I hate how 90% of goals are fluky in today’s game.

[Tom Polakis]

So nearly every goal last night (game 1 of the finals) went in off a fluky deflection, a screen, or a tip-in.

Clog the front of the net with any many bodies as possible, then fire the puck into the crowd, hoping it randomly bounces off someone and into the net.

Sorry, but that’s just not fun to watch.

"Nearly every goal..."

TB 1,0: Cernak makes an amazing tip in of a pass from beautiful pass by Palat just beyond the defenseman's blade. Tip-ins with that level of skill are not fun to watch?
TB 2,0: Coleman with a good look between the circles after a blocked shot puts Price a bit out of position.
TB 2,1: OK, that's a pinball goal off two players. Chiarot was lucky.
TB 3,1: Chiarot tries to swipe at the puck with his glove in front of Price, and misses. Sort of lucky, but not random.
TB 4,1: Off the draw, a laser from Kucherov between the circles. Not many NHL players can make that hard shot so accurate.
TB 5,1: Sweet one-timer by Stamkos from a a bad angle. Price couldn't get across in time.

Six goals: three were NHL-level shots, one nice tip, one bad defensive play, and one "random" luck goal. What game were you watching?

 

[Nihiliste]

In recent years we’ve seen a lot of great skilled play shine in the regular season as we’ve gotten away from the DPE2.0 of the 2010s. But I’m the playoffs the whistles get out away and we’re back to square 1

 

[Shinjuku Calling]

I agree with OP.

 

[Rschmitz]

Watch more Lightning hockey then

 

[SmoggyTwinkles]

I'm looking at the title, my brain is battling to figure out how I feel....

So why are you watching hockey?

 

[Ragamuffin Gunner]

I mentally kept track for about half a season on how goals are scored in the NHL from watching highlights.
~50% came from point shots. Screens, tips, rebounds, ect.
~25 within 10 seconds of a turnover

 

[Marshmallow Man]

I'm looking at the title, my brain is battling to figure out how I feel....

So why are you watching hockey?

I watch very little hockey these days. Didn’t watch a single full game this season.

I watched from the time I was a kid in the 80s. Played on teams until I was 14. I keep trying to get back into it because I know how great the game can be.

I just don’t find watching pinball goals to be entertaining. Goalies have become way too dominant.

 

[SmoggyTwinkles]

I watch very little hockey these days. Didn’t watch a single full game this season.

I watched from the time I was a kid in the 80s. Played on teams until I was 14. I keep trying to get back into it because I know how great the game can be.

I just don’t find watching pinball goals to be entertaining. Goalies have become way too dominant.

Sounds like you know what you want to watch, and have made the decision to watch the things you enjoy.

 

[SmoggyTwinkles]

So nearly every goal last night (game 1 of the finals) went in off a fluky deflection, a screen, or a tip-in.

Clog the front of the net with any many bodies as possible, then fire the puck into the crowd, hoping it randomly bounces off someone and into the net.

Sorry, but that’s just not fun to watch.

Pretend I'm laughing for eternity and get back to me when you've decided what's fun to watch (also let the rest of us know, there's a real lack of recorded entertainment lately)

 

[Marshmallow Man]

The total pointlessness of most shots on goal is frustrating to watch. Honesty, what's the point? It's like shooting the puck at a brick wall, expecting it to make it to the other side.

Goalies don't want to shrink their gear for safety reasons (so they claim) so the only real option is to make the net slightly wider (moving the goal posts out slightly, to the edge of the crease, would probably be good enough).

The game was never designed with goalies who are this big and this good and this well-equipped in mind.

 

[jaywills1020]

There's nothing flukey about screening the goalie and deflecting the puck. Learn to watch hockey, nub.

Nobody said screening the goalie and deflecting g the puck. What was said was the puck deflects off a couple of players and goes in. Learn to read, nub.

 

[I Hate Blake Coleman]

Nobody said screening the goalie and deflecting g the puck. What was said was the puck deflects off a couple of players and goes in. Learn to read, nub.

"Get traffic in front of the net because goals will go in." Deflections have literally been a thing in this game since it was invented.

 

[Oilslick941611]

"Get traffic in front of the net because goals will go in." Deflections have literally been a thing in this game since it was invented.

especially in the in his favourite and mentioned late 80s and 90s hockey.

 

[rocketdan9]

Agreed, perhaps make the ice bigger and goalies smaller

Bigger nets too

bigger nets is likely the answer

 

[Smart Alek]

No one agrees with me, but the game should be 4 on 4.

It's like Israel/Palestine though — we'd need a collective memory wipe to make peace with it.

 

[The Devilish Buffoon]

Why not put a new twist on an old classic - goalies should be required to be morbidly obese.

 

[Martin Skoula]

"Get traffic in front of the net because goals will go in." Deflections have literally been a thing in this game since it was invented.

Nobody is saying deflections are new or necessarily bad, the proportion of deflection goals to clean goals has gotten out of hand. It should be one of the ways you can score, not the go-to way that every competitive team tries to score 75% of the time.

You shouldn't need a slow mo replay from 3 different angles to figure out who scored, that kills entertainment value. Especially live.

 

[Streetsamurai]

I do agree that too much of the goal comes from deflections/screened shots. Doesn't necessarily means the goals are fluky, since the team which have more possession will tend to have more of these, but it does kills the entertainment a bit. Wish they would make the net bigger, equipment smaller or (gasp) play the game at 4 on 4.


And the refs hiding their whistles during the po doesn't help

 

[elitepete]

The modern game is all about creating as much congestion in front of the net as possible, then firing the puck in the general direction of the goalie and hoping it bounces off 6 different skaters before going in the net. 99.99% of the time, if the goalie can see the puck, he is going to stop the puck.

I guess a lot of modern fans grew up on this stuff, so they don’t know any different. But those who watched during the 80s and 90s, and have been paying attention, it’s sad to see not only the decrease in scoring and offensive skill, but the way the game has changed to accommodate how dominant goalies have become.

In watching highlights (if you want to call them that) damn near 90% of goals are scored off random deflections. How can you be impressed by what is essentially a goal scored by accident? It’s almost comical watching the goal scorer celebrate, as if he meant to have the puck bounce off one defenseman’s skate, off another defenseman’s stick, hit the popcorn vendor in the 12th row, bounce off the scoreboard and into the net.

I’d love to see a Gretzky, a Lemieux, or a Hull score by beating the goalie straight-up with an accurate shot or completing a beautiful play. Instead, nearly every goal is scored off a fluky deflection, or a rebound, or a goalie-screen.

I agree 100%. Teams literally have an entire offensive game plan to just throw the puck on net and pray something happens. It’s boring as hell. I want to see goals happening from real passing plays and snipes. Seems like the only time that happens is off the rush.

 

[TruePowerSlave]

Make it 4 on 4 permanently. The game would without any doubt become more entertaining and skill would take over games more often.

 

[Get North]

The reason there’s a lot of goals scored like that is because of elite team defence and a ton of scouting pre-game so both teams end up countering each other.

NYI-BOS was a wide open series. Then you could see NYI play TB totally differently. At least that’s what I saw.

 

[NickyFotiu]

The guys got so big and so fast that the game is like playing in a phone booth for the majority of guys. Only a dozen or so guys like McDavid have the ability to really shine with so little room. I miss the days where guys had room to stick handle. Even a slow Ron Greshner used to rush the puck end to end because of his stickhandling skills. Now its 90% about screening the goalie and deflections.