The Athletic - Boston Fluto: How I’d improve the NHL if I were commissioner

[Fenway]

Shinzawa: How I'd improve the NHL if I were commissioner


• Go back to the old playoff format. I do not believe the 1-8 conference seeding was broken. It makes regular-season achievement meaningful.

• Instruct the referees to be aggressive on penalizing coaches and players for complaining. You see it after almost every call — screaming and whining and crying during the skate to the penalty box. It is downright jarring, on the other hand, to see a player make his way off the ice with his mouth shut.

• Encourage more regular-season division play. This is what promotes rivalries: six or more showdowns, some of them back-to-back. Hate initiates conflict, which leads to mayhem. That’s what everyone wants to see, not home-and-away guarantees of the Bruins playing the Coyotes, for example.

• Have coaches and players wear microphones during games and air the sound on broadcasts. This is the stuff that makes all-access television crackle: the insults, swears and wisecracks.

• Change the draft age to 19 and older. It is hard enough to project whether an AHL player will become a full-timer in the NHL. Trying to do the same with an 18-year-old is throwing darts with a blindfold.
​

• Scrap the offside challenge. See ya later. Good riddance. We won’t miss you.

• Introduce the north-south camera angle on TV. Think of video games like EA Sports’ NHL series. This could allow viewers to see patterns unfold, like on the power play. This is hard to discern on the traditional east-west view.

• Give the green light to advertisements on uniforms. Let’s face it: Hockey-related revenue will continue to take a beating. Perhaps this could be one way to put some cash back in the drawer.

• Let the teams conduct the year’s NHL Draft from their respective cities. Yes, social distancing is on my mind. But there’s now really no need to have everyone in the sport congregate in one location. That’s why the NHL postponed the draft that was scheduled to happen in Montreal in late June.

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[Lobster57]

the division heavy schedule seems like a no brainer.
6 games against each of the other 7 teams in the division = 42 games
2 games against each of the 8 teams in the same conference = 16 games
1 game against each of the 16 teams in the other conference = 16 games

Thats 74 games. that's enough. everything can end at the end of may instead of the middle of june.

if everyone cries too much about revenue, add an extra game against 1 out of conference division, alternate years. that gets back to 82.

 

[Judge Smails]

Shinzawa: How I'd improve the NHL if I were commissioner
​

• Give the green light to advertisements on uniforms. Let’s face it: Hockey-related revenue will continue to take a beating. Perhaps this could be one way to put some cash back in the drawer.

This is.....disgusting.

 

[Rubber Biscuit]

the division heavy schedule seems like a no brainer.
6 games against each of the other 7 teams in the division = 42 games
2 games against each of the 8 teams in the same conference = 16 games
1 game against each of the 16 teams in the other conference = 16 games

Thats 74 games. that's enough. everything can end at the end of may instead of the middle of june.

if everyone cries too much about revenue, add an extra game against 1 out of conference division, alternate years. that gets back to 82.

I would do an extra game against the 8 non-division teams in the same conference to bring the total to 3. Then you do 1 game against each team in the other conference as you suggested and alternate home and away (ex. year 1 the Bruins visit the central division and host the pacific, year 2 they host the central and visit the Pacific).

 

[LSCII]

I forgot how much I dislike Fluto not having to read his drivel all the time. He flat out sucks. The North South camera angle blows. Your view is so badly obscured by the giant f***ing net in the middle of the screen, that you miss so much. Ads on jerseys? Ugh. Penalties for coaches complaining? GTFO with this crap. Stick to writing nonsense about where you can get the best cinnamon roll on the road. Leave hockey to people that actually understand it.

 

[Lobster57]

I would do an extra game against the 8 non-division teams in the same conference to bring the total to 3. Then you do 1 game against each team in the other conference as you suggested and alternate home and away (ex. year 1 the Bruins visit the central division and host the pacific, year 2 they host the central and visit the Pacific).

i guess that does make a lot more sense. i just want a game against one of Vancouver or Seattle every year so i can actually go. but yeah, over-all playing the other in-conference division an extra time would be better

 

[BMC]

I'm all in for more division play. I don't care about seeing LV or Edmonton in the regular season.

 

[LSCII]

I'm all in for more division play. I don't care about seeing LV or Edmonton in the regular season.

Eh, I'd rather see McDavid come into town.

 

[duffy]

Shinzawa: How I'd improve the NHL if I were commissioner


• Go back to the old playoff format. I do not believe the 1-8 conference seeding was broken. It makes regular-season achievement meaningful.

• Instruct the referees to be aggressive on penalizing coaches and players for complaining. You see it after almost every call — screaming and whining and crying during the skate to the penalty box. It is downright jarring, on the other hand, to see a player make his way off the ice with his mouth shut.

• Encourage more regular-season division play. This is what promotes rivalries: six or more showdowns, some of them back-to-back. Hate initiates conflict, which leads to mayhem. That’s what everyone wants to see, not home-and-away guarantees of the Bruins playing the Coyotes, for example.

• Have coaches and players wear microphones during games and air the sound on broadcasts. This is the stuff that makes all-access television crackle: the insults, swears and wisecracks.

• Change the draft age to 19 and older. It is hard enough to project whether an AHL player will become a full-timer in the NHL. Trying to do the same with an 18-year-old is throwing darts with a blindfold.
​

• Scrap the offside challenge. See ya later. Good riddance. We won’t miss you.

• Introduce the north-south camera angle on TV. Think of video games like EA Sports’ NHL series. This could allow viewers to see patterns unfold, like on the power play. This is hard to discern on the traditional east-west view.

• Give the green light to advertisements on uniforms. Let’s face it: Hockey-related revenue will continue to take a beating. Perhaps this could be one way to put some cash back in the drawer.

• Let the teams conduct the year’s NHL Draft from their respective cities. Yes, social distancing is on my mind. But there’s now really no need to have everyone in the sport congregate in one location. That’s why the NHL postponed the draft that was scheduled to happen in Montreal in late June.

Like every thing except the ads on jerseys! The game has gotten close enough to European Hockey for me already, so a hard NO from me on ruining the jerseys.

 

[Fire Sweeney]

Stick to your restaurant reviews Fluto, you will never be commissioner.

It's a shame this guy is considered by some a sportswriter.

 

[BruinDust]

the division heavy schedule seems like a no brainer.
6 games against each of the other 7 teams in the division = 42 games
2 games against each of the 8 teams in the same conference = 16 games
1 game against each of the 16 teams in the other conference = 16 games

Thats 74 games. that's enough. everything can end at the end of may instead of the middle of june.

if everyone cries too much about revenue, add an extra game against 1 out of conference division, alternate years. that gets back to 82.

I'm all in for more division play. I don't care about seeing LV or Edmonton in the regular season.

Eh, I'd rather see McDavid come into town.

It's not out-of-conference play that is the problem. I think it's important for every team to visit every NHL city once a year. Think about all the Bruins fans in Western Conference cities that look forward to that one Bruin game a year. I think it's healthy for the league overall that the most popular teams (Original 6 and a handful of others) and the best players (McDavid, etc.) travel well and often.

The issue is this vague linkage between divisions using conferences. Why is playing Carolina more games more important than playing Arizona? The league needs to abolish that linkage and effectively remove conferences altogether.

I'd go:

83 games a season (32 team league)
5 interdivision games = 35

Home and home with the other 24 teams = 48

1st round - interdivision 1/4, 2/3
2nd round - divisional championship (and have 4 new trophies designed for each division champ)
3rd round - reseed the 4 division champs 1/4, 2/3
4th round - Cup final

this also solves what is an issue (at least for me) of the 1st and 3rd rounds being the most exciting and the 2nd and 4th rounds the least. Look back at the NHL playoffs the past 25 years, it's typically been the 1st and 3rd round match-ups that people remember. Far too many cup finals have been let-downs by having two mis-match teams and teams with no animosity whatsoever. Take 2014 as an example. Everyone remembers the classic conference final LA vs. Chicago. But the final was meh, pretty uneventful stuff. The cup playoffs to me should be building the excitement as it moves along. Instead, it's the 1st round that everyone is excited for, then it starts to taper off. I think this format gives each subsequent round more meaning.

 

[UncleRico]

It’s almost like fluto is trying to be more annoying than haggs and jimmy Murphy

 

[Blowfish]

Shinzawa: How I'd improve the NHL if I were commissioner


• Go back to the old playoff format. I do not believe the 1-8 conference seeding was broken. It makes regular-season achievement meaningful.

• Instruct the referees to be aggressive on penalizing coaches and players for complaining. You see it after almost every call — screaming and whining and crying during the skate to the penalty box. It is downright jarring, on the other hand, to see a player make his way off the ice with his mouth shut.

• Encourage more regular-season division play. This is what promotes rivalries: six or more showdowns, some of them back-to-back. Hate initiates conflict, which leads to mayhem. That’s what everyone wants to see, not home-and-away guarantees of the Bruins playing the Coyotes, for example.

• Have coaches and players wear microphones during games and air the sound on broadcasts. This is the stuff that makes all-access television crackle: the insults, swears and wisecracks.

• Change the draft age to 19 and older. It is hard enough to project whether an AHL player will become a full-timer in the NHL. Trying to do the same with an 18-year-old is throwing darts with a blindfold.
​

• Scrap the offside challenge. See ya later. Good riddance. We won’t miss you.

• Introduce the north-south camera angle on TV. Think of video games like EA Sports’ NHL series. This could allow viewers to see patterns unfold, like on the power play. This is hard to discern on the traditional east-west view.

• Give the green light to advertisements on uniforms. Let’s face it: Hockey-related revenue will continue to take a beating. Perhaps this could be one way to put some cash back in the drawer.

• Let the teams conduct the year’s NHL Draft from their respective cities. Yes, social distancing is on my mind. But there’s now really no need to have everyone in the sport congregate in one location. That’s why the NHL postponed the draft that was scheduled to happen in Montreal in late June.

I thought Fluto was a food critique and consumption analyst?

 

[Morris Wanchuk]

I would take adds on jerseys if they got rid of commercials.

 

[rocketdan9]

I don't care for any of his suggestions, except for going back to old 1-8 format

The offside challenge doesn't bother me anymore. Coaches don't try it unless they are sure. Otherwise it leads to a penalty.

 

[Salem13]

I'm with him on everything but this...

• Give the green light to advertisements on uniforms. Let’s face it: Hockey-related revenue will continue to take a beating. Perhaps this could be one way to put some cash back in the drawer.

... we have more than enough going on the ice, the boards and now the end glass (TV only).

And you know Marchand would buy an add.

 

[Aussie Bruin]

It's not out-of-conference play that is the problem. I think it's important for every team to visit every NHL city once a year. Think about all the Bruins fans in Western Conference cities that look forward to that one Bruin game a year. I think it's healthy for the league overall that the most popular teams (Original 6 and a handful of others) and the best players (McDavid, etc.) travel well and often.

The issue is this vague linkage between divisions using conferences. Why is playing Carolina more games more important than playing Arizona? The league needs to abolish that linkage and effectively remove conferences altogether.

I'd go:

83 games a season (32 team league)
5 interdivision games = 35

Home and home with the other 24 teams = 48

1st round - interdivision 1/4, 2/3
2nd round - divisional championship (and have 4 new trophies designed for each division champ)
3rd round - reseed the 4 division champs 1/4, 2/3
4th round - Cup final

this also solves what is an issue (at least for me) of the 1st and 3rd rounds being the most exciting and the 2nd and 4th rounds the least. Look back at the NHL playoffs the past 25 years, it's typically been the 1st and 3rd round match-ups that people remember. Far too many cup finals have been let-downs by having two mis-match teams and teams with no animosity whatsoever. Take 2014 as an example. Everyone remembers the classic conference final LA vs. Chicago. But the final was meh, pretty uneventful stuff. The cup playoffs to me should be building the excitement as it moves along. Instead, it's the 1st round that everyone is excited for, then it starts to taper off. I think this format gives each subsequent round more meaning.

I think this is a really important point. The Bruins have fans turn up wherever they play, probably just about more than any other team. It'd hurt our fanbase more than most if there were cities that the Bs only visited bi-annually. So I could definitely get on board with scrapping the conferences and just playing every non-divisional team home and home each season. After all for every conference opponent that means something, like the Rangers, there's a Carolina that doesn't, while teams that Boston does have some form of connection with, be it a Chicago due to long history or a Blues as a result of recent events, they see less often. So just make it an even number of contests for all the non-divisional teams.

 

[GabeTravels]

Schedule I'd do...

4x against your division - 28 games

3x against the rest of the conference - 24 games

2x against the other conference - 32 games

That gets you to 84 games. Rotate the third game against the other division home and away every year.

I'd love 5 or 6 against the division, but not at the expense of losing a home and away with the whole league.

 

[finchster]

I want fewer games. 82 games is far too many for how demanding the sport has become. Fewer games would lead to fewer injuries and elite players playing more

 

[bbfan419]

Some of his ideas are good, like the old playoff format was much better, I even prefer a 1 vs 16, 2 vs 15 that way you never what two teams could meet at anytime. I also agree with getting rid of the stupid offside coaches challenge which is ruining the game and doing the opposite of what they want which are faster games and more scoring. Also I agree make the draft for guys 19 or older, that way they can go to the AHL sooner if need be.

The rest though no thanks, adds on uniforms look awful, ever watch a game in a league from Europe? penalty for complaining is just stupid, of course players and coaches will be upset , it is a game of emotions, take that away and it takes away from the game itself. Wearing mics during games won't work, there would be a lot of stuff that would need to be beeped out. The North-South camera angles suck! I hate when they show most or all of a PP from that angle, it is fine for a replay to show a different view, but that's it. Finally I know a lot of you will disagree with this, but I don't want more inter divisional games, I hate playing the habs and Leafs , less I see them against the Bruins the better and I want to see all the teams, there would be some great players you would miss seeing coming into town.

 

[Mathews28]

Wow. I’d be embarrassed to float many of those suggestions. Can’t believe he wrote it, can’t believe the editor runs it. Garbage

 

[Rubber Biscuit]

Wow. I’d be embarrassed to float many of those suggestions. Can’t believe he wrote it, can’t believe the editor runs it. Garbage

Most of what The Athletic puts out is extremely underwhelming imo

 

[TD Charlie]

I forgot how much I dislike Fluto not having to read his drivel all the time. He flat out sucks. The North South camera angle blows. Your view is so badly obscured by the giant f***ing net in the middle of the screen, that you miss so much. Ads on jerseys? Ugh. Penalties for coaches complaining? GTFO with this crap. Stick to writing nonsense about where you can get the best cinnamon roll on the road. Leave hockey to people that actually understand it.

If they could get a north south camera on a rope, sorta like how the nfl does it with the camera all but getting under Center, i would be interested in seeing it. But I’ve no idea what you would tether it to on either end of the arena, how to avoid low hanging scoreboards etc

It’s worth letting the nerds figure it out though.

 

[Blinny]

the division heavy schedule seems like a no brainer.
6 games against each of the other 7 teams in the division = 42 games
2 games against each of the 8 teams in the same conference = 16 games
1 game against each of the 16 teams in the other conference = 16 games

Thats 74 games. that's enough. everything can end at the end of may instead of the middle of june.

if everyone cries too much about revenue, add an extra game against 1 out of conference division, alternate years. that gets back to 82.

I absolutely love this idea

 

[sarge88]

Improve the officiating -- tell them they are not there to "Control" the game. They are there to hand out penalties after things happen.

Get rid of the instigator.

Get rid of the penalty for fighting in the last 5 minutes.

Make the 2, 5, 10 call as rare as a steak cooked at 125 degrees for 5 minutes.