Then again, as a geeky type, I tend to be impressed by such gadgetry. It was technology before its time, and I remain convinced that had it not come out when it did, the viewing public never would have accepted the computer-generated first-down and scrimmage lines that came out soon after FoxTrax was retired.

The glow puck really was a precursor to a lot of the info graphics we get today. The popups on Nascar races are another example. It really was great technology, just not the right use of it.

The problem with hockey is it's not really ingrained in the culture. There are not any teams with national/international fanbases like the Red Sox, Yankees, Cowboys, Steelers, Bulls, Lakers, etc.

Say what you want about the Penguin/Crosbys and the Capital/Ovechkins, but what those teams have done over the past 5 years has WORKED to bring in new fans and get the cities excited about hockey.

Part of the problem, on one side, is that hockey people have an inferiority complex and want to maintain their status as an "elite" club. If you're not a hardcore fan you're nothing. On the other side, it's stupid to change the game to attract casual fans. Casual fans are not interested in the technical side of the game (at least at first). Casual fans are there for the EMOTION and DRAMA, which is why it's important to develop superstars, heroes, villains, rivalries, "evil empires", etc. If you make that happen, the "I can't follow the puck" complaints will disappear.

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It's all about pumping more money into marketing. You can make anything popular with enough $$$. fvck, do you hear some of the sh!t on the radio? The sport itself doesn't need to be changed.

+1. The marketing is piss poor. The Winter Classic is one good thing, but it is still going against Bowl Games, and other sporting events which people care more about. Players like Parise, Crosby, Ovechkin should be household names like LeBron, Brady and A-Rod. (yes it is nice to dream)

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Great topic! From a rules stand point, I would do what ever I could to reduce the number of whistles. Here are a few ideas:

1) Eliminate the red line (center ice line) - This would eliminate half of the icings, and allow teams to try more stretch passes.

2) Make both blue lines wider. Since you can't make the ice surface wider because the rinks can't grow (and teams won't give up premium seats), you can make the zones "feel" bigger by making the blue line wider (maybe 2 - 3 feet wide). This has the effect of making every zone larger, and gives teams a bit more room to maneuver.

3) Implement an icing rule on penalty kills - since you are giving teams a break on the center ice line, it might be neat to have icing for just blasting the puck out of your own end. This would hopefully eliminate stupid penalties, and create more excitement on PP's.

I actually like some of what the league is doing so far to make the game faster. I'm not sure the NHL will ever have a national following like NBA or NFL - do you really think random people in a "good NHL city" would sit and watch any two teams play from another division? Would a Dev's fan watch Phoenix play Dallas just because it was on TV? Unlikely, but that's exactly what the NFL and NBA have going for them. The NHL needs to capitalize on people going to games or watching a regional rivalry. I don't know how they do that, but they should give up all of this national following crap. Waste of money.

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