Byrddog
Lifer
- Nov 23, 2007
- 7,493
- 829
You know what? 20 years ago people were saying the same thing. And 20 years before that.
Hockey players are better trained than they ever have been. The main difference I have seen is that the bottom six players are faster than ever, and the goalies bigger than ever. These two factors make it tougher to score, as the talent gap between players has narrowed, and you have ginormous dudes filling up the goal crease and allowing pucks to hit them. The worst, most diluted hockey was in the late 60's and early 70's. You had a very few talented teams like the Bruins and Habs racking up wins against expansion teams that were truly awful. Euro and American players were rare, and the WHA was siphoning off talent. Now THAT was watered down hockey.
In 1970 there were 14 teams the talent pool was much smaller and it was a different game. There were 4 teams that had over 90 points that year. It was a case of the haves and the have nots. Only 6 of the 14 teams had a positive goal dif. Today that number is 18 of the 31. The game is different but speed only goes so far in balancing the game out. The Cap has evened the team out when it comes to top talent. Your 100% correct about the dynasty teams just feasting on the expansion teams. The expansion of Euros into the league kept up for a while as expansion continued but now many of the bottom 6 players can not compete with the top talent yet they garner millions each year and the level of play is not as good as the smaller league provided once the Euros and American players developed. The 80's was my favorite decade there was still a physical game and win lose or tie. I suppose people wanted to see fast skaters but the number of fast skaters with the skill of McDavid, Point, Barzal and a handful of others in the league now diminishes the game as a whole for this old fan.