Why are people so clueless??
The Rangers did more for the game than any other team as far as introducing the game to new people with their unbelievable '94 Cup run.
That team skated, they played with grit as well as skill.They were aggressive.Bottom line is that team played the game the way it was meant to be played and a ton of people started to get interested in hockey.It was ready to take the next step.
Then what happens.....2 things----
The lockout killed the buzz hockey was generating and then the worst thing happed next...TRAP hockey took over the game spearheaded by Lemaire and his trapping Devils.
And before the Dev fans and everybody else start crying like little girls understand this...Nobody can argue it's success as a hockey strategy...NOBODY including me.
It works and it's not illegal, at least not yet.
That being said once the Devils won in '95 with this generic brand of hockey which just took practicly all skill and skating away from the game and everybody else followed suit because it allowed for lesser skilled teams (and as far as owners were concerned, less expensive teams) to be successful against the better skilled teams(i.e. the big market teams).
Skill and talent were no longer the determining factor on who won and lost the game.It now became who can turn their team the most robotic in playing as cautious a game as possible.
5 man groups moving as one to clog the neutral zone...2 steps this way...one stride that way...no real skating anywhere!!!!
Quality scoring chances plummeted as a result and everybody(except maybe the NYR's and 3-4 other teams) followed suit because with the restrictions placed on the game by the size of the rink combined w/the offsides, 2-line pass and icing rules it became near impossible to beat these teams by trying to outskate or outskill a team that was just going to chip pucks and fall back to clog center ice and the wait for that one chance to counter when the other team pushes too aggressively.
Soon it became appartent to everybody that you couldn't outskill or outskate this "brand" of hockey(to everybody outside the Rangers at least!) and the motto became if you can't beat them join them and the momentum in the US went in the sh1tter as NOBODY wanted to watch a 2+hour game played 90% of the time between the F'in Bluelines!
What passed for offense at this point where bad angle shots just thrown at the net hoping for a rebound, deflection, or fluke play!
Oddman rushes were minimized....you remember them, where a 3 on 2 or 2 on 1 situation would arise and everybody in the arena would rise to their feet in excitment!
Point a game players were superstars...30 goal men top snipers!!!
And this brings us to today where table F'in tennis outdraws the NHL and ESPN/ABC doesn't want to touch it with a 10ft pole after having learned their lesson which they should've seen after FOX got burned with pathetic viewership.
NBC only signed on because it's a practicly risk-free deal.
This is why the game is in crisis.
Players salaries rose in anticipation of cashing in on the NHL taking the next step after the NYR run in '94 which it looked like it was going to do but when the style of play switched drasticly from a skating/skill exciting game to a dump it in, chip it out, no skating, minimal skill on display, take no chances hockey which translated to minimal entertainment which then translated into nonexistent TV ratings!!!!!
This is why the NHL is gathering all these panels to try and correct all these terrible factors that are almost ruining the F'in game so before clowns(cough..Darkside..cough) start firing shots at the NYR's for ruining the game let's really look at why the NHL went from an alltime high after a RANGER win in '94 and was on the brink of taking the next step to an abysmal spiral following the DEVILS trap led win that changed the way teams had to play the game and started a near death spiral, especially in the TV world where all the other league make their bread and butter.