Poll: Would You Prefer Olympic Sized rinks in NHL?

[CalgaryLeaf*]

The players are getting bigger and faster every year...I think the NHL would be a more exciting product if all the teams had Olympic sized rinks.

My guess is that the ownwers are too cheap to retro-fit all the rinks to Olympic size...That would mean they'd have to remove a lot of seats to accomodate the bigger size...I'm not even sure if some of the rinks can be changed.

The league should mandate that all new arenas be capable of expanding to olympic size...I know here in Calgary the previously named "olympic" Saddledome can do it because it was home to the 1988 winter Olympics.

Vote:

1) Yes,I'd love the bigger ice surface

2) No,I'm old school and love the dinky sized rinks.

Click to read more...

 

[HamiltonNHL]

1) but it won't happen

Poll w/out the Poll booth ?

 

[WillNyeTheHockeyGuy]

I'm probably just speaking out of my *** but I feel like this would slow the game down immensely. I mean the actual pace of the game.

 

[Erdinger]

Could you imagine Clarkson on an Olympic size rink?

 

[CalgaryLeaf*]

Could you imagine Clarkson on an Olympic size rink?

Exactly...You'd slowly weed out the slow slugs and add exciting,smaller players like Kozun et al.

 

[Tak7]

People who want Olympic-regulation rinks need to watch regular hockey on those rinks first.

Bigger rinks doesn't lead to more offense. It leads to more of a perimeter game, which is generally where the most space pops up. That's not exciting, interesting, or benefitting of skilled players in anyway.

Plus, there's nothing wrong with NHL standard rinks right now, period.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it - skilled players are able to find their way through rinks up & down the continent just fine.

 

[HamiltonNHL]

Bigger ice, likely less concussions

 

[CalgaryLeaf*]

People who want Olympic-regulation rinks need to watch regular hockey on those rinks first.

Bigger rinks doesn't lead to more offense. It leads to more of a perimeter game, which is generally where the most space pops up. That's not exciting, interesting, or benefitting of skilled players in anyway.

Plus, there's nothing wrong with NHL standard rinks right now, period.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it - skilled players are able to find their way through rinks up & down the continent just fine.

Grinding games along the boards is boring too. You'd see more skilled & faster players in the NHL and the slower,bigger stiffs,would die out.

 

[Tak7]

Grinding games along the boards is boring too. You'd see more skilled & faster players in the NHL and the slower,bigger stiffs,would die out.

No.

You wouldn't.

Because that's exactly what they said would happen when the "eliminate clutching and grabbing" emphasis was launched.

Guess what?

Plenty of slower, bigger stiffs still in the NHL and teams that prefer to play that grind-it-out style of hockey.

 

[wingman75]

Games on international ice are boring as hell. Watch a week of SEL games if you get a chance. Though there is some skill, the games are slowed down and sluggish.

What you lose is the quickness that makes the NHL so fantastic! Big guys in a small space have to be quick and move the puck quick. When you expand the playing area you will lose that aspect of the game... plus the games will be even less physical than they are now.

I would be less of a fan if this ever came to pass.

 

[JETZZZ]

Id say allow the team to decide whether the dimensions are north american or Olympic sized next time one gets a new arena or renovates their current one. Hell, in MLB, isnt each stadium different from eachother?

 

[Guy Boucher]

Olympic Sized Rinks are too big and easy to push opponents to the outside. NHL sized rinks are too small and easy to congest the neutral zone.

Slightly larger NHL rinks so that players have a little more time and space to create would be ideal.

 

[-DeMo-]

Exactly...You'd slowly weed out the slow slugs and add exciting,smaller players like Kozun et al.

disagree, watching Kozun is not exciting, the best games are the physical games, and there already a dyeing breed, Olympic ice would kill any physical side left in the game.

 

[King85Kong]

Games on international ice are boring as hell. Watch a week of SEL games if you get a chance. Though there is some skill, the games are slowed down and sluggish.

What you lose is the quickness that makes the NHL so fantastic! Big guys in a small space have to be quick and move the puck quick. When you expand the playing area you will lose that aspect of the game... plus the games will be even less physical than they are now.

I would be less of a fan if this ever came to pass.

This x1000

 

[Daisy Jane]

you don't need olympic size ice.
you just need bigger NHL-esque ice. (sort of like what Salt Lake City had - it wasn't NHL standards - but it wasn't IIHF standards either).

 

[Teeder9]

One thing I think would be a benefit of these rinks is the better teams wouldn't be giving up loser points as much as they do. Just my opinion on that. I prefer the rinks now though. Bull in a China shop is my kind of game

 

[yubbers]

Bleh

 

[Tyrolean]

Make the rinks a bit wider same as in Finland where is is not exactly Olympic size.

I don't agree that the games will be more boring as many in Canada have seen the Olympic and IIHF games.

If you have unskilled players it does not matter the size of the rink, the skilled players will still make the great plays.

Ironic that Canadians always brag about the CFL with it's larger size and rules is better than the NFL game. but in hockey most prefer the smaller NHL riinks I know it's a different sport but it's kind of funny.

 

[wingman75]

Make the rinks a bit wider same as in Finland where is is not exactly Olympic size.

I don't agree that the games will be more boring as many in Canada have seen the Olympic and IIHF games.

If you have unskilled players it does not matter the size of the rink, the skilled players will still make the great plays.

Ironic that Canadians always brag about the CFL with it's larger size and rules is better than the NFL game. but in hockey most prefer the smaller NHL riinks I know it's a different sport but it's kind of funny.

(1) CFL has an extra player and vastly different rules to the NFL. Incomparable really, and the field size is but one small part of that discussion.

(2) To compare Olympic hockey to an NHL game is apples to oranges. Olympics for the most part have the very best players in the world throughout the entire lineup. While the NHL is the best league in said world, it does not contain 700 elite players.

If you want slower softer games then by all means bring it on.

 

[Al14]

It would take at least 30 years to implement a bigger rink in the NHL. It would need to be done as new arenas were built!

There is no way owners would pay to modify existing rinks to accommodate a larger ice surface. Too many seats would have to be lost to the expansion!

 

[Teeder9]

Make the rinks a bit wider same as in Finland where is is not exactly Olympic size.

I don't agree that the games will be more boring as many in Canada have seen the Olympic and IIHF games.

If you have unskilled players it does not matter the size of the rink, the skilled players will still make the great plays.

Ironic that Canadians always brag about the CFL with it's larger size and rules is better than the NFL game. but in hockey most prefer the smaller NHL riinks I know it's a different sport but it's kind of funny.

I laugh at anyone who insists the CFL is better than the NFL the same way I laugh at anyone who thinks junior hockey is better than the NHL.

 

[ACC1224]

Won't happen and will make the game worse if it did.

 

[ACC1224]

Make the rinks a bit wider same as in Finland where is is not exactly Olympic size.

I don't agree that the games will be more boring as many in Canada have seen the Olympic and IIHF games.

If you have unskilled players it does not matter the size of the rink, the skilled players will still make the great plays.

Ironic that Canadians always brag about the CFL with it's larger size and rules is better than the NFL game. but in hockey most prefer the smaller NHL riinks I know it's a different sport but it's kind of funny.

They do??
Maybe a handful in Sask. but no one else of sane mind would claim that.

 

[Tie Domi Esquire]

No, it's boring hockey.

 

[johnny_rudeboy]

No way. The tempo and action would be nothing like it is today. The only reason the Olympics is so great is because there is 3-5 teams consisting of skilled all stars putting on a show. I hope we shrink the rinks over here and make them NHL sized.