NHL forming Competition Committee - players and owners

[Tawnos]

Most hockey fans DONT want the shootout, there was a poll on the boards and it was 60/40 in favor of not having a shootout. Ill put a lot of money that this will be a one year thing just like it was in SEL...when everyone realizes what a JOKE it is.

Every game I've been to with a shootout, the fans have been so into it that you can't help catching that excitement. Europe is a different mindset. Especially from people in the US, where it's all about the quick fix.

And anyone who seriously believes that it's the same as slam dunk contests, home-run derbies or field goal kicking contests needs to check their premises.

1) Slam dunk contests have no one trying to stop the player
2) Home run derby pitches are meatballs served up so the player has the greatest chance of hitting it out of the park
3) Field goals are not the most important way of scoring in a football game, nor are they defended against in a contest

In other words, none of those things are actually going to happen in a game (at least not on purpose), unlike a 1-on-1 play between a goalie and a skater, which can happen in an NHL game.

 

[GSC2k2*]

I dunno man. The last Flames game I went to, Oliwa fought someone in the opening minute (thats about as staged as you can get) and the crowd was as loud during that fight as they were for the rest of the game (the fight was an exceptionally long one).

So there was about 15000 fans that would loudly disagree with you.

Great. Wonderful. 15,000 fans in Calgary say so (although that assumes it wasn't half the crowd cheering their brains out and half wishing they hadn't come at that point).

They can all suck it.

 

[Trizent]

How many breakaways are there in a game from centre red line?
How about from blue line in?
The rare times these happen, are there opposition players chasing the player with the breakaway?

If the NBA had free throws to settle ties, people would be standing on their feet cheering/booing.
If the NFL/CFL had field goals to settle ties, people would be standing and cheering.
If baseball had "home run" competition to settle games, people would be standing and cheering.
If the NHL had a race, once around the rink between a player on each time, people would be standing and cheering.

Fan involvement doesn't equate to something being the best / most appropriate way to settle a game.

 

[Hunter74]

Ask Shanahan what he thought of playing the Calgary Flames this past season. Hew as VERY vocal to "sources" here in Detroit about the clutching and grabbing. The guy goes into a shell if the clutching isnt called. Its why many here in Detroit wanted to see him traded or what not, becasue we mostly believe they will NEVER fix the clutching and grabbing effectively. So get players who can play thru it.

the ironic thing is, If they ever clamp down on that, Iginla may end up having a say in his own teams demise. As with out clutch and grab, Calgary doesnt make it out of the first round.

it will be interesting though. I dig the concept.

Then maybe Shanahan should of taken a look at his own team as they are just as bad as anyone when its comes to clutching and grabbing. Hatcher, Chelios, Hull, Fischer, Maltby to name a couple of guys who play the clutch and grab game very well. Bottom line with Detriot they didn't have teh wheels to keep up with the Flames. That and they only played the last 5mins of every period and for the rest of the time they just half assed it. Everyone in the NHL clutches and grabs wich is the problem.

Yes alot of defensive teams are gonna have a harder time if they get rid of clutching and grabbing but not all of them. Minnesota isn't the worst when it comes to clutching and grabbing but they are the most boring to watch b/c of there defensive style.

If they called clutching and grabbing imagine how much mroe effective Power Fowards would be. I think Iginla and the fast skating Flames would do quite well in a clutch and grab free NHL. I think Iginla would vote to get rid of clutching and grabbing as its not like he's gonna lose his job from it. his teammay struggle but thats not a definite by any means.

 

[Cawz]

Great. Wonderful. 15,000 fans in Calgary say so (although that assumes it wasn't half the crowd cheering their brains out and half wishing they hadn't come at that point).

They can all suck it.

So much negativity...

Not sure where youre from, but fights have been fan favorites to every game I've been to (not just in Calgary). I'm not saying its right or wrong, but looking at fan reaction, boring would be the last word I'd use to describe fights.

...but the fans can kiss your ass, right?

 

[Hunter74]

I don't doubt they remember, I'm just questioning the specific make-up of the competition committee, especially if they're looking to "open up the game."

If I was making it up, I'd want a "skill" forward, a power forward, a defenseman (ideally an offensive d-man in the vein of Zubov or Leetch) and a goalie. Each can speak to the unique effect each rule will have on his position (like, why are forwards deciding where goalie's can and can't handle the puck?). The GMs and owner slot are a little harder, but again, I'd look for variety of styles teams employ/how they played and want a conglomerate rather than the very similiar styles represented currently.

I'd also love to see representatives from Europe or who have experience with the European leagues. These leagues often employ rules variations (witness - two-line passes allowed in some leagues) that the NHL is considering, and having a first-hand account on the rules committee would be helpful.

I am sure the players on the committee are gonna be listening to there 750 members who call them up with an idea that they might want to bring up to the committee. So why quibble over what nationality the players are as they will most likely taken the players opinions and concerns intoconsideration. Maybe they chose these guys b/c they showed an interst in the position and happen to well spoken hockey people.

Unlike GM's players dont have that confict of interest or at least not to the extent the GM's and owners do.

I happen to like the fact they have some offensive minded people on this committee. Blake, Shanahan and Iginla are very well rounded players who excell in alot of aspects in the game besides offense. The 3 of them are all good offensive players, good defensively, they play a physical style and they all happen to be very well respected and very good at communicating which i think is very important.

Question not refering to the person i quoted. Why do people on this message board love European hockey so much? Almost every thread that talks about the game gets a whole bunch of posters saying that the NHL should be more like the European leagues. Why whats so great about the European leagues? All the games i have watched have been rather boring and uneventfull. Kinda like soccer.

 

[Cawz]

Every game I've been to with a shootout, the fans have been so into it that you can't help catching that excitement. Europe is a different mindset. Especially from people in the US, where it's all about the quick fix.

Good point. The States, and Canada for that matter, are all about instant gratification. For the most part, North America is a "highlight" society.

I think this is also the reason football is the most popular sport on the planet, but as soccer, it hardly registers on our continent. Too mush time investment for the amount of highlights.

Edit: Ha, just noticed the soccer dis on the post above. Fitting.

 

[Hunter74]

When is someone going to mention the instigator rule.It has to go.Let's see some fights and some true heavy weights in the game.

Personally i am not a big fan of taking the instigator out. Though i can see why the players hate it. I think what really gets them is that the NHL dicsiplinary office does not do a good job of policing the players. Alot of players get away with alot of cheap shots and cheap hits with out the league office doing somehign about it.

If Colin Campbell actually did his job and started to hand out some punishments that would actually deter players from high sticking, elbowing, spearing, board and the list goes on and on players might start to be less frustrated.

Everyone sees it time and time again were there teams star player is being abused by an opposiing teams designated cheap shot artist. How many times has a star player been high sticked in the face and there was no serious suspension or heavey fine? One players gets 5 games for a high stick but another player with the same type of infraction gets 2 mins. Thats just horrible management imo.

Players want to police themselves b/c they want to protect there teammates and have no confidence in the NHL head office to do it. When the NHL imposed the instigator rule they said by doing that that they will now be taking care of that kinda stuff. IMHO they have failed miserably. If teh NHL is gonna leave the insitagor in they are gonna have to start doing a better job at protecting all the players and not just the elite of the elite. I hope the league does do a better job or turn the job back over to the enforcers. I also think that times have changed and what worked 20 years ago wont work with todays players as todays society doesn't really take accountability for what they do they tend to jsut run and hide which will just lead to more uglyness which isn't good for the game financially.

 

[Trizent]

Instigator rule isn't stopping players from policing themselves IMO.

The fights that take place in the NHL aren't born out of anger or frustration or revenge. They are predetermined scraps for either ego purposes or to swing the tide of momentum. Instigator rule won't change this to any noticeable degree.

 

[GSC2k2*]

Instigator rule isn't stopping players from policing themselves IMO.

The fights that take place in the NHL aren't born out of anger or frustration or revenge. They are predetermined scraps for either ego purposes or to swing the tide of momentum. Instigator rule won't change this to any noticeable degree.

WEll said. People who ***** about the instigator rule act like highsticking and cheap shots only came into the NHL after the rule was put in. It was waaaaay worse in the old days when there was no instigator rule.

I have seen a million games, and nothing is more pathetic than the typical almost-staged battle between two goons. It needs to be gone. When some day it is gone, it will not be missed. 'Nuff said.

 

[Tawnos]

How many breakaways are there in a game from centre red line?
How about from blue line in?
The rare times these happen, are there opposition players chasing the player with the breakaway?

If the NBA had free throws to settle ties, people would be standing on their feet cheering/booing.
If the NFL/CFL had field goals to settle ties, people would be standing and cheering.
If baseball had "home run" competition to settle games, people would be standing and cheering.
If the NHL had a race, once around the rink between a player on each time, people would be standing and cheering.

Fan involvement doesn't equate to something being the best / most appropriate way to settle a game.

I was referring to the penalty shot.

Why should the NHL care about the "most appropriate" way to settle a game. If the fan likes the shootout, the NHL should adopt it. No other sport (besides soccer) has anything that would ever be remotely comparable to a shootout, so stop trying to make comparisons.

 

[Trizent]

Obviously, I was picking some specific part/skill of a given sport and drawing conclusions.

Yes, I think shootouts are stupid. I do like the 4 on 4, 3 on 3 before shootouts, however.

So if the NBA fans like free throws, then free throws should settle NBA games? I would guarantee home team fans going nuts when opposition is trying to sink the FT shots. It would be exciting. Everything coming done to those shots. But, not appropriate.

If shootouts were appropriate, the NHL would have them immediately after regulation and would settle playoff games with them. By ommission during the games that mean the most, that tells you their value and level of appropriateness.

 

[Tawnos]

One-on-one battles are the most dramatic in entertainment, whether it be sports or theater, especially in American culture. Why do you think baseball is so popular here? It boils down to one man trying to score and one man trying to prevent him from scoring. We aren't talking about one skill here, we're talking about one skill matching up against another skill.

Actually, I don't necessarily disagree with putting them in playoff games. However, I like playoff OT because it goes on til there's a winner (hello basketball and baseball, who do the same thing all year round). I wouldn't mind seeing regular season games go in OT until there was a winner, but in lieu of that... shootouts are the way to go. I'm tired of ties.

By the by, in response to your claim that "If shootouts were appropriate, the NHL would have them immediately after regulation and would settle playoff games with them"... soccer plays extra-time before going to a shootout, I don't see how extending the playing time somehow makes a shootout inappropriate.

 

[Trizent]

"By the by, in response to your claim that "If shootouts were appropriate, the NHL would have them immediately after regulation and would settle playoff games with them"... soccer plays extra-time before going to a shootout, I don't see how extending the playing time somehow makes a shootout inappropriate."

Fair comment, but why isn't the NHL going shootouts directly after 5 minutes of OT in Regular Season? Because, they want to do everything they can to get a winner in a game format.

 

[eaton28]

Question not refering to the person i quoted. Why do people on this message board love European hockey so much? Almost every thread that talks about the game gets a whole bunch of posters saying that the NHL should be more like the European leagues. Why whats so great about the European leagues? All the games i have watched have been rather boring and uneventfull. Kinda like soccer.

Ya I totally agree with you. It is like watching Sweden vs. Czech Republic at a WC or WJC, i cannot watch it, it is absolutly brutal, NO agression at all, they'd rather have a slash fest then hit someone.

Entertainment Level

European Hockey = Figure Skating
Soccer = Baseball