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Top 9 Changes To Improve The Sport


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in no order:

1 - Get rid of ties. Make overtime 10 minutes. If still tied go to a shootout. I'm not a fan of shootouts deciding games but the standings should be two only columns. And make it winner takes all, forget this 3 points for a win crap.

2 - Move the nets back to where they belong.

3 - Bring back 4 on 4 for matching penalties. They got rid of it because the Oilers were too good 4 on 4. I think the NHL can handle the Oilers now.

4 - Make goalie equipment smaller. Width of pads smaller, width of the glove smaller, and length and width of the blocker smaller. Goalies were protected fine in the 80s, now they're just michelin men.

5 - Make skater equipment safer. Make player knee/shin guards smaller and elbow pads out of same material and size they were in the 80s. Players are overprotected causing clean hits to result in injuries.

6 - Cut preseason in half and regular season down to 75 games. Preseason doesn't need to be that long. Cutting it and regular season will result in over a dozen less games for players on the year, doesn't sound like much but it'll pick up the tempo of games. It'll also make the finals over before the NBA semi-finals even start. Don't compete with another sport if you don't have to.

7 - make the ice wider. bettman says it can't be done. that's crap. all the rinks didn't use to be the same size, they can be that way again, grandfather it.

8 - get rid of 2 to 4 teams. even 1 would be an improvement. The league is too water-downed.

9 - get a cap. i know it's not an on-ice issue. but i do believe a cap will improve the overall play in the league. it'll allow the smaller markets to retain better players thereby making that team more exciting to watch.

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8 I disagree with, the league has too much talent if anything.

6 is unfeasible, since it means cutting out too many games. It is a good idea, though I'd like the season to stay 82 games if only for records' sake.

7 would be the best solution. I do think it's not going to happen for a long time.

And the rest I think I agree with, except maybe #1.

But I'm tired of this kind of talk.

Edited by Triumph
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I like 'em. Not too sure about #8, but I like the rest of them.

I don't like the shootout idea of #1, but I *do* like the idea of a 10-minute overtime. I think it'll be a lot harder to see ties when you're doing 10 minutes of 4-on-4, as opposed to five.

If the league were to implement even half of these, then you can scrap #8. Wouldn't even be necessary.

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I like the longer overtime but not the shootout.

I'm on board with everything else except #6. Going down to 75 games is too much; the AHL plays 80, and I wouldn't support going below that. Reducing the length of the preseason is fine.

I'm not in favor of forcing teams out, but I think we'll have at least the Penguins folding of their own accord, especially if the owners cave on the CBA talks.

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The 10 minute overtime could create problems because the ice at that moment will be in shambles. I hate ties, but if a shootout is wanted. I hate the idea, but ties aren't worth 100 bucks.

I come from a thought process that believes the games do not need a giant upswing in scoring, but a giant upswing in flow and intensity.

1. Small Goalie Equipment. 'nuff said.

2. Tagup offsides ALONG WITH WIDER LINES.

3. Nets back (nothing new).

4. Enforce current rules

Now with all of that.

1. There needs to be a focus on rivalries and intense games. My way is to have each team play the teams in the division 10 times. 3 sets of which are home and home weekend series. Better for fans, better for owners, better for TV.

That's 40 games. 10 other teams in the conferece play 3 times. Now we are at 70. 10 more games against 2 divisions of the western conference (one division at home, one away). 2 wild card games (or just add another 2 games into divison or whatever)...with that focus the schedules from wed-sat night.

These steps wll provide more intense, and more passionate hockey. I am prolbably leaving a few things out, from my crazy head.

Edited by HellOnICE
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I'm not sure i'm sold yet that tag up offsides will improve forechecking and offense. I think it should be used at least 1 year in the AHL first to see.

I definitely think the ice can handle another 5 minutes of overtime. And while I hate shootouts deciding a game I think only a very small number of games would make it till the end of the 10 minutes still being tied.

About 150 games ended in a tie last year. While it's only a guess I would bet that only a third of those would still be tied at the end of 10 minutes of overtime. I could live with 50 games being decided by a shootout out of 1230. I really hate ties.

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Looking at the records for this year, I was struck by the huge number of OT games in the Pacific Division. those teams have played 76 OT games (OT ties & OT losses), vs 37 for the midwest teams. The other divs are all around 40 or so.

Is it the traveling? Why are so many games not decided in regulation?

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Uuuuuuh, they already have 4 on 4 for matching penatlies. They brought that back a few years ago.

The ties are a necessary evil. There have been ties for a hundred years. Hockey is one of the few sports where teams play just well enough to earn a tie, or even blow a lead but still deserve a point. Just get rid of the overtime loss column. You can't get down to two columns (win/loss) if you use shootouts. One team gets two points, and the other gets none because of 5 breakaways at the end of the game? No way. Just go back to win/loss/tie. If they go to the three point system and eliminate ties, you're still going to have four columns - win (3), loss (0), OT/shootout win (2), OT/shootout loss (1). The standings are cluttered already.

I agree with #2 (nets), #4 (goalie equipment), and shortening the schedule to 70 or 74 games. Spread the games out so players can actually rest. But this won't happen since it's so much lost revenue.

I'd like to see revenue sharing and a very stiff luxury tax, both of which help the small market teams. Set the payroll limit at $35 million, and tax a team $2 for every $1 they spend over that limit. No team will have a payroll of $70 million if they have to pay an additional $70 million in payroll tax. And if they do, allocate that money to the Edmontons, Nashvilles and Carolinas of the league.

Edited by Z-Man
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8 I disagree with, the league has too much talent if anything.

I agree 2,000,000,000%.

I think if you want to increase scoring, only defencemen over 50 are allowed and the goalies must be blind.

The problem is that the D and the goalies are too good, not that the forwards are not good enough.

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in no order:

6 - Cut preseason in half and regular season down to 75 games. Preseason doesn't need to be that long. Cutting it and regular season will result in over a dozen less games for players on the year, doesn't sound like much but it'll pick up the tempo of games. It'll also make the finals over before the NBA semi-finals even start. Don't compete with another sport if you don't have to.

7 - make the ice wider. bettman says it can't be done. that's crap. all the rinks didn't use to be the same size, they can be that way again, grandfather it.

8 - get rid of 2 to 4 teams. even 1 would be an improvement. The league is too water-downed.

Love 6---the season is WAY too long and the only reason it is is b/c of the dependency on ticket sales compared to overall revenue. Most people here disagree b/c they are hockey junkies but the season really should start in Nov. and end in April. You're starting the season when no one (other than the die-hards) cares b/c the baseball playoffs are starting and NFL is just getting interesting--not to mention that the weather is still relatively good. Then you're ending the season in the spring and you expect people to stay in on Sat. aft and watch hockey ???? They won't agree to fixes that affect revenue though such as fewer playoff teams (not as bad today as when 16 of 21 made the playoffs) or a larger rink. They'll just go with quick fixes like glow pucks and not allowing goalies to handle pucks.

7--same thing, agree but will affect revenue for the handful of teams that sell out every game. For everyone else though there will be more sellouts (b/c there are fewer seats).

8--If you did 6 and 7 this wouldn't be as much of a factor b/c weaknesses would be exposed more.

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The 10 minute overtime could create problems because the ice at that moment will be in shambles. I hate ties, but if a shootout is wanted. I hate the idea, but ties aren't worth 100 bucks.

Neither is a manufactured way to determine a winner, like a shootout. Again, why not just have a water balloon fight or a spelling bee? They have just as much to do with the previous three periods of hockey as the shootout does.

<JESTER>

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Think they should play 4-on-4 until theres a winner. Have a 20 minute period and clean the ice. That would have to come hand in hand with knocking some games off the schedule to make sure players a rested enough for the games.

Play 4-4 for 5 minutes and then 3-3 for 5 minutes.

That would drastically cut down on ties.

And award a bonus for winning in regulation

3 points, regulation win

2 points overtime win

1 point for any tie.

That would put a premium on the regular game.

The 4-4 / 3-3 would be for the fans but would have less impact on points.

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Having a shoot-out would be like holding a HR derby if the game is tied after 11 innings. No thanks.

Smalle goalie equipment will help. If you have ESPN Classic check out a game from the mid-80's, or if possible even earlier. I have the 72 Summit Series on DVD, Tretiak, Dryden, and Esposito look like they are wearing catcher's equipment compared to the goalies of today.

move the nets back.

contraction. Go to 24 teams, contrary to what some on here think, the talent is watered down. Too many players who belong in the AHL are in the NHL. go back to 4 divisions of 6 teams each, bring back the old division names. Take away all teams which are in a state which lost the Civil War. Florida, Tampa, Atlanta, Nashville. I'd have to look it up, but I believe Texas fought for the South towards the end, but I am not 100% sure. Take away Dallas too, and LA (lousy sports town, if it is not the Lakers or Dodgers, they do not care).

New schedule format, play the teams in the other conference ONCE per year, more divisional games. If you saw last weekend's home and home between the Rangers and Flyers or last night's Rangers-Isles game, you'd agree.

international size rink-will never happen, but it would be great.

tag-up offsides.

automatic icing.

lose the instigator rule.

salary cap.

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8 I disagree with, the league has too much talent if anything.

I agree 2,000,000,000%.

I think if you want to increase scoring, only defencemen over 50 are allowed and the goalies must be blind.

The problem is that the D and the goalies are too good, not that the forwards are not good enough.

If you look at the draft from say 92-97, the bulk of the players to emerge from those years are defensive players. Starting in 98, with guys like Lecavlier, Legwand, Tanguay, Gagne, Kraft, Gomez, Brad Richards to name a few, the bulk of the talent has swung towards offensive players. The league has become a product mix of the talent of the players in/entering their prime, which hs caused the game to become boring.

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/draft/nhl1998e.html

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Having a shoot-out would be like holding a HR derby if the game is tied after 11 innings. No thanks.

Smalle goalie equipment will help. If you have ESPN Classic check out a game from the mid-80's, or if possible even earlier. I have the 72 Summit Series on DVD, Tretiak, Dryden, and Esposito look like they are wearing catcher's equipment compared to the goalies of today.

move the nets back.

contraction. Go to 24 teams, contrary to what some on here think, the talent is watered down. Too many players who belong in the AHL are in the NHL. go back to 4 divisions of 6 teams each, bring back the old division names. Take away all teams which are in a state which lost the Civil War. Florida, Tampa, Atlanta, Nashville. I'd have to look it up, but I believe Texas fought for the South towards the end, but I am not 100% sure. Take away Dallas too, and LA (lousy sports town, if it is not the Lakers or Dodgers, they do not care).

New schedule format, play the teams in the other conference ONCE per year, more divisional games. If you saw last weekend's home and home between the Rangers and Flyers or last night's Rangers-Isles game, you'd agree.

international size rink-will never happen, but it would be great.

tag-up offsides.

automatic icing.

lose the instigator rule.

salary cap.

Completely agree. All of those can be done and none drastically changes the game.

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