Article: 10 ways to avoid an NHL ice age
- Thread starter Jazz
- Start date
guyincognito
Registered User
- Mar 21, 2007
- 31,300
- 1
What is there to discuss. It's Tim Cowlishaw. He's a dumb "ultility" talking
head for ESPN.
If anything, that's a window into ESPN's demands. There are things that make
sense. And then there are things that are so stupid they counteract anything
that comes out of the good, albeit general, ideas. Cup Finals ending second week of July... BRILLIANT!
David_99
Registered User
1. It will only work on cable. Listening to the "Sounds of the Game" segments on network tv is the most mundane thing on the planet. "OK Go. Skate. Good job Larry. Uggh. Oooff. etc." Now hearing Lindy and Bryan during their tirade last year on HBO - that'd be juicy stuff.
2. I say the next CBA, make a deal that states the schedule is cut from 82 games to 70, but do it over an extended period of time - slice two games off every other year. Shift the schedule ahead by 2/3 days each time this happens. Once you get down to 70 games, the season will start on Oct. 24ish, and finish in late May. Starts later, ends earlier - we satisfy both sides.
If they ever found the proper tv channel to be on (CW? A&E? something that doesn't get stellar ratings, yet is available to everyone), they could go back to the back-to-back game scheduling they had during the 80s, and the playoffs would be over even sooner. Over by Memorial Day/Victoria Day would be perfect.
3. Yes. If I remember correctly, Rutherford and Maclean were on 590 earlier in the year and each stated their travel costs. The difference was about 50K. They can't honestly be doing all this for a measly 50K. If it's for the rivalry games = more gate revenues, then why did they add so many new teams the last 15 years?
4. Yep. As a gift, give em' back the Whalers.
5. Two words: transparent helmets
6. I'd try it, but I think it would just lead to excessive whistles.
7. I think they did this at one time. Wasn't it the 2nd Isles/Oilers series where they decided 2-3-2 was too much of an advantage for the away team?
If they're worried about reporters not showing up due to costs, how about a compromise - use video conferencing technology like Skype so they can at least participate in post game conferences/Bettman's league address. It may be a little sterile, but it's certainly less sterile than not being there at all and using AP wires. Just imagine Larry Brooks in his basement lobbing jabs at Bettman from 4000 miles away. And it wouldn't cost his newspaper peanuts.
8. Just go 4 on 4 at the start of OT. I can't see many games lasting more than two OTs.
9. If you're gonna move the HQ of a Mickey Mouse run league, it makes much more sense to move it to Florida or California. (Is EuroDisney still around?)
10. 24-26 teams is probably what most people would like to see, but there's no way in hell these owners will pony up 150-200m * 4 teams = 600-800m for contraction.
So contracting teams is supposed to make the league more popular? Can someone explain to me how that would work? I don't think one can gain popularity by pissing people off.
That said I don't take anything he says seriously, especially the ESPN stuff because he is on the ESPN payroll. I also can't take seriously anyone who wants to she the shootout in the playoffs.
That said I don't take anything he says seriously, especially the ESPN stuff because he is on the ESPN payroll. I also can't take seriously anyone who wants to she the shootout in the playoffs.
ap3lovr
Registered User
Here are 10 real ways to avoid an NHL Ice Age
1. Screw Microphones, Helmit cams, If a pervert can fit a camera into a toilet, then they should be able to do it.
2. Change the schedule, If Boston has to play Toronto 8 times a season, make it 4 games in a row (2 home, 2 away), then another 4 games in a row down the line. Allow for the rivalry to heat up, plus meetin the same guys 4 gamse in a row can lead to more emotion on the ice.
3. Kiss up to ESPN, cannot disagree here
4. Remove the instigator
5. Remove the 20 minute break inbetween periods. Giving people 20 minutes to find something better to watch is just plain bad.
6. Playoff overtime becomes 4v4
7. Set regulations on equipment sizes and enforce them. If the goalie pads are called to attention by a coach on the opposing team, the goalie gets his pads measured, if to big. He gets a 5 minute major. If the coach is wrong he gets a delay of game.
8. Give coaches the option to challenge a call. Maybe give them 2 to use per game at the cost of a timeout.
9. Stop using these stupid commercial with sedin twins dancing or Ovechkin using a candy machine. Instead hype the upcoming matchups. Market the physicality and intensity of the game.
10. Fire Bettman, hire someone else. I can think of about 2000 posters here that would do a better job.
1. Screw Microphones, Helmit cams, If a pervert can fit a camera into a toilet, then they should be able to do it.
2. Change the schedule, If Boston has to play Toronto 8 times a season, make it 4 games in a row (2 home, 2 away), then another 4 games in a row down the line. Allow for the rivalry to heat up, plus meetin the same guys 4 gamse in a row can lead to more emotion on the ice.
3. Kiss up to ESPN, cannot disagree here
4. Remove the instigator
5. Remove the 20 minute break inbetween periods. Giving people 20 minutes to find something better to watch is just plain bad.
6. Playoff overtime becomes 4v4
7. Set regulations on equipment sizes and enforce them. If the goalie pads are called to attention by a coach on the opposing team, the goalie gets his pads measured, if to big. He gets a 5 minute major. If the coach is wrong he gets a delay of game.
8. Give coaches the option to challenge a call. Maybe give them 2 to use per game at the cost of a timeout.
9. Stop using these stupid commercial with sedin twins dancing or Ovechkin using a candy machine. Instead hype the upcoming matchups. Market the physicality and intensity of the game.
10. Fire Bettman, hire someone else. I can think of about 2000 posters here that would do a better job.
Before we get to all that, the #1 way to help hockey?
Having the media stop telling people of just how bad the NHL and sport of hockey are almost daily. It's still a $2+ billion industry fer cryin' out loud.
Having the media stop telling people of just how bad the NHL and sport of hockey are almost daily. It's still a $2+ billion industry fer cryin' out loud.
DevilsFan38
Registered User
Absolutely. It amazes me how many hockey media people rip the NHL. If a new fan happens to stumble across a hockey game on VS and sits down to watch it for a few minutes, the last thing they should be hearing is how much the game sucks!
chiavsfan
Registered User
3) Yeah, because ESPN did a wonderful job with the NHL. And an ESPN writer saying kiss up to ESPN? Funny
8) Terrible idea, lets slow down the game even more while we are at it
10) And I can think of about 1-million posters that can't. Seriously though, it takes a real dumb **** to increase revenue every year
Sotnos
Registered User
We've had a few threads on this one already. http://hfboards.com/showthread.php?t=387102 I really hate most of those ideas, and have been arguing for about a week on another board with some guy that likes #6.
angry_treefrog
void
- Jan 19, 2006
- 7,347
- 1
#1 way to avoid NHL Ice Age
Prevent writers who know nothing about the game from writing about the NHL's "problems" and how to "fix" them.
Prevent writers who know nothing about the game from writing about the NHL's "problems" and how to "fix" them.
Brazz
This boat is 4 real!
- Nov 6, 2005
- 1,602
- 0
1. you definitly need a 5 second tape delay
2. agreed
5. That will fix everything.
8. NEVER
9. Why Atlanta? Why not Mexico City?
Here is a better list:
1. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE STRONG FRANCHISES IN NYR CHI and L.A. at all times -the 3 biggest U.S. media markets must have great teams and be elite Cup contenders or you will NEVER make any inroads to the American sports psyche in a major way...
This implies all 3 being great at the same time not just any 1 of them...
2. Point #1 therefore probably means contraction--forget the NHL expansion to the
American deep South (except for Texas --which loves hockey) --pull back from places the NHL should never have gone to =eg. NASH,FLA,TB,ATL and the hot desert of PHX--transfer one of those to HOUSTON =a HOU-DAL rivalry would definitely work as TEXAS loves hockey,and once that takes off,maybe put another franchise in SAN ANTONIO..so that is still a 4 or 3 contraction.
3.GET rid of the WEASEL (Bettman) ...he has been horrible for the NHL.
4. Cut the schedule to 72 games....
5. Go back to "soft" elbow and shoulder pads --you must cut down on concussions...
6. Goalie equipment is still too big...within safety/protection provisos,they should yet again chop down the size of padding and glove size.
7.Outlaw composite sticks--they break too much and at inconvenient times...
8. Allow bigger curves in the sticks + promote the return of the big slap shot --we hardly see long range 100 mph slappers anymore --or at least any that are effective
--nobody today seems to have a booby Hull slapper off the wing at full speed,or a Doug Wilson-type you had better duck howitzer from te point--if we had more of these,D-men would be more reluctant to step up to try to block shots --which "frustrates" the action...As Danny Gallivan used to say--we need more "cannonnading" shots in the game as it used to be....players do not take them anymore because they are taught to keep it low for in front of the net deflections
+ the stick curvatures are muted so as not to let the shots rise then dip--but the result of this now is that the player gets a less torqued less fast lower shot blocked too often,or his compsite stick breaks on the slapper ...we need to go back to wood sticks with huge curve warps to get the slapper back into the game and put the dfear of god into goalies again.
9. The refs must be instructed that "interference" does not just involve contact situations--there are nHL "vet" d-men who have perfected the art of getting in the way of opponents who don't have the puck but without touching them force them
to veer away from chasing the puck in the closest path or delay them from getting to a spot to recieve a pass --they do this by "shadow" checking which is fronting the opponent as he skates forward then skating backwards just infront of him --ths in effect "slows" the opponent from chasing a loose puck or slows him fronm getting to the spot he wants to go to by forcing him to go around or slow up intil the d-man veers away...exponents of tis shadow checking are guys like Pronger,niedermayer and Chelios,Lidstrom,Schneider just to name some ( I wonder why DET and ANH are so good defensivel? hmnn..);they do not always hit anyone (sometmes they do) but often just shadow check in the backpedal and impeded without contact ...TO me this effecive not called by the refs "technique" should STILL BE CALLED INTERFERENCE as it is a deliberate tactic to slow down the opponent without the puck from getting to where he wants to go as quickly as possible...
10. In the next CBA,lower the MAX CAP allowed for any player to be paid by a team
to 15% (down from current 20%) of team's CAP amount...Hockey is a TEAM game and no one player should skew a team CAP that much ,cutting down to 15% would still allow teams to pay its superstar well but provide more money to allocate to support players...this will spread out the ufa market better an discourage the "hometown discount" that "contender" teams seek to eek out from some of its aging vets in order to grab off another ufa or traded for good player that would ordinarily not get onto that team...it will discourage the "home-town discount" because ifsuperstar "X" cannot make as much as the 20% MAX CAP ,then that money saved will go to get the additional missing piece anyway,the "savings" willnot have to come at the expense of some geezer vet asked to sacrifice salary for the team--rather the sacrifice will come by the superstar taking less from the CAP pot.
For eamole IF as rumoured the new cAP goes to $52million -this means CROSBY when his contract is up next yr ,could ask for a mAX $10.4 million yr contract (assuming the PENS go to a $52million CAP limit) --but if it were only 15% for a MAX--that would be "only" $7.8 million a yr--such savings perhapsallowing them to also keep Malkin when his contract is up or acquire some other asset...
Of course if PITT does not want its team CAP at the MAX--Crosby would not get even $7.8 million a yr --from them--but I'm sure other MAX cAP teams -if they have room willgive him a max offer sheet...so this works 2 ways-I suppose teams not wanting to go to the NHL team MAX limit would like the old 20% rule because they would gladly pay say Crosby 20% of a lesser CAP level;but the lower individual max Cap also means even they get to spread CAP savings around more efficiently...
The worst situation though would be to force a team to go to the NHL max just to keep it superstar player with equal money than the would get elsewhere--IF PITT or any other team would lose huge dollars if they operated at the mAX CAP ,then that should be a business priority,and they should then figure out how best to trade the superstar they can't afford for the best possible assets /affordable assets ,back in return. You can't have the tail of trying to retain the unaffordable wag the dog of more profitableranchises trying to take your top player away--such player willeventually be lured away...which is why --no matter whether if it is 10% or just 15%,Crosby could very well jump ship once he becomes ufa unless PITT becomes a max Cap team and there is no advatage monetarily for him to leave for another team
(though theremay be ancilliary reasons-eg. more advertising opportunities in NYR or TOR than in PITT for him to make more money)...Still even if Crosby eventially goes,
a 15% max Cap would allow Pitt to better compete for other assets in return thatcould make it a better TEAM all aroundthan if it was forcded to spend 20% on a mAX from a lowr Cap base...20% to me is just too much--even for superstars...
1. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE STRONG FRANCHISES IN NYR CHI and L.A. at all times -the 3 biggest U.S. media markets must have great teams and be elite Cup contenders or you will NEVER make any inroads to the American sports psyche in a major way...
This implies all 3 being great at the same time not just any 1 of them...
2. Point #1 therefore probably means contraction--forget the NHL expansion to the
American deep South (except for Texas --which loves hockey) --pull back from places the NHL should never have gone to =eg. NASH,FLA,TB,ATL and the hot desert of PHX--transfer one of those to HOUSTON =a HOU-DAL rivalry would definitely work as TEXAS loves hockey,and once that takes off,maybe put another franchise in SAN ANTONIO..so that is still a 4 or 3 contraction.
3.GET rid of the WEASEL (Bettman) ...he has been horrible for the NHL.
4. Cut the schedule to 72 games....
5. Go back to "soft" elbow and shoulder pads --you must cut down on concussions...
6. Goalie equipment is still too big...within safety/protection provisos,they should yet again chop down the size of padding and glove size.
7.Outlaw composite sticks--they break too much and at inconvenient times...
8. Allow bigger curves in the sticks + promote the return of the big slap shot --we hardly see long range 100 mph slappers anymore --or at least any that are effective
--nobody today seems to have a booby Hull slapper off the wing at full speed,or a Doug Wilson-type you had better duck howitzer from te point--if we had more of these,D-men would be more reluctant to step up to try to block shots --which "frustrates" the action...As Danny Gallivan used to say--we need more "cannonnading" shots in the game as it used to be....players do not take them anymore because they are taught to keep it low for in front of the net deflections
+ the stick curvatures are muted so as not to let the shots rise then dip--but the result of this now is that the player gets a less torqued less fast lower shot blocked too often,or his compsite stick breaks on the slapper ...we need to go back to wood sticks with huge curve warps to get the slapper back into the game and put the dfear of god into goalies again.
9. The refs must be instructed that "interference" does not just involve contact situations--there are nHL "vet" d-men who have perfected the art of getting in the way of opponents who don't have the puck but without touching them force them
to veer away from chasing the puck in the closest path or delay them from getting to a spot to recieve a pass --they do this by "shadow" checking which is fronting the opponent as he skates forward then skating backwards just infront of him --ths in effect "slows" the opponent from chasing a loose puck or slows him fronm getting to the spot he wants to go to by forcing him to go around or slow up intil the d-man veers away...exponents of tis shadow checking are guys like Pronger,niedermayer and Chelios,Lidstrom,Schneider just to name some ( I wonder why DET and ANH are so good defensivel? hmnn..);they do not always hit anyone (sometmes they do) but often just shadow check in the backpedal and impeded without contact ...TO me this effecive not called by the refs "technique" should STILL BE CALLED INTERFERENCE as it is a deliberate tactic to slow down the opponent without the puck from getting to where he wants to go as quickly as possible...
10. In the next CBA,lower the MAX CAP allowed for any player to be paid by a team
to 15% (down from current 20%) of team's CAP amount...Hockey is a TEAM game and no one player should skew a team CAP that much ,cutting down to 15% would still allow teams to pay its superstar well but provide more money to allocate to support players...this will spread out the ufa market better an discourage the "hometown discount" that "contender" teams seek to eek out from some of its aging vets in order to grab off another ufa or traded for good player that would ordinarily not get onto that team...it will discourage the "home-town discount" because ifsuperstar "X" cannot make as much as the 20% MAX CAP ,then that money saved will go to get the additional missing piece anyway,the "savings" willnot have to come at the expense of some geezer vet asked to sacrifice salary for the team--rather the sacrifice will come by the superstar taking less from the CAP pot.
For eamole IF as rumoured the new cAP goes to $52million -this means CROSBY when his contract is up next yr ,could ask for a mAX $10.4 million yr contract (assuming the PENS go to a $52million CAP limit) --but if it were only 15% for a MAX--that would be "only" $7.8 million a yr--such savings perhapsallowing them to also keep Malkin when his contract is up or acquire some other asset...
Of course if PITT does not want its team CAP at the MAX--Crosby would not get even $7.8 million a yr --from them--but I'm sure other MAX cAP teams -if they have room willgive him a max offer sheet...so this works 2 ways-I suppose teams not wanting to go to the NHL team MAX limit would like the old 20% rule because they would gladly pay say Crosby 20% of a lesser CAP level;but the lower individual max Cap also means even they get to spread CAP savings around more efficiently...
The worst situation though would be to force a team to go to the NHL max just to keep it superstar player with equal money than the would get elsewhere--IF PITT or any other team would lose huge dollars if they operated at the mAX CAP ,then that should be a business priority,and they should then figure out how best to trade the superstar they can't afford for the best possible assets /affordable assets ,back in return. You can't have the tail of trying to retain the unaffordable wag the dog of more profitableranchises trying to take your top player away--such player willeventually be lured away...which is why --no matter whether if it is 10% or just 15%,Crosby could very well jump ship once he becomes ufa unless PITT becomes a max Cap team and there is no advatage monetarily for him to leave for another team
(though theremay be ancilliary reasons-eg. more advertising opportunities in NYR or TOR than in PITT for him to make more money)...Still even if Crosby eventially goes,
a 15% max Cap would allow Pitt to better compete for other assets in return thatcould make it a better TEAM all aroundthan if it was forcded to spend 20% on a mAX from a lowr Cap base...20% to me is just too much--even for superstars...
DRWR
Registered User
- Dec 16, 2006
- 340
- 0
1: Put microphones on all coaches and captains for all games. - Agree.
2: Start the season a month later. - Undecided.
3: Convince the selfish Eastern Conference general managers to act in the best interests of the game and change the schedule. - Agree.
4: Kiss up to ESPN. Make amends. - Disagree.
5: Let the skaters in shootouts go without their helmets. - Agree.
6: Eliminate the ability to ice the puck during penalty killing. - Agree!
7: Adopt the 2-3-2 travel format for all series. - Disagree.
8: Adopt the shootout after 40 minutes of playoff overtime hockey. - Disagree!
9: Move the U.S. league office to Atlanta. - Disagree.
10: Contract to 26 teams - Disagree. Continue to let newer markets develop, and add expansion teams in Canada.
2: Start the season a month later. - Undecided.
3: Convince the selfish Eastern Conference general managers to act in the best interests of the game and change the schedule. - Agree.
4: Kiss up to ESPN. Make amends. - Disagree.
5: Let the skaters in shootouts go without their helmets. - Agree.
6: Eliminate the ability to ice the puck during penalty killing. - Agree!
7: Adopt the 2-3-2 travel format for all series. - Disagree.
8: Adopt the shootout after 40 minutes of playoff overtime hockey. - Disagree!
9: Move the U.S. league office to Atlanta. - Disagree.
10: Contract to 26 teams - Disagree. Continue to let newer markets develop, and add expansion teams in Canada.
Summary of 10 points - full details in the article:
No, no, definitly no. Unless the whole point is to put the PP around 95% efficientcy
Been there, done that. It was adopted breifly when the NHL went away from division playoffs in the 1993-94 season. It occured only in the Western Conference when teams of different divisions played in an effort to reduce travel. It ended up giving an advantage to the lower seeded team in that if they got a split on the road, the next 3 games were at home and they could take a strangle hold of the series.
It's no coincidence that the lower seeded Canucks and Sharks had successful playoff runs. The Canucks went to the SCF and the Sharks were 1 game away from making the WCF in their first ever playoff apperance. This was amplified in the Western Conference Final, where the Canucks and Maple Leafs split the first 2 games in Toronto, but the Cancuks won the next 3 games at home to win the series.
With all due respect to any Thrasher fans out there, why would NHL relocate its office to a city where they just contracted its team?
If the NHL is looking to get rid of 4 teams, the Thrashers would be one of the teams considered.
No, no, definitly no. Unless the whole point is to put the PP around 95% efficientcy
Been there, done that. It was adopted breifly when the NHL went away from division playoffs in the 1993-94 season. It occured only in the Western Conference when teams of different divisions played in an effort to reduce travel. It ended up giving an advantage to the lower seeded team in that if they got a split on the road, the next 3 games were at home and they could take a strangle hold of the series.
It's no coincidence that the lower seeded Canucks and Sharks had successful playoff runs. The Canucks went to the SCF and the Sharks were 1 game away from making the WCF in their first ever playoff apperance. This was amplified in the Western Conference Final, where the Canucks and Maple Leafs split the first 2 games in Toronto, but the Cancuks won the next 3 games at home to win the series.
No.....maybe consider after 60 min of OT
With all due respect to any Thrasher fans out there, why would NHL relocate its office to a city where they just contracted its team?
If the NHL is looking to get rid of 4 teams, the Thrashers would be one of the teams considered.
Sotnos
Registered User
That's the truth. They might want to amend that to read "all coaches except John Tortorella".
He does explain why in the article, though it's as dumb as his other points. This would "humble" the league brass because no one would know who they are so they'd see the error of their ways or some similar nonsense.
One thing that would definitely improve the sport immensely is if there were a lot fewer fans like this one.
Golden Foppa
Registered User
A shootout in playoff hockey and the 2-3-2 format are just stupid ideas. I'm glad Cowlishaw doesn't have any influence on what the league does. He suggests that about 300 million Americans had no idea that hockey was still going on? That would be every single one of us. Someone should tell Tim that there are diehard hockey fans in America. Maybe he doesn't realize that being in Texas during the NBA Finals, but that doesn't mean the rest of us don't care.
if that is waht it will take, then this league is really in trouble.
heres one way to make the nhl better.
put more teams where people ALREADY LOVE HOCKEY.
heres one way to make the nhl better.
put more teams where people ALREADY LOVE HOCKEY.
Nalyd Psycho
Registered User
Ducksforcup
Registered User
If #8 happens, it will be a very dark day in the history of the NHL.
Don't get me wrong, I love the SO in the regular season. I just can't even imagine a SO deciding a post-season OT thriller...
Don't get me wrong, I love the SO in the regular season. I just can't even imagine a SO deciding a post-season OT thriller...
Rob
Registered User
I agree. But I think 4 on 4 overtime is a good idea for the post-season. The longer the game lasts the more likely that NBC is going to cut off the game.
