I, personally, don't like the European size rink. It's cuts down on physical play and the goal looks like a postage stamp. That being said, the sad fact is that ALL the playing surfaces in our major sports are too small. The NFL end zone should be 15 yards deep and many rules changes, kicking off from the 30, etc., have been implimented to compensate, the NBA bucket needs to raise up 2 feet. Every time baseball gets in trouble with fans, they juice the ball, bring in the fences and shrink the strike zone.
But the NHL had a chance to rectify the rink problem in the 80's and 90's when they rebuilt almost every rink in the league. Again, they were smitten by a lack of vision at the top. If you remember, in the 80's they were so hungry for an extra half mil, they virtually took themselves off American TV by signing with SportsChannel America instead of ESPN. The league is still essentially run by Huckleberrys who decided to go get a New York lawyer to get them out of their idiotic troubles.
I sincerely do hope some of them, if they can read, take a survey of these boards before making their next move. There's a fairly reliable thread of opinion I've found here that reflects much of the good thinking I've seen on a wide range of NHL ills.
Cudos to all of you!
-HckyFght