nowhereman
Registered User
Then, by that rationale, all of the stars from that era should have seen their production dip more dramatically with age. But, for many, it didn't. Instead, you have stars like Stamkos and Karlsson setting career highs in their 30s or Ovechkin winning Richards with as many goals as he had in his prime. If you don't think that goalie pad changes, expansion, reduced physicality and an overall focus on offense-first hasn't impacted the game, you're kidding yourself. Either that or JT Miller is a better offensive player than Malkin.This is just wrong
Goals per game were over 3 in 2005 and started going down until McDavid and Matthews entered the league, then they have gradually gone up
The players drive this, and it’s not just McDavid and Matthews alone, but they are 1. The best player maybe ever and 2. The best goal scorer the league has seen in 30 years
Add on the rest of the talent and yes, talent disparity is a massive reason we are back in a new golden age for the NHL and its fans.
Look at the numbers and track when the big names came into the league, there is for sure correlation there
And unless the NHL makes goalie equipment a little bit smaller every year, you’d only see a single up tick year and then the goals would flatline.
We see a steady growth as the players get better and better throughout their careers. Matthews and McDavid et al are in their primes now and the whole league is feasting.
But those few outlier players drive these numbers, just as they did in the 80’s and 90’s
Sid and Ovie generation just sucked
You can make the argument that this generation being more offensively talented is one of the factors that scoring is up but it's one of several factors and certainly nowhere near as big a factor as you're making it out to be, especially since the difference in talent isn't significant. And, I'm sorry, I have to laugh at you bringing up Matthews as a reason as to why scoring is up, while also saying that OV's era sucked — despite OV being on the verge of breaking the all-time goalscoring record.