CalgaryLeaf*
Guest
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.
By the same token you are watching vastly inferior hockey players in the SHL...You really have no idea how it would look with the best players in the world,outside of the Olympics.I also think the smaller,more skilled players are not making the NHL because they are overmatched physically in the smaller confines of NHL rinks.Give them space and the big guys couldn't impose their will on them as much.
The bigger rinks would have more flow...You wouldn't see as many teams clogging the neutral zone by using some form of a trap system...You'd have more passes completed without getting it tipped by players with long sticks/long wing spans.I think the powerplays would be more exciting to watch.
If you want to watch an exciting free flowing game the big ice suface is the direction you'd want to go...The players today are bigger and faster and could use the extra room to operate...The NHL today stinks if you like offensive hockey.