Opinions on the game where you know you are in the minority

[Dennis Bonvie]

What things do you hate or like about the game that you know are in the minority with other fans. Here are some of mine:

- I still dislike the netting behind the nets. Sure we're used to them by now, but it just was another thing to disconnect the fans from the players. Back in the day you would try and catch a lot of pucks in warm up from shots that would go off the crossbar and into the stands. Brittany Cecil got hit by a puck in 2002 and died 3 (?) days later. I just thought the NHL was a little extreme in their reactions. Now, would I tell the Cecil family to their faces that there shouldn't be netting back there? No, but just because I wouldn't it doesn't mean I think it is needed. Look at baseball, you've got the netting behind home plate which is obviously needed but you are in danger every pitch of getting scorcher of a foul ball if you are sitting by the dugout.

- Not sure if I am in the minority, but I probably am with Leaf fans. We didn't deserve 1993 and Kerry Fraser - although a blown call on Gretzky - didn't cost us the series or Cup. We did.

- I thought Bobby Orr was far too naïve and may have written the script himself when it came to his exit from the Bruins. Granted he didn't have a lot of hockey left himself, but I don't care if Mr. Rogers was my agent, I would still go directly to the Bruins management - which was Harry Sinden - and find out personally myself whether they truly wanted to let me go. Sinden offered Orr part ownership of the team if I remember correctly and the crooked Alan Eagleson was his agent who left that important detail out, so he signed with the Hawks for a ton of money. If I am Orr, I don't leave the team I called home for a decade until my GM looks me in the face and tells me this is true.

- Hasek wasn't as immortal as we thought in the 1998. He didn't have to be. In the Canada/Czech game we only threw 22 shots at him through three periods and rarely a good quality chance either. We were lost on that big ice. He also didn't look as great as people remember on the shootout. Fleury came dangerously close to beating him, Lindros rang it off the post and Hasek had no clue where the puck was, Nieuwendyk never got a shot on net and lost the puck, Bourque took a weak shot and Shanahan came towards him as slow as possible with a poor attempt.

- I am not sure if I would have picked Gretzky either for the shootout. I am on the fence, but if I don't then I know I am in the minority. Yzerman, Recchi at the very least were guys I would have wanted instead.

- I dislike two very structured things players do. I hate when the players stand at center ice and lift their sticks to salute the fans and I dislike when players do the fist bump down the bench to each player after a goal. Just too unnatural for me.

- You can tell me if this is in the minority or not, maybe it is, but I could care less about any insult the players say to one another and roll my eyes at the lip readers that demand apologies. The Getzlaf thing was just ridiculous recently as anyone who has played sports has heard that and much worse. Every discussion on facebook seemed to be showing the same sort of opinion other than the odd "he's a role model for children" type of comment. I always figure if the media never shed light on it we'd never know about it, which is ironic. I think the trash talk humanizes the game and keeps the intensity going.

- I actually applauded Dion Phaneuf who supposedly was the force behind "snubbing" the fans who booed them by not saluting them at the end of the game. After a loss it looks pathetic seeing the players being forced to stand there and lift their sticks, good grief, let them just get off the ice, its all they want to do.

I've seen 2 horrific face shots, one in New Haven and one in Boston. Both were ladies. I wasn't even in the same section and it really put a damper on both games for me. Very happy I won't have to see that again.

 

[Gilles Meloche]

3 on 3 for full games

 

[MullerBrotenVerbeek]

I think the league should increase the size of the goals by a few inches to compensate for the increase in the size of goalies and especially their equipment. Only major sport I can think lf where the scoring area has shrunk by such a large percentage.

I also think the league should look into making it a penalty to leave ones feet to block shots. Same reason - equipment changes make coming shots a routine play in a way that it never was before.

The NHL is never going to go back to less safe equipment, even if it would make the game quite a bit more entertaining

I'm sure we could drastically shrink goalie equipment without making goalies less safe. It should happen.

 

[agentblack]

Olympic hockey with the pros is zzzzzzzzzzz

 

[Killion]

I've seen 2 horrific face shots, one in New Haven and one in Boston. Both were ladies. I wasn't even in the same section and it really put a damper on both games for me. Very happy I won't have to see that again.

... no its not pretty.... there was a fan in Detroit this past season who took a puck in the mouth, a clearing shot finding its way through a hole in the glass thats used by professional photographers to take pictures at ice level. 1 in a million clearing shot by an Avalanche player finding its way through that hole which was just barely big enough for the puck to get through..... Unfortunately we (have for several decades now) live in an age of litigation & certainly since the advent of the Slapshot & more recently the use of composite sticks (quicker release) & increased deflections better safe than sorry but as was the case in Detroit, accidents will still happen. Personally I would remove the netting but in this day & age just not possible..... I'd also ban the use of cell phones in the upper & lower bowls altogether, block the signals, have designated areas for that in the concourses.... strip all advertising from the stairwells, boards, ice etc, permissable only on the jumbotron..... remove the Trapezoid & allow Goalies to handle the puck, moving the goal lines & blue lines back to pre-Gretzky-era dimensions, re-insert the center ice red line to slow things down a bit... dispense with the Instigator Rule.... eliminate RS OT & the Shootout, I like a hard fought Tie Hame... ban anything other than wooden sticks, no composites, no hybrids... remove the players names from the backs of the jerseys.... helmets optional.... size restriction on goalie equipment strictly enforced.... shorten the season from 82 to 62 games with the SC Finals done no later than mid-May & so on & so forth.... pretty extensive shopping list really & havent even started on the Draft & age of eligibility, Minor Pro, Sponsorships, College & Junior, AAA, AA & Single A, induction, training, Coaching & so on & so on. So. Not only in a Minority but very likely considered a reckless Neanderthal by many for holding such views.... and where did you see this in New Haven; Arena or Coliseum?.... Youve seen that film about the history of hockey in NH by a local filmmaker & the loss of the Coliseum I presume? Quite well done.

 

[VanIslander]

• Ties are great, or at least JUSTIFIED. Sometimes two teams play equally well and the result should show it. Some of the best games I've seen ended 1-1 and 3-3 (Montreal vs. Boston & Soviets).
  
• Bobby Orr is not the best or second best player in hockey history, (though I admit he's the best defenseman).
  
• Punch Imlach is arguably a top-3 all-time coach (some history books agree, but almost no HfBoarders).
  
• Patrick Roy was as non-clutch as he was clutch, if not more non-clutch, blowing so many key games, yet is credited only for the ones he won, twice because of team defensive play.
  
• The game was better when there was more time before face-offs. There's little time to set up the drama of offensive and defensive face-offs, ESPECIALLY in the third period. The puck under rules now is dropped so bloody fast one can hardly think, I recall announcers setting up the scenario, making observations, players preparing, the face-off used to be huge, now it's a breezy go-go blink-and-it's-gone moment.
  
• NHL rinks should be bigger and there's no big problem with grandfathering them in. Boston Garden used to be several feet shorter and it wasn't an issue for over half a century. Requiring new rinks to be adaptable to some predetermined future required rink expansion size is doable. The bigger, faster players need more ice to skate.

 

[Hockeyholic]

There are too many replays between stoppages. No need to show 10 replays of a dude shooting from centre.

 

[YEM]

line changes; I think you should only be able to change one player at a time-no other change until the one before you is complete
goalie; should only be off limits inside the crease

 

[seventieslord]

- The playoffs should be shorter, not longer. Three rounds is enough.

....so, 8 teams in the playoffs?

 

[Kyle McMahon]

Biased, but from European perspective I think there are too many NHL teams. You can almost double that number when talking about the guys who are with contract in minors. I like to watch NHL, but I still prefer to watch my home country´s league. Smaller amount of teams would free players to Europe. And ofcourse increase the quality of NHL teams.

In similar way dropping the fourth line out of hockey (or NHL). Yet again it would free players for "lower levels", would leave NHL for more quality players and might even be answer (or atleast help) to increasingly fast game which is becoming real danger...

edit. Actually not really history answers so bit of OT...

I think that's a perspective shared by many, not necessarily a European point of view.

"Grow the game" is a popular buzz phrase thrown out there by a lot of commentators and fans alike. I guess my minority opinion would be that I'd like to see the game get shrunk down. 24 teams with 16 making the playoffs just seems to have a good feel to it. It's unlikely fan bases will endure year after year of not making the playoffs or winning a playoff round. Upsets would once again become a thing in the first round since a few below-average teams would be in the playoffs.

When I hear other fans talking about how it's great to "grow the game" and add expansion teams I always question why they think it's great. About the only thing that happens is the league makes more money and your own team has a smaller mathematical chance of making the playoffs and winning a Stanley Cup.

 

[Thenameless]

Short handed teams should not be able to ice the puck for free. Would make high end offensive talent more valuable. Maybe also do away with ending the power play if the team scores.

I hate even up calls. If one team plays dirtier, they should be punished proportionately more. And in the same vein, I don't like it when the referees put away the whistles.

 

[BenchBrawl]

I want fighting to stay.Is that in the minority yet?

I would prefer if the league had 10 teams at the most.

I want teams to be restricted to 9 forwards (or 15 skaters) a game.

 

[Thenameless]

I want fighting to stay.Is that in the minority yet?

I would prefer if the league had 10 teams at the most.

I want teams to be restricted to 9 forwards (or 15 skaters) a game.

You're not in the minority. Fighting makes people get out of their seats even more than a nice goal.

 

[BenchBrawl]

Oh and I want bigger nets too, or smaller goalie equipment.

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

... no its not pretty.... there was a fan in Detroit this past season who took a puck in the mouth, a clearing shot finding its way through a hole in the glass thats used by professional photographers to take pictures at ice level. 1 in a million clearing shot by an Avalanche player finding its way through that hole which was just barely big enough for the puck to get through..... Unfortunately we (have for several decades now) live in an age of litigation & certainly since the advent of the Slapshot & more recently the use of composite sticks (quicker release) & increased deflections better safe than sorry but as was the case in Detroit, accidents will still happen. Personally I would remove the netting but in this day & age just not possible..... I'd also ban the use of cell phones in the upper & lower bowls altogether, block the signals, have designated areas for that in the concourses.... strip all advertising from the stairwells, boards, ice etc, permissable only on the jumbotron..... remove the Trapezoid & allow Goalies to handle the puck, moving the goal lines & blue lines back to pre-Gretzky-era dimensions, re-insert the center ice red line to slow things down a bit... dispense with the Instigator Rule.... eliminate RS OT & the Shootout, I like a hard fought Tie Hame... ban anything other than wooden sticks, no composites, no hybrids... remove the players names from the backs of the jerseys.... helmets optional.... size restriction on goalie equipment strictly enforced.... shorten the season from 82 to 62 games with the SC Finals done no later than mid-May & so on & so forth.... pretty extensive shopping list really & havent even started on the Draft & age of eligibility, Minor Pro, Sponsorships, College & Junior, AAA, AA & Single A, induction, training, Coaching & so on & so on. So. Not only in a Minority but very likely considered a reckless Neanderthal by many for holding such views.... and where did you see this in New Haven; Arena or Coliseum?.... Youve seen that film about the history of hockey in NH by a local filmmaker & the loss of the Coliseum I presume? Quite well done.

The Coliseum and no, I haven't seen the film about the history of hockey in New Haven! Have to check that one out.

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

• Ties are great, or at least JUSTIFIED. Sometimes two teams play equally well and the result should show it. Some of the best games I've seen ended 1-1 and 3-3 (Montreal vs. Boston & Soviets).
  
• Bobby Orr is not the best or second best player in hockey history, (though I admit he's the best defenseman).
  
• Punch Imlach is arguably a top-3 all-time coach (some history books agree, but almost no HfBoarders).
  
• Patrick Roy was as non-clutch as he was clutch, if not more non-clutch, blowing so many key games, yet is credited only for the ones he won, twice because of team defensive play.
  
• The game was better when there was more time before face-offs. There's little time to set up the drama of offensive and defensive face-offs, ESPECIALLY in the third period. The puck under rules now is dropped so bloody fast one can hardly think, I recall announcers setting up the scenario, making observations, players preparing, the face-off used to be huge, now it's a breezy go-go blink-and-it's-gone moment.
  
• NHL rinks should be bigger and there's no big problem with grandfathering them in. Boston Garden used to be several feet shorter and it wasn't an issue for over half a century. Requiring new rinks to be adaptable to some predetermined future required rink expansion size is doable. The bigger, faster players need more ice to skate.

How can you say such a thing?

 

[Killion]

The Coliseum and no, I haven't seen the film about the history of hockey in New Haven! Have to check that one out.

... here you go.... Part 1.... quite an interesting history, New Haven itself, hockey, Nighthawks, Yale etc, wide-ranging.... www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_GncPTW1EA

 

[Kirikanoir]

Because if it was proven that the actions by the mascot in fact did cause eyes to be turned away from the game, there is negligence. I don't blame the NHL. I do blame the Blue Jackets though. You are told before the game starts that pucks will leave the playing surface and to be aware at all times for pucks and sticks to fly into the seats. If something done by the organization did attract eyes off the ice, that goes against the legal disclaimer the league has all the teams read and could be used.

Other things are not supposed to be going on during live play, especially things that would draw young eyes. Many arenas will not let you walk down the aisles when play is live.

Can`t agree with this. Mascots at sporting events are a common occurrence, it`s part of the entertainment when you go to a sporting event, just like music, flashing lights etc.

It was a very tragic accident but blaming the team or mascot is silly. Even if they had not been distracted there is still no guarantee that A. They would have seen the puck in time, and B. that they could react in time to avoid the young girl getting hit with the puck.

You go to a live game you accept certain risks, if anything it should (tragically) be a wake up call for parents to be extra vigilant if they take small children to a game.

 

[The Panther]

I was cautiously optimistic back in 2005 when the red-line was taken out, thinking that it might make more room for skilled players and increase excitement.

Instead, it's had the opposite effect.

Most offensive "strategy" now is based on catching the other team on a bad line change, because this is the only offensive chance that isn't very risky (i.e., if it fails, you aren't likely to get scored against, so it's the only thing coaches let players do).

Every team now sees the other team making a slow line-change, so the defenceman (or even goalie) tries the long stretch-pass. I hate it. It never results in anything exciting other than the occasional 'cheap' goal because of bad line-changes. Are bad line-changes how we want Stanley Cups to be decided?

Another bad result of the long-gone red line is what it's done to offence in general. There is less offence, not more. This is because -- with no two-line passes in the neutral zone anymore -- defencemen are deathly afraid to 'rove' up near the other team's zone, lest they be caught and get victimized by the "stretch pass" (see above). The result of all this is coaches not letting D-men leave their own blue line because they're afraid they'll get caught.

Put the red line back (and yeah, make the ice surface a little bit bigger if possible). The red-line in means that D-men can actually gamble a bit without being victimized by the stretch-pass. It also means forwards have to actually learn to stick-handle through the neutral zone.

 

[Kirikanoir]

Hate the shootout, bringing back ties. (which they never really got rid of since they are still handing out tie points when a game is even after regulation)

Make the OT longer, if after the longer OT ends they are still tied then each team gets one point and the game ends tied.

Get rid of the loser point. You lose you get nothing.

Get rid of the penalty call for accidentally shooting the puck over the boards, treat it the same way they do icing.

No ticky-tack calls in the playoffs. Call the blatant stuff, but otherwise call it fair for both teams, and let them play.

No to expanding the playoffs. The NHL Playoffs with 16 teams and 4 rounds of best of 7 is perfect the way it is. All adding more teams does is further devalue the regular season. The playoff setup is fine, need to stop trying to fix something that is not broken.

 

[Inkling]

Ties are fine. Do three-on-three OT and then go home.

Go to Olympic/International sized ice.

 

[VMBM]

Hockey fights are crap
Wouldn't miss them at all if they were gone, quite the contrary. They have always looked stupid to me (aesthetically). Sure, hockey is passionate, rough sport, so tempers flare at times and all that, but I still think that the refs should break them off immediately when they start to happen. And nothing is sillier than staged fights, and they are only for the fans whom hockey don't need; go watch WWE.

Any player could have played centre on the Green Unit instead of Larionov and the unit would not have suffered one bit as a result
I don't mean that any player was better/as good as Larionov, but just like it was said that "a fire hydrant could have scored 40 goals on Mario Lemieux's line", it's the same thing with the Green Unit; when you have Krutov and Makarov (and Fetisov and Kasatonov on defense), the centre could be anyone. I think that Vyacheslav Bykov, for example, would have been terrific on a line with Krutov and Makarov. Better than Larionov? It's possible imo.

Big ice is good
I'm not totally sure if I'm in the minority here, but as someone who watched hockey almost exclusively on big ice in childhood, I totally disagree with all claims that hockey should be played in NHL-sized rinks only or that hockey on big ice is (more) boring. And I hate when things are made too homogenous anyway. I think it's the problem of a team/coach if they need small(er) ice to play exciting hockey. When you watched Team USSR (or Czechoslovakia etc) playing on big ice in the late 1970s/1980s, it wasn't boring, I can assure you that (or maybe result-wise it was, as USSR always won ).

Gilbert Perreault was better than Marcel Dionne
I say this only half-earnestly, as I didn't see these players (enough) in the NHL. But whenever they played together on the same team (1976 Canada Cup, 1979 Challenge Cup), Perreault was always much superior imo; even at the 1981 CC, Perreault outperformed Dionne, despite playing only 4 games. However, like said, I'm not overly serious about this, and I recognize that it's the equivalent of many North American fans ranking Alexander Yakushev over other Soviet superstars (and better players imo).

 

[threetimer*]

Turgeon staying on the bench during the Piestany brawl was in fact gutsy and ballsy.

He knew he would get knocked for that and he kept a full control of himself, although for his own sake.

Also, the narrative of his teammate getting doubled because of Turgeon seems wrong as there were possibly even more Russian players staying on the Russian bench.

It would have been way more cowardly for Turgeon to jump on the ice and pretend to fight someone by just holding onto them. Openly staying on the bench and refusing to participate in something that had nothing to do with hockey was in fact brave.

 

[The Panther]

Turgeon staying on the bench during the Piestany brawl was in fact gutsy and ballsy.

He knew he would get knocked for that and he kept a full control of himself, although for his own sake.

Also, the narrative of his teammate getting doubled because of Turgeon seems wrong as there were possibly even more Russian players staying on the Russian bench.

It would have been way more cowardly for Turgeon to jump on the ice and pretend to fight someone by just holding onto them. Openly staying on the bench and refusing to participate in something that had nothing to do with hockey was in fact brave.

I agree with all this.

The mission was to win Gold. By being duped into a brawl, they all committed to losing.

 

[SatanwasaSlovak]

Hockey is dead.

Atleast how they play it in current form.