nyr7andcounting
Registered User
- Feb 24, 2004
- 1,919
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djhn579 said:I'm with Ruff. From his comments, I get that there were very good atheletes then, and there were people that could barely skate. He says "It has caused a bottleneck because there are a lot of darn good skaters." That implies that the game was more entertaining then because you had mis-matches in the amount of talent each player had, I don't feel you have as much of a mis-match today.
And as I tried to point out, those players you say get so few minutes and would/should not be in the league today have a negligible effect on the game since they are on the ice for little of the game. The game is clogged up because everyone can skate, and everyone is talented.
I just don't buy that the talent is watered down, and you are saying the average talent is higher today in one paragraph, and that it has decreased in another? Which is it?
Why do you really want contraction?
- Right, which is why the ice needs to be bigger in order to give more time and space for mismatches to develop.
- Again, arguing that the game is clogged up has nothing to do with the amount of teams. It has something to do with the ice size and the rules. Anyway, the so few minutes that the bottom players play don't have a huge affect, except that 4th lines are usually matched up so for about 8-12 minutes in most games I am watching minor league hockey. With a few less teams, each remaining teams bottom lines would get better, more talent, more speed. This would mean that for 8-12 minutes I would be watching better hockey.
- I will clarify. The individual talent level has risen. The 20th best player in the world today is better than the 20th best in 1980. The 700th best player in the world today is better than the 700th in 1980. But, as far as on ice product, the talent level of the game, the flow, has decreased, mainly because of over-expansion.
Maybe instead of saying the talent is watered down, I should say the game is watered down. This is partly because increased individual talent on the same ice surface as 20 years ago has led to a "clogging" of the ice and taken some flow out of the game, which Ruff is talking about, I agree that the ice needs to be bigger.
But this is also because with 30 teams, as opposed to 24 or so, there are a lot of players in the league who are minor leaguers who get to call themselves NHLers. Expansion has brought one dimensional players into the league, there are grinders who can't shoot or handle a puck, there are goons who can't skate. Having a few less teams would weed out the least "rounded" players and lead to a better product on the ice for 60 minutes. If you had 24 teams you would never see a defenseman who can't skate or handle a puck. Teams would fill their 4th line with somewhat talented players rather than guys that can do one thing but aren't good enough to really play good minutes. I wouldn't be watching Dale Purinton learn how to skate while playing in the NHL, I wouldn't be watching a nutcase on someones fourth line start 2 fights and take a bunch of cheap shots during the course of the game, for no other reason than that's about all he can do. This is why I support the idea of contraction.