If you could change anything in the NHL.....

philip

dismember
Jun 27, 2014
1,538
834
Couple small changes:

Actually give penalties to players / goalies who knock the net off accidentally on purpose.

Don't let teams delay so long after an icing.
Both of these. If accidentally clearing the puck out of play is a delay of game, then so should knocking the net off his moorings.

Some decent suggestions in this thread. Bettman where you at
 
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Soliloquy of a Dogge

I love you, Boots
Aug 8, 2012
40,873
5,512
San Diego, CA
Have the league make an effort to grow the game and attract different demographics to the sport at the grassroots level so the NHL can actually increase its talent pool while making the game more interesting and something other than a fringe sport.

Get rid of the regressive mentality permeating the sport (as well as the toxic parents at the junior league level) that neuter individuality and personality.
 

Petskuta

Registered User
May 15, 2011
56
72
I'd like that the players' personalities would be able to come out more. There's still this Don Cherry-esque good-ol'-Canadian-kid mentality in hockey culture where players shouldn't stand out, be in the spotlight or get bold in the media. Like the no beard-policy in Toronto a while back - why? More imaginative cellies, more public chirping etc. Creates rivarlies, exposure and excitement. There can still be respect towards an opponent even if the players make it a bit more interesting. Although this seems to be changing a bit to the better, it's still behind the NBA or NFL in that regard.

The playoff format is another one, too often the better teams end up meeting too soon in the playoffs.
 

Frank Drebin

He's just a child
Sponsor
Mar 9, 2004
33,477
19,467
Edmonton
Throw all 31 teams into the draft lottery but give terrible chances to the playoff teams. The cup winner has like 0.01% chance and build from there.
I don't mind this idea, I'd like to see previous winners/high picks have their odds reduced as well. Maybe a cumulative average of their past 5 seasons averaged against their current season. Basically if you've consistently picked high your odds would be reduced against a team that has been competitive.

Say la finished 30 and buffalo 31. Maybe la gets better lottery odds.
 
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Frank Drebin

He's just a child
Sponsor
Mar 9, 2004
33,477
19,467
Edmonton
I'd like that the players' personalities would be able to come out more. There's still this Don Cherry-esque good-ol'-Canadian-kid mentality in hockey culture where players shouldn't stand out, be in the spotlight or get bold in the media. Like the no beard-policy in Toronto a while back - why? More imaginative cellies, more public chirping etc. Creates rivarlies, exposure and excitement. There can still be respect towards an opponent even if the players make it a bit more interesting. Although this seems to be changing a bit to the better, it's still behind the NBA or NFL in that regard.

The playoff format is another one, too often the better teams end up meeting too soon in the playoffs.
As long as it's genuine this idea is fine with me. The matthews/kane interaction from this season was pretty entertaining.

I'm not a fan of the scripted/attention whoring stuff though, like listerine-gate 2017.
 

Stive Morgan

Mhm. Mhm. Mhm.
Jul 25, 2011
20,851
26,589
British Columbia
toss out Puck Over Glass - Delay Of Game.

treat it like an icing. players cant change, no timeout allowed

This, except maybe two or more in a row can called for be delay of game (I think the same goes for icings? 3 or 4 in a row results in a penalty doesn't it?)

Get rid of the trapezoid

Playoffs are 1 vs. 16, 2 vs. 15 etc. regardless of conference. Best team faces the worst team, and so on and so forth. Often times the Conference Final ends up being the "real" SCF because the best teams are locked in the same conference or division..

Get rid of 3-on-3 overtime, it's almost as gimmicky as a shootout. Just do 10 or 20 minutes of 4-on-4, then a shootout. And don't give me some crap about player fatigue, these are professional athletes, I'm sure they can play 32 minutes instead of 26 minutes for a game.
 
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Blade Paradigm

Registered User
Oct 21, 2017
823
1,172
I would want the rink width to be expanded to match hybrid rink standards: 200' x 93'. More skating room would open up the ice a little bit more and allow more puck rushes and transitions. Some of the faster players in the league would be better able to use the outside of the ice to move the puck and generate space.

Chip and chase would be a lot less commonly used. Teams would be able to maintain puck possession more often going into the offensive zone, and would thus generate more chances. Less time would be spent trying to get the puck back along the boards upon entry.

There is a misnomer about the hockey of previous eras: it wasn't more physical -- it was just dirtier. There was more holding, hooking, jet-skiing, slashing. Players themselves weren't as positionally-sound or quick to always be making physical contact with the opponent along the boards.
 
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SmoggyTwinkles

Go Leafs Go
Aug 5, 2010
6,753
3,564
Oshawa
www.bing.com
make OT 10 continuous minutes long.

get rid of like 10 teams, still play 82 games because I like NHL hockey.

have the puck drop from the roof of the arena for faceoffs out of a tube, no more refs, way more tubes.

have the ice curve up the boards like quarter pipe, would be something to behold.
 

NeelyWasAWarrior

Don't Poke The Bear
Dec 23, 2006
4,354
2,200
Boston Garden
I would make the goalie leg pads more form fitting. There is nothing that would prevent leg pads from conforming to the normal outline of a goalies legs without sacrificing safety.
 

AuroraBorealis

Back-to-back hater
Oct 16, 2018
18,978
16,486
Vancouver, British Columbia
3 points for wins
1 for ties
No OT, No shootout

Teams would go for the win hard in the dying minutes, so that's like OT anyways. If a tie is what's deserved, then so be it. Don't like them forcing games to have a winner through a skills comp.
Besides, this system would reduce the parity in the standings, which is a little ridiculous these days IMO.
 

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