Are we entering a new era?

Iceman

Registered User
Jun 9, 2014
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I'm not usually that want to define an era without there being an clear end but is it time to put away the "salary cap"-era to rest? I mean, as long as the NHL has a salary cap, I guess that one can go on forever. I also figured now that the most storied Stanley Cup band is being removed, everything feels a bit like a restart somehow in addition to the already evident transitioning to a more skill and speed based game (also noted by the disappearance of fighters with John Scott perhaps having been the last one) and the emergence of players like McDavid and others along with the first expansion in 17 years, is it time to start on a clean slate?

We can look at it a bit different also. Let's say we are actually entering a new era, once that starts to become clearer, what do you guys think will define it?
 

DowntownBooster

Registered User
Jun 21, 2011
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I'm not usually that want to define an era without there being an clear end but is it time to put away the "salary cap"-era to rest? I mean, as long as the NHL has a salary cap, I guess that one can go on forever. I also figured now that the most storied Stanley Cup band is being removed, everything feels a bit like a restart somehow in addition to the already evident transitioning to a more skill and speed based game (also noted by the disappearance of fighters with John Scott perhaps having been the last one) and the emergence of players like McDavid and others along with the first expansion in 17 years, is it time to start on a clean slate?

Wouldn't want to see the salary cap end. It's what allows all teams to be competitive as long as the team has competent management.

:jets
 

Johnny Engine

Moderator
Jul 29, 2009
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We might be lacking a real watershed moment to point to as of yet. The transformative rule changes of the 30s, dark ages of the early 40s, the massive wave of expansion in 67, everything involved in getting the Oilers and Gretzky from the failing WHA to the NHL, the arrival of Eastern Europeans, the twin trapping finalists in New Jersey and Florida, or the full year lockout and the ensuing player movement and rule changes (don't discount the popular disgust at Todd Bertuzzi as an enciting factor in rule changes either).
The "post-lockout NHL" has been a slow but steady turn towards smaller and faster skaters and bigger goalies, and decidedly guileful teams have won the big prize throughout the era. The Hurricanes, Wings, Hawks, Penguins and Capitals all fit what most see as the "new NHL" mode, along with regular season titans in Ottawa, Buffalo and Tampa who haven't won yet. And while lots of teams have taken bits of influence from the Ducks, Bruins and Kings, they don't seem as influential on a macro level. Since then, there hasn't been anything massively disruptive that one can point to and say "there, that's when the post-lockout NHL ended".
We'll know it when we see it. Hockey fans like overreacting to things, so we won't let that kind of thing go by!
 

Iceman

Registered User
Jun 9, 2014
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Wasn't sure if you meant the salary cap era should end.

:jets

Nah, just the the unofficial name of all years post-lockout. Are we still going to call it the salary cap era in 100 years if the NHL still has a salary cap? Doubt it.
 

Kyle McMahon

Registered User
May 10, 2006
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It's too early to tell for sure, but the level of hitting and overall physicality seemed to decrease almost over night circa 2015, at least to my eye. It seemed this was basically when the game became a speed skating derby. This was 10 years after the implementation of the 2005 rule changes that put individual speed to the forefront of emphasized skills, and considering those types of changes trickle down to the developmental levels, we perhaps reached a point where every new player entering the NHL from that point onward had played under "2005 rules" for their entire relevant hockey life.

Boston and Los Angeles proved you could still win with physical, grinding hockey as late as 2014. Interestingly, they both missed the playoffs in 2015 and petered out as contenders. The Blackhawks won the Cup that year with the least physical of their three Cup winners. The Penguins emphasized speed over physical engagement in winning the next two.

Washington stops to give us pause though. They brought back a crash and bang/wear-em-down philosophy to a point this year. Hardly the Broad Street Bullies, but physical by the standards of the day. Probably the most violent non-Boston/LA champion since Anaheim way back in 2007. So we'll see what direction things go now. The thing about defining eras is you don't really know you're in a new one until it becomes very apparent that you're no longer in the previous one.
 

quoipourquoi

Goaltender
Jan 26, 2009
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If last year is the start of a trend, we can mark it 31+. Obviously not Vegas’ fault, but +0.20 goals for on average is the biggest single year swing since the 2005-06 lockout season. Penalty killing hasn’t dipped into the 70s since 1989-90. Bad time to take a penalty.
 

VanIslander

A 19-year ATDer on HfBoards
Sep 4, 2004
35,134
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No new era that I can see.

This era began with the last lockout and the enforcement of nhl rules that ushered out of the game the clutch and grabbers and allowed smaller but fast positional defensemen to thrive. Forwards like Marleau could park themselves by the side of the net and await a pass unencumbered because any contact prior to the puck arriving became an enforced penalty of interference.

Another characteristic of this era is the reduction in passing at even strength (the Sedins did not typify this era).

So many goals these days are individual surges in from the blueline with great stickhandling past defenders to the net. The changed rule that started allowing stretch passes to the opponents' blueline contributes to the rushed individual attacks. Passing has become more north-south than zigzagging up ice like the era before last (e.g., the eighties). Of course, this by no means applies to the powerplay.
 

Troubadour

Registered User
Feb 23, 2018
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The Soft era.

Aka the Marshmallow era.

(Referring not only to the generally less physical style but also the level of skill and the fact soft or smooth hands and skating are no longer the exception, rather a rule.)
 

The Panther

Registered User
Mar 25, 2014
19,114
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Tokyo, Japan
It's too early to tell for sure, but the level of hitting and overall physicality seemed to decrease almost over night circa 2015, at least to my eye. It seemed this was basically when the game became a speed skating derby. This was 10 years after the implementation of the 2005 rule changes that put individual speed to the forefront of emphasized skills, and considering those types of changes trickle down to the developmental levels, we perhaps reached a point where every new player entering the NHL from that point onward had played under "2005 rules" for their entire relevant hockey life.

Boston and Los Angeles proved you could still win with physical, grinding hockey as late as 2014. Interestingly, they both missed the playoffs in 2015 and petered out as contenders. The Blackhawks won the Cup that year with the least physical of their three Cup winners. The Penguins emphasized speed over physical engagement in winning the next two.

Washington stops to give us pause though. They brought back a crash and bang/wear-em-down philosophy to a point this year. Hardly the Broad Street Bullies, but physical by the standards of the day. Probably the most violent non-Boston/LA champion since Anaheim way back in 2007. So we'll see what direction things go now. The thing about defining eras is you don't really know you're in a new one until it becomes very apparent that you're no longer in the previous one.
Wow, I liked this post! Nice work.

I also feel like around 2015, hitting disappeared, almost overnight! And it is a speed-skating derby now. I want more lateral.
 

Nick Hansen

Registered User
Sep 28, 2017
3,119
2,649
I don't think it's too farfetched to believe we'll be talking about this era as the McDavid era in the future. Who's gonna stop him from a few more Art Ross trophies? He won it last year whilst playing on a team that broke down on most fronts and others were having career years.
 

Hynh

Registered User
Jun 19, 2012
6,170
5,345
An underrated influence is the demise of the front loaded/back diving contracts. For example in 2010-11 the Canucks had Luongo at $5.333M. If you only calculate the first 8 years of that contract it would be $7.124M. That $1.8M in cap savings is the difference between using a veteran with an established defensive game and using a kid on his ELC. Even if the two players contribute the same amount to winning, the kid will almost certainly be providing most of his value in pure offense, changing the way the game is played.
 

solidmotion

Registered User
Jun 5, 2012
612
295
it bears mentioning that the stars of the immediate post-lockout/salary cap era have formed the cores of every cup winner since 2009 and are still very much in their prime. seems premature to declare a new era. if/when toronto and edmonton really take over i think that will signal a new era.

or, to quote william gibson, the future is already here — it’s just not evenly distributed.
 

TheDevilMadeMe

Registered User
Aug 28, 2006
52,271
6,980
Brooklyn
it bears mentioning that the stars of the immediate post-lockout/salary cap era have formed the cores of every cup winner since 2009 and are still very much in their prime. seems premature to declare a new era. if/when toronto and edmonton really take over i think that will signal a new era.

or, to quote william gibson, the future is already here — it’s just not evenly distributed.

Good point. It's still the Crosby/Ovechkin era, only now they are winning all the Cups, rather than all the Harts
 

Daximus

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Oct 11, 2014
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I think we are entering a new era but it hasn't quite fully arrived. The "Cap Era" had a distinct arrival after the lockout. This period will see more of a slow transition I think. Kids drafted since 2016 will have grown up playing under new rules. Goalies are getting gargantuan and learning crazy new techniques with puck tracking and positional play that has morphed the goaltender position from an athletic driven position to a technique driven position which started with butterfly but has morphed into so much more.
Smaller players are being given more and more chances and with every Gaudreau, Johnson, Point, Yamamoto and DeBrincat that continues to prove themselves in this era we will see teams continue to draft and develop small speedy players higher and higher in the draft.
We are also seeing a shift away from the oldschool style of defencemen. No more glass and out low IQ guys who try to pinch at the blueline just to get completely burnt by the speedier skill players. The modern average defencemen will be less physical but better with their stick, a good skater and able to at the very least make a great first pass if not skate the puck out themselves. Enforcers are practically entirely phased out with Micheal Haley being likely the last full time enforcer last season. The only guy to play at least 60 games and have at least 15 fights. Transition and possession are the new buzz words but with good reason. We are learning what works and what doesn't work.
We are entering the Analytics Era. On the outside everyone will say well it's just corsi and fenwick and WAR. But on the inside it's so much more than that. Teams are getting right down to the nitty gritty of statistics. Something that has driven baseball to an entirely new era is now starting in the NHL. This era will be marked with speed, skill and precision goalscorers. The NHL is no longer going to be the rough and tough guy league. But interestingly enough that likely means that there will be more growth in the league.
 
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Tarantula

Hanging around the web
Aug 31, 2017
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Also fighting and to a degree physical play has been evapourating in the Junior ranks, especially the OHL for a few years now. Filtering up as these players have graduated into pro hockey.
 

FrozenJagrt

Registered User
Dec 16, 2009
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Barring some significant change to the game itself, I expect this will remain the Salary Cap Era until Bettman retires, at which point we will enter the Post-Bettman Era.
 
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MaxV

Registered User
Nov 6, 2006
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New York, NY
Physical play is still there, it’s just players have learned to be more selective with it.

Physical play is effective but not if you are giving your opponents a ton of PP time.
 

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