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

[sr edler]

- 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.

Czechs had a great defensive system going on, beyond Hasek, the whole tournament, trapping pretty hard. But Hasek probably brought a healthy intimidation factor with him to the shootouts.

 

[seventieslord]

This has largely turned into, "what would you change about the game"?

We have people coming in to say the like fighting and people saying they don't. They're not both minority opinions!

 

[ThorntonFightClub*]

Despite the modern love affair with speed and skill, you still win in the playoffs with tough, nasty, physical hockey

 

[Edmonton East]

Yea, I don't like the safety nets, but think you all are making some pretty poor arguments. As technology and training have increased, more and more guys are ripping the puck in the 90s. A few in the 100s. Having goalies the size of the Michelin man, yet no protective netting to defend spectators who could be within 20 yards or so of the net in jeans and a tshirt seems insane to me. I also feel like there are a lot more deflections nowadays since players have more padding and are more likely to dive in front of pucks (increasing likelihood of going into the stands). I can't prove that of course, just a hunch.

And the football kicking net comparison is ridiculous. C'mon. Softer object. Slower speed. Generally over a longer distance. During a SET PLAY (ie predictable).

So raise the glass. If the puck is going up at even a *slightly* steeper angle, it poses no real threat to a fan. Certainly no more so than a fly ball at a baseball game, which soars up into the air and then comes down at catchable speed.




That's not the point. They could just as easily leave the net up throughout the game, but choose not to leave it up obstructing people's view. There's a reason they bother to have it on a pulley system so they can get it up and then down as quickly as possible.

The live experience of attending an NHL game involves looking directly through a mesh net for at least half the arena. That's an outrageously poor quality viewing experience compared to any other major sport.

"Raising the glass" isn't some simple task and would require significant engineering/testing to determine changes needed to the base (boards) to ensure it was structurally sound. Also, I don't understand how you aren't factoring in longer stanchions/seams which ironically impact fan views more than netting unless you are dead on or above.

As for the 2nd part, your football kicking example is still a massive reach. They take the net up and down because, again, it's a PREDICTABLE SET PLAY.

I actually have more of an issue with the other safety crap they put in the arena like the glass along the front rows and higher railings that I can't see through. That's a lot worse than the netting to me, plus all arenas are different (I know where the damn nets are at least every time I go to a game).

 

[Jaromir Blogger]

I think Crosby is more in the tier of Sakic/Yzerman than the tier of, say, Beliveau/Mikita, but people are overrating him right now because of the relative scarcity of all-time, truly elite contemporaries.

 

[Theokritos]

Ties are, frankly, a stupid concept for pro sports entertainment. I have no idea why anyone would spend hundreds of dollars and an entire Saturday evening watching a contest where the end result is... everyone gives up and goes home.

I'm at the opposite end of the opinion range. I don't understand how anyone can have a fundamental issue with the concept of a match resulting in tie. Pro sports entertainment? If the game is entertaining then it's entertaining, regardless of the outcome (win/loss or draw). If the game is not entertaining then it's not entertaining, again regardless of the outcome.

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

... 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

Very cool, thank you so much!

The winding ramp to the parking garage and back was like an amusement park ride. Many of today's huge trucks and vans would have barely fit on the ramp. My claim to fame was winning the "Dirtiest Car in the Garage" one night. Prize, of course, the free car wash.

 

[Killion]

Very cool, thank you so much!

Quite welcome. Figured you'd get a kick out of it.

 

[jigglysquishy]

Season should be shortened to 70 games. Hockey in the summer is so dumb.

The American centric view of the league is toxic

 

[NoMessi]

- Forsberg was the best player in the world after the Jagr years and before the lockout. I'm Swedish and were a teenager at the time, so I might have been heavy influenced by the media.
- Lemieux was even better than Gretzky, although close.
- Malkin is a better player than Crosby. Although its close. I really don't want to write any more essays on this matter, I've done it enough times on the main board and the playoffs board.
- Crosby was the best player in the world in 2006-2007 but haven't got back to that level of dominance (Because of the injury in 2007-2008)
- Fleury is not a playoff choker, he is just a very flawed goalie that gets exposed in the playoffs.
- An all-star KHL team would be a playoff team if they were an NHL team.
- Hasek was better than Roy, and Brodeur doesn't belong in that company.
- Lidström deserve to have 7 norris. I get that his last was a weak one, but he probably should have had one before his first one.
- NHLs biggest problem with injuries are self-inflicted. That might not be that unpopular opinion, but I seem to be the only one giving partial blame to the power breaks that speeds up the game.
- NHL is full of drugs, I'm totally convinced. Im not talking about cocaine etc, because that has little effect on the level of play and I don't really care. Im talking about steroids etc. Its why I'm not shocked every time I hear "hes already back, that injury would take X months for a regular person", "he gained 20 pounds over the summer, that must be some freak genetics". Bodybuilders does the same.
- CCCP was a better hockey team than team Canada for many years. I hate looking at the videos seeing how the refs made calls during the Canada Cup 1987 (no I wasn't born, but I've watched the full games a couple of times)
- I also think that people in general but on HFboards especially actually buys everything the hockey media wants to sell. Example, when the NHL didn't know if the poster boy Crosby would get back after his concussions they started to promote Toews as the best in the league. Fortunately that backfired this winter with the top100 list.

I probably have a lot more

 

[threetimer*]

- Forsberg was the best player in the world after the Jagr years and before the lockout. I'm Swedish and were a teenager at the time, so I might have been heavy influenced by the media.
- Lemieux was even better than Gretzky, although close.
- Malkin is a better player than Crosby. Although its close. I really don't want to write any more essays on this matter, I've done it enough times on the main board and the playoffs board.
- Crosby was the best player in the world in 2006-2007 but haven't got back to that level of dominance (Because of the injury in 2007-2008)
- Fleury is not a playoff choker, he is just a very flawed goalie that gets exposed in the playoffs.
- An all-star KHL team would be a playoff team if they were an NHL team.
- Hasek was better than Roy, and Brodeur doesn't belong in that company.
- Lidström deserve to have 7 norris. I get that his last was a weak one, but he probably should have had one before his first one.
- NHLs biggest problem with injuries are self-inflicted. That might not be that unpopular opinion, but I seem to be the only one giving partial blame to the power breaks that speeds up the game.
- NHL is full of drugs, I'm totally convinced. Im not talking about cocaine etc, because that has little effect on the level of play and I don't really care. Im talking about steroids etc. Its why I'm not shocked every time I hear "hes already back, that injury would take X months for a regular person", "he gained 20 pounds over the summer, that must be some freak genetics". Bodybuilders does the same.
- CCCP was a better hockey team than team Canada for many years. I hate looking at the videos seeing how the refs made calls during the Canada Cup 1987 (no I wasn't born, but I've watched the full games a couple of times)
- I also think that people in general but on HFboards especially actually buys everything the hockey media wants to sell. Example, when the NHL didn't know if the poster boy Crosby would get back after his concussions they started to promote Toews as the best in the league. Fortunately that backfired this winter with the top100 list.

I probably have a lot more

You are probably in the minority only when it comes to Lemieux/Gretzky and Malkin/Crosby.

A few people would dispute Hasek/Roy/Brodeur, but they're not the majority.

The steroid/drug issue is pretty much agreed upon (I think). Don't know about steroids, but the league is high on pills and has been for ages, and the PED use is probably very frequent too.

 

[Jaromir Blogger]

- Forsberg was the best player in the world after the Jagr years and before the lockout. I'm Swedish and were a teenager at the time, so I might have been heavy influenced by the media.
- Lemieux was even better than Gretzky, although close.
- Malkin is a better player than Crosby. Although its close. I really don't want to write any more essays on this matter, I've done it enough times on the main board and the playoffs board.
- Crosby was the best player in the world in 2006-2007 but haven't got back to that level of dominance (Because of the injury in 2007-2008)
- Fleury is not a playoff choker, he is just a very flawed goalie that gets exposed in the playoffs.
- An all-star KHL team would be a playoff team if they were an NHL team.
- Hasek was better than Roy, and Brodeur doesn't belong in that company.
- Lidström deserve to have 7 norris. I get that his last was a weak one, but he probably should have had one before his first one.
- NHLs biggest problem with injuries are self-inflicted. That might not be that unpopular opinion, but I seem to be the only one giving partial blame to the power breaks that speeds up the game.
- NHL is full of drugs, I'm totally convinced. Im not talking about cocaine etc, because that has little effect on the level of play and I don't really care. Im talking about steroids etc. Its why I'm not shocked every time I hear "hes already back, that injury would take X months for a regular person", "he gained 20 pounds over the summer, that must be some freak genetics". Bodybuilders does the same.
- CCCP was a better hockey team than team Canada for many years. I hate looking at the videos seeing how the refs made calls during the Canada Cup 1987 (no I wasn't born, but I've watched the full games a couple of times)
- I also think that people in general but on HFboards especially actually buys everything the hockey media wants to sell. Example, when the NHL didn't know if the poster boy Crosby would get back after his concussions they started to promote Toews as the best in the league. Fortunately that backfired this winter with the top100 list.

I probably have a lot more

I agree on Hasek over Roy. I also love the Malkin/Crosby thing. If I were playing a regular season game, I'd take Crosby. I'd rather have Sid over the course of a regular season. But if I were playing a Game 7 in the SCF, I'd take Malkin. I ultimately give the title of best player in the world to Crosby at this time, but there's a very real way in which I think Malkin is better, too.

Another unpopular opinion: I think Mike Babcock is a good coach, but he's very overrated.

 

[PurpleMouse]

This has largely turned into, "what would you change about the game"?

We have people coming in to say the like fighting and people saying they don't. They're not both minority opinions!

Yeah, you have people stating their 'minority' opinions and other people coming in and agreeing en masse.

Like SealsFan said it depends on what forum you are on. I'll post some that I'm pretty confident are in the minority:

- I would love if the NHL went to 4 on 4 and had 40 teams (although that kind of goes with seventieslord's "what would you change")

- The size of the ice surface has ZERO effect on the entertainment value of the game

- In most close playoff series, everything is overnalyzed in terms of guys being "clutch" and what the winning team did right, when in fact the series was probably actually decided by dumb luck or whoever had less injuries/bad calls go against them

- Team Europe at the World Cup was an awesome idea and far more interesting than any of these countries competing individually

 

[K Fleur]

The 90's/DPE is the most romanticized decade of hockey, containing three of the most overrated hockey players of all time(Fedorov, Forsberg, Lindros).

 

[Orange Dragon]

I like shootouts.

NHL should experiment with different ice rink sizes for a season or two.

Tretiak was an average goalie.

 

[FerrisRox]

I had no idea this was the reason behind Brittany Cecil getting hit with the puck. I saw the video of when Espen Knutsen shot the puck and it was on a bit of a 3 on 2 rush. Derek Morris got his stick in front of it and it went flying into the crowd. Was all of this commotion going on with the mascot while the play was happening?

I have never heard this before and it would, in fact, be in violation of NHL rules if there was any kind of routine being done during the play. I find this claim dubious.

 

[Eisen]

I agree with this. I don't know if this is even a minority opinion, is it?

My minority opinion - I would be willing to suffer through a whole season of pure powerplay hockey if I had to, in order to weed out the interference from the game. I hate more than anything when a forward dumps it in and tries to chase it, and has to dodge the defenseman trying to hold him up. Call that every single time.

I'm with you on this.
My minority opinion is that since not all penalties are called, game management by the ref is OK.

 

[VanIslander]

The Nashvile Predators will win the 2017 Stanley Cup
in 4 or 5 games
and
be THE top contender for the next half decade at least.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

bure in '93 > selanne in '93

who wants to fight?

 

[GMR]

Bring back enforcers. I want to see at least 10 guys every season hit 300 PIM. I also want each team to dress at least one enforcer throughout the season.

Bring back ties. Get rid of manufactured win gimmicks, like the 3 on 3 and the shootout.

 

[mrhockey193195]

- The game is better with the two-line pass rule in place. Now, to escape the defensive zone and get a change, a defenseman can just bomb a puck to the opposing blueline where a forward needs to tip it in. No skill involved.

- Ties were perfectly fine.

- If Messier stayed in NY in 97, Leetch and Richter would not have declined so quickly. Leetch would have been regarded ahead of MacInnis and Stevens. Richter would have been a HOFer.

- In their primes on ANA (96 to 00), Kariya was the slightly better player than Selanne. Not by a substantial amount, but Kariya was arguably a top 3 forward in the game for some of those seasons. It's revisionist history that we say otherwise, knowing that Selanne had the better career.

- Lidstrom is one of the greatest ever - but not quite the level of Bourque and Potvin (i.e., not top 5 of all time). He benefitted from a weaker era of defensemen to win many of his Norris trophies, so trophy counting isn't a fair comparison (it rarely ever is). I have him at number 6.

- Chris Osgood, in his prime, was a very very good goalie. Not a HOFer, not good enough to enter the conversation with guys like Brodeur, Belfour, Hasek, Roy. But in any given season, he may have been up there with Richter, Beezer, Joseph, Kolzig, etc. He doesn't have the career value that they do, but he's right behind.

- Barrasso had an amazing peak, but is somewhat overrated in terms of career value. I'm probably very biased here because I think he's a colossal *******.

 

[popo]

I prefer wearing white jerseys on home ice. All the visiting teams come in looking different.

I like the current divisional playoff format, but would like to take it a step further and eliminate the wild card all together.

 

[mbhhofr]

Faceoffs:

76.4 Procedure – Centers – The puck shall be faced-off by the Referee or
the Linesman dropping the puck on the ice between the sticks of the
players facing-off. Players facing-off will stand squarely facing their
opponent’s end of the rink approximately one stick length apart with
the blade of their sticks on the ice.


Either enforce the rule or rewrite it so that the centers can stand head to head with their noses on the ice.

 

[patnyrnyg]

- The worst thing they did was try to make hockey a family event. Hockey at one time was for degenerate animals and was better for it.

- Bring back the equipment sizes of the 70s for skaters and goalies. Except skates. Wood sticks only. Get rid of the hard plastic shelled shoulder, and elbow pads. Basically, get rid of the equipment that can be used as weapons. Should be for absorbing impact, not giving out punishment.

- Let players play without helmets. Would help bring some personalities back to the game.

- I hate wearing dark jerseys at home.

- 3rd jerseys, Winter Classic jerseys, Stadium Series jerseys all suck. Teams should have a home, away, and maybe a throwback to be worn no more than 2 or 3 times per year.

As far as players

Lundqvist is the most overrated player post '05 lockout. Not just because of the last year.

 

[SatanwasaSlovak]

Bring back enforcers. I want to see at least 10 guys every season hit 300 PIM. I also want each team to dress at least one enforcer throughout the season.

Bring back ties. Get rid of manufactured win gimmicks, like the 3 on 3 and the shootout.

I agree, loved the idea of an enforcer being out there protecting his team, like a sheriff on ice.

I miss the violence from the NHL and i think most of the fans (atleast the ones posting on Hfboards, are a bunch of sissies who scream murder for every little thing that happens).

I miss the bad guys in hockey, the pieces of ****stains that you wanted to get run over. There's no emotion in todays game. All of the players are cookie-cutter and seems to be friends with eachother, maybe because of how expensive playing hockey as a kid growing up has become, all of the new kids seems to have silverspoons stuck up their *****.

I miss the vets in the league, the ones that would lay down the law for the newer generations. Like for example, if Lindros wouldn't had broken Joe Thorntons face i doubt he would've been as good as he became.

Also, i think the era since the 04 lockout has been lacking of really good hockey-talent. What we are seeing i believe is the start of the death of hockey, since there are only a certain few that can even afford to play hockey throughout their childhood and become as good to get noticed and that's just what i've seen and heard from how it works in Sweden and Canada, Russia has completely fallen off and has been in a fall of quality ever since the Soviet-Union fell and there's basically no really good Czech or Slovakian talents anymore.