"If we can only get another goal and a half..." (NHL working to halt scoring drought)

[wunderpanda]

Players are bigger, just switch to larger Olympic ice and I liked the ideas of illegal zone defenses and penalties for sprawling on the ice. Maybe change the armor players wear from hard plastic weapons back into soft protective clothing, would lessen the dead zone board working schemes and would alter the shooting lanes slightly.

I know changing the ice surfaces in every arena would be expensive or impractical, would remove prime seating, sooo.... just make all new arenas incorporate the larger ice, make it an option for current structures. Some cities might benefit from a few hundred seats less while others can simply charge more for the larger amount of front row seats a larger rink would provide.

 

[scotchex]

Just go full gimmick -- every 5 minutes without a goal remove one player from the ice.
I keed. I keed.

 

[Fourier]

Wasn't that always the case, in spite of our perceptions-- except for the seriously imbalanced NHL eras (parity-wise).

This goes to that mathematical concept of randomness and that by and large hockey is ruled by it (or wins/losses are a result of mistakes).

This goes to what Tinalera is saying as well. Superior teams can create chances, control the play against an inferior team. The closer the teams are to each other in talent, the more likely that the game will be determined by random events or mistakes.

It is true that many goals are the product of mistakes. But what I am talking about is more the mindset that preventing those mistakes is the absolute focus. I was a STH through the late 70's and the 80's. That was a glorious time to watch hockey live in Alberta. The goal was to win and if that meant 7-5 so be it. There were of course duds as there are today, but at its best the hockey was far more intense.

It's not just in the NHL though. I watched a fair bit of the KHL last year, and I must say that those guy who played on the old Soviet teams would not recognize the game.

Maybe it is just me getting old. Or possibly having to watch my favourite team be so bad for so long. But it does feel to me like the game is now far too mechanical. Creativity has been replaced by rigid systems and the shot blocker is the new gold standard for what you look for in a player.

 

[Fourier]

Players are bigger, just switch to larger Olympic ice and I liked the ideas of illegal zone defenses and penalties for sprawling on the ice. Maybe change the armor players wear from hard plastic weapons back into soft protective clothing, would lessen the dead zone board working schemes and would alter the shooting lanes slightly.

I know changing the ice surfaces in every arena would be expensive or impractical, would remove prime seating, sooo.... just make all new arenas incorporate the larger ice, make it an option for current structures. Some cities might benefit from a few hundred seats less while others can simply charge more for the larger amount of front row seats a larger rink would provide.

Unfortunately, I think the bigger ice would make it worse. You would just see a lot more perimeter play.

 

[MaskedSonja]

Unfortunately, I think the bigger ice would make it worse. You would just see a lot more perimeter play.

Like that Simpsons episode with the soccer

"To Hall, to Eberle, back to Hall, to Hopkins, back to Hall, Hall Shoots!-oh he fakes the shot, pass back to Eberle...... "


@Fugu re 1 Dman-don't give the NHL any ideas.

Going back to the business part of all this (sorry about the derail)- The idea that seems to keep coming back here is maybe more promotion of the game/understanding of the rules.I know it's something I see when I watch NFL as a semi-casual fan-every telecast I see, the analysts do a smooth job of not only breaking down plays (for the solid fan), but wording them in such a way-whether it's referral to the rulebook or use of analogies-that "newer" fans don't get left in the dark.

The analysts don't do it too much on CBC-but then there's the assumption (an unfair one) that all Canadians know the ins and outs of hockey.

 

[Unfriendly Ghost]

Is there any other pro sport that tries to "make it more interesting" for fans in another country/culture?

The only reason other pro sports don't do that is because they already have the market they want: the US. So until the NHL has the US to the degree they want, they'll continue tweaking.

But bear in mind that the NFL (who obviously already has the US locked down) tweaks itself all the time, especially to generate more scoring. Leagues are known to do this stuff to make their product better.

 

[Melrose Munch]

Yes, but will ratings soar because scores will be 14-11?

I think so. People are superficial.

 

[berklon]

Hey, you want to win over the US market - you can't just give cities expansion teams and think that's enough. The game has to change.

I don't even think an extra 1.5 goals would be enough to get more people interested... I'm thinking at least an extra 3 goals a game. Get rid of all offsides... make the nets bigger... whatever it takes to get the US population onboard.

 

[mouser]

In case anyone missed this Onion piece from 2009

 

[Fugu]

^^^

The "new more aerodynamic pucks".

 

[Jyrki]

Hey, you want to win over the US market - you can't just give cities expansion teams and think that's enough. The game has to change.

I don't even think an extra 1.5 goals would be enough to get more people interested... I'm thinking at least an extra 3 goals a game. Get rid of all offsides... make the nets bigger... whatever it takes to get the US population onboard.

There's lacrosse for that

 

[Betamax*]

The issue with hockey is that it is a hard game to understand and to really enjoy it you need to. An average fan can understand a great passing play in football or a clutch 3 pointer in basketball, it much harder for an average fan to see a clutch save and get the same rush. There are also a fair number of rules and customs in hockey to understand. A casual sport watcher who the NHL is going after does not understand why play just suddenly stops, why a player can stop the play nearly instantly, or why players fight. He sees a hard to understand game, one which he thinks is too fast understand, one he thinks the players have no idea what they are doing, and finally a game where scoring and scoring chances do not happen often. As a lifelong hockey fan I cannot understand the why people would not love the game. It is fast, physical, exciting, and extremely entertaining. Hockey is much more like football (not the American kind) than any other big American sport and it has the same issues getting inroads into the American public. No increase in goals is going to solve the issue. Plus the fact that during the winter when football is winding down and hockey heating up the channel synonymous with sports coverage in the US ESPN, gives less than 5 minutes per hour of news coverage to hockey. ESPN also prefers to cover a basketball players meltdown rather than 5 hockey games from the previous night.

Here's the solution ... bring back an updated Peter Puck in HD with Pixar type animations!!!

 

[mouser]

^^^

The "new more aerodynamic pucks".

If you read the other changes on the paper at the beginning of the clip it also includes:

- 162 game schedule.

- All Canadian teams will move to Florida or Las Vegas.

- Mandatory goal zone celebrations.

- Penalty box replaced with twelve-round octagon matches

 

[cutchemist42]

Is there any other pro sport that tries to "make it more interesting" for fans in another country/culture? Now DONT get me wrong, I'm not talking about the arguments this gets into, I'm not going down that road.

Why can't the NHL simply market the game through other means than "changing the rules so there can be more scoring"?-I still think they're trying to fix a problem that isn't there. Surely there are other ways of marketing the game.

Soccer worldwide has phenomenal following-they often have 1-0, 2-1 scores, and seem to embrace the fact that goals are hard to come by, so when a goal IS scored, it's a "big event"-and the tension for many of watching, waiting for that goal is a part of the experience. On the other hand, a game like indoor Lacrosse, with it's 10-7 scores-if indeed "more scoring" is the issue, is barely a blip sports wise.

Why can't we just market the game for all it's nuances and skill-make the audience come to love the game, don't change the game to fit the audience.

BTW I specifically stress change "for another country/culture"-I'm not talking about a sport changing rules in its OWN culture-like Nascar's rule merry go round or Baseball's adding playoffs.

I would say the NFL has drastically changed their game from what is considered to be the "normal" rules, but it wasnt done for another country.

 

[Melrose Munch]

Hey, you want to win over the US market - you can't just give cities expansion teams and think that's enough. The game has to change.

I don't even think an extra 1.5 goals would be enough to get more people interested... I'm thinking at least an extra 3 goals a game. Get rid of all offsides... make the nets bigger... whatever it takes to get the US population onboard.

I agree. Berklon. The NHL does things halfway all the time. If we are going to due the US expansion, then do it right. *8GPG. Get Malkin within siffing distance of 200 points, more fights.

 

[Betamax*]

Shot Blocking ....... Was it Worth it?

Here are a few suggestions I would like to see implemented or at least tried out in the pre-season.

I'd suggested this idea in the Canucks board, where under their new Coach, Torts, there is a renewed emphasis on "shot blocking" from their players. Which, in 7 games (including pre-season games) have resulted in two players (Schroeder, Burrows) getting injured and out of action for several weeks due to foot injuries while blocking shots.

I'd like to see less shot blocking in the game and I think it would result in more goals.

I'd make it a minor penalty for a hockey player who sprawls down in an attempt to act like a goalie to block shots. If you're in the path, and you hold your ground but stay upright, that's not a penalty, but if you try to act like a goalie and do a double stack or something to that effect, 2 minutes minor!

The shot blocking is partially a symptom of another prevalent strategy in the NHL, which is the clogging of the middle of the ice in the defensive zone. People get up in arms everytime I mention it, but if you really wanted to increase scoring, you need to implement an illegal defense rule, a la NBA, where defending forwards can only spend so much time in the middle of the ice. Goals would increase markedly from that. It would never happen, though.

I think Betamax mentioned shot blocking above. I hadn't really thought about it before but honestly I think the league should make it illegal (laying out flat on the ice). You have some silly rules like covering the puck with your glove, etc., which do the same thing-- stop or slow down the play. Hockey is a sport where the stick is meant to be the main means of passing or directing the puck. Maybe that needs to be reinforced for skaters. (Never mind the injury factor and that skaters don't have the padding for absorbing 100 mph shots.)

I completely agree with that as per my previous post. I just thought of the most infamous shot block during the 2013 Playoffs ...

Gregory Campbell breaking a leg after sprawling to block a shot from Malkin.

I think one has to ask in retrospect, "Was it Worth it?"

He was certainly lauded for his toughness and bravery for gutting the rest of the shift out but I think given the severity of the injury he incurred that caused him to miss the rest of the Bruins' Playoffs run, the actual utility of performing the shot block can certainly be questioned.

re:

 

[rojac]

The NHL does a great job of marketing the sport itself, but they're absolutely awful at getting the players marketed.

Are people really that interested in players? Hockey is a team sport. People cheer for teams not players. To me, it would be like the circus marketing the trained seals individually.

 

[ForumNamePending]

My issue isn't so much the amount of scoring, it's how a large % (at least it feels like a large %) of the goals are scored these days.

Maybe it's all in my head but it seems like offensive strategy is built around the general idea of getting bodies in front of the net and firing in shots from the point hoping for a either a deflection or a rebound to shovel in. It would be nice if there was a little more time and space out there to allow the team with the puck to pick apart the opposition with a nice passing play.

What to do about it or how to make it happen without making drastic changes or getting too gimmicky or convoluted? I have no idea.

 

[PanthersHockey1]

My issue with the NHL it seems to be the only league of the big four that is constantly changing the rules every summer.

Something has to be said about tradition. The more you change and challenge a tradition the less its respected and appreciated imo.

 

[Crazy_Ike]

Too many overcomplex solutions here, people overthinking it.

The problem is the pads. Everything else is secondary to it.

Fix the pads, the dynamic changes. A lot of other things have to change when you can't depend on the goalie as much. Number of scoring chances means more, forcing teams into more aggressive postures.

Scoring is where it is and teams set up their offenses they way they do because it is almost impossible to score on the rush unless it is an odd man rush, which most teams right now will sacrifice offense to prevent from happening. Now, if a goalie is beat cleanly, it's considered a bad goal.

Change that and watch a lot of other problems go away.

 

[Fugu]

Too many overcomplex solutions here, people overthinking it.

The problem is the pads. Everything else is secondary to it.

Fix the pads, the dynamic changes. A lot of other things have to change when you can't depend on the goalie as much. Number of scoring chances means more, forcing teams into more aggressive postures.

Scoring is where it is and teams set up their offenses they way they do because it is almost impossible to score on the rush unless it is an odd man rush, which most teams right now will sacrifice offense to prevent from happening. Now, if a goalie is beat cleanly, it's considered a bad goal.

Change that and watch a lot of other problems go away.

Or increase the size of the net.

 

[Big McLargehuge]

My issue with the NHL it seems to be the only league of the big four that is constantly changing the rules every summer.

The NFL does so way more often than the NHL does.

Here's a list of rule changes just for the 2013 season.

 

[ForumNamePending]

Too many overcomplex solutions here, people overthinking it.

The problem is the pads. Everything else is secondary to it.

Fix the pads, the dynamic changes. A lot of other things have to change when you can't depend on the goalie as much. Number of scoring chances means more, forcing teams into more aggressive postures.

Scoring is where it is and teams set up their offenses they way they do because it is almost impossible to score on the rush unless it is an odd man rush, which most teams right now will sacrifice offense to prevent from happening. Now, if a goalie is beat cleanly, it's considered a bad goal.

Change that and watch a lot of other problems go away.

Ya I think giving the players more to shoot at could very well open the game up. I guess the problem is as soon as you start talking about messing with the pads the discussion very quickly becomes about safety and protection and as soon as that happens it becomes hard to make any significant changes.

 

[Melrose Munch]

Are people really that interested in players? Hockey is a team sport. People cheer for teams not players. To me, it would be like the circus marketing the trained seals individually.

You have a picture of Bautista in your avatar. Weak Example as the MLB has the same problem with marketing right now, but people are interested in players. That's part of why both the NBA and NFL have more pull right now.

 

[Ciao]

Call all the rules all the time. The players will eventually adjust. The game will be quicker, better and higher-scoring.

Get rid of fighting. It's just a distraction to change momentum and slow things down. Then the only way to retaliate would be with a goal.

Build every new arena large enough to accommodate a properly sized ice surface. The rinks are too small.

Do these things over the long- and short-term and scoring will rise. NHL hockey would be better and more popular too.