So, how do we feel about no red line 13 years later?

[canuckster19]

My one idea that I think would improve game flow is to bring back the two line pass as the offside, so the center line to the offensive blue line, skating the puck in offside will no longer be offside.

 

[snag]

I came across a great example of its impact just last week. My kid's beginner squirt team coach wanted to forego teaching them a traditional breakout and instead go right to the stretch pass.

Personally I would like to see the red line come back. There is too much emphasis on speed above all else.

So in less than a generation we will have Pong on Ice.

 

[Advanced stats]

Fantastic! Get rid of the blue line too!

 

[FrozenJagrt]

It's literally the only post lockout rule I like, keeps a better flow in the game.

It's a great rule, but surely there are others you must like? The new icing rule has cut down on injuries, and the over the glass delay of game rule has been a gift from heaven. Remember pre-lockout when teams stuck in their own end would just chuck the puck over the glass?

Speaking of, the rule preventing line changes after icing the puck is great too. That was another stupid way for teams to kill the action. Games really started to drag in the early part of the century.

 

[Filthy Dangles]

How do y'all feel about it from today's perspective?

Back in the day, I thought it would be a good thing. But recently I've started to think it has taken something out of the game. Very little stickhandling in the neutral zone now, and mostly stretch passes. Basically, there is no neutral zone now; nothing happens there.

I disagree with this. The removal of the redline actually opens things up a bit in the neutral zone with help from the trapezoid rule.

Now that you can stretch the rink, teams back off a bit and don't hold as tight a gap which allows your skilled players to carry the puck through the neutral zone more.

 

[streitz]

It's a great rule, but surely there are others you must like? The new icing rule has cut down on injuries, and the over the glass delay of game rule has been a gift from heaven. Remember pre-lockout when teams stuck in their own end would just chuck the puck over the glass?

Speaking of, the rule preventing line changes after icing the puck is great too. That was another stupid way for teams to kill the action. Games really started to drag in the early part of the century.

Delay of game I'm indifferent about.

Icing rule I don't like, no offense to these guys but they're making millions and I'd rather see people get crunched for not keeping their head on a swivel.

 

[Perfect_Drug]

Bring back the red line. Remove the blue lines.

Our games would look more like baskeball. Be better for american audiences.

Instead of calling it 'offside' we call it 'backcourt'.

And rather than have a faceoff, the other team will simply have posession of the puck behind the goalie where all their players will need to be on their half.

 

[KapG]

Delay of game I'm indifferent about.

Icing rule I don't like, no offense to these guys but they're making millions and I'd rather see people get crunched for not keeping their head on a swivel.

No, the icing rules stopped players from getting boarded at full speed from behind or having their legs taken out from under them by a stick resulting in broken femurs and ankles. It has nothing to do with keeping your head on a swivel. That’s more the open ice hits they are penalizing more and more.

 

[FrozenJagrt]

Delay of game I'm indifferent about.

Icing rule I don't like, no offense to these guys but they're making millions and I'd rather see people get crunched for not keeping their head on a swivel.

Players are getting bigger and faster. How long before a guy is paralyzed after a race to the puck where he gets tripped up and goes head first into the boards? Those things aren't made of foam.

We have already seen two cases in other leagues, one leaving a player paralyzed and another player dying as a result of the injuries sustained.

 

[garnetpalmetto]

No, the icing rules stopped players from getting boarded at full speed from behind or having their legs taken out from under them by a stick resulting in broken femurs and ankles. It has nothing to do with keeping your head on a swivel. That’s more the open ice hits they are penalizing more and more.

Or players losing their careers when they shatter their heels a'la Joni Pitkanen



Last NHL game the man would ever play in and one of the last games he'd ever play in. It would take him 3 years to get on the ice again and even then he played only 3 games before he retired.

 

[Atas2000]

How do y'all feel about it from today's perspective?

Back in the day, I thought it would be a good thing. But recently I've started to think it has taken something out of the game. Very little stickhandling in the neutral zone now, and mostly stretch passes. Basically, there is no neutral zone now; nothing happens there.

Absurd amount of stretch passes resulting in an icing or at least loss of posession, no smart neutral zone play, just a major let's get through it as quick as possible philosophy. The two-line-pass rule would be a great addition. People like new things, but sometimes it's great to bring back the old ones.

 

[Atas2000]

I feel unequivocally good about it. Don’t miss the neutral zone trap, not one bit.

If the players had skill nowadays this would not be a problem.

 

[one2gamble]

Good

 

[saffronleaf]

My one idea that I think would improve game flow is to bring back the two line pass as the offside, so the center line to the offensive blue line, skating the puck in offside will no longer be offside.

just so I understand this right, does that mean when you cross the center line you'll enter the offensive zone?

 

[libertarian]

Players are getting bigger and faster. How long before a guy is paralyzed after a race to the puck where he gets tripped up and goes head first into the boards? Those things aren't made of foam.

We have already seen two cases in other leagues, one leaving a player paralyzed and another player dying as a result of the injuries sustained.

If you want to play the game and make millions of dollars that is the risk you take. Football player take this risk every time they tackle someone or are tackled.The fast speed game has made hockey fun again and I would not change the red line rule. Best rule change in 30 years. Hockey can be a dangerous sport but so are many other sports so the risks the players are willing to make to play a speed game is on them and fans are better entertained. The best part of this rule change and the calling of slashing is it has allowed small skill players to flourish in the NHL game instead of slow large goon players. The best players in the world should play in the NHL no matter what size they are not just the biggest players.

 

[Vlad The Impaler]

You have to look at the whole context at the time it was decided to get rid of the red line: the game was literally poisoned by non-calls and awful refereeing all-around. Slashing, hooking, holding, tripping tolerated to the extent that it was literally part of the game and not only a viable part of the game but a vital one.

By the time the NHL realized they were a buffoon league, they had to give a shot in the arm and try a few things. And allowing that extra room sped up the process of giving the skilled players a bit more freedom.

I'm not saying I don't like the rule. But there has been a big improvement (it's still not perfect) in calling the penalties that slow down the game and illegally kill offensive plays.

I'm convinced that in a NHL that calls the penalties that are actually in the f***ing rulebook, you can have a red line and a game that's really exciting. And I contend you can have just as much offense with it as without it. It's just that the plays leading up to that offense would be different in certain cases. I'd like to see the NHL try during a preseason and see what the game would look like.

 

[Seanaconda]

You have to look at the whole context at the time it was decided to get rid of the red line: the game was literally poisoned by non-calls and awful refereeing all-around. Slashing, hooking, holding, tripping tolerated to the extent that it was literally part of the game and not only a viable part of the game but a vital one.

By the time the NHL realized they were a buffoon league, they had to give a shot in the arm and try a few things. And allowing that extra room sped up the process of giving the skilled players a bit more freedom.

I'm not saying I don't like the rule. But there has been a big improvement (it's still not perfect) in calling the penalties that slow down the game and illegally kill offensive plays.

I'm convinced that in a NHL that calls the penalties that are actually in the ****ing rulebook, you can have a red line and a game that's really exciting. And I contend you can have just as much offense with it as without it. It's just that the plays leading up to that offense would be different in certain cases. I'd like to see the NHL try during a preseason and see what the game would look like.

If the nhl re added the two line pass for the pre season plus called every penalty they saw the entire games would be whistles and power plays . It would probably take a season for players to adjust .

And put my vote for liking the new icing rules . Hate watching guys have their legs taken out or boarded on a race to the puck on an icing just cuz some guys an idiot or having a bad day .

 

[Sentinel]

I only wish it were done earlier. There was some amazing speed talent in the DPE that never flourished because of the two-line pass rule.

 

[Hasbro]

It’s the one rule change you never see much griping about on HF, so it must have worked.

 

[NyQuil]

I'm fine with it. But they need to get rid of the trapezoid rule.

Love the trapezoid.

You get rid of the trapezoid and you have to allow goalies to get hit outside of the crease.

Otherwise they just wander out and forecheckers have to let up for no reason.

 

[DieSendungmitderMaus]

Like 5-10 years it was a bit annoying when it seemed that every team's primary build-up strategy was to post a guy past the red line and have him tip in stretch passes from their own zone. Now that most teams have noticed that needlessly giving away possession is generally a bad idea, there's way less of that strategy and the rule change has worked as originally intended imo.

 

[Beukeboom]

It's not as easy of an answer as I might have thought. I hated the low scoring dump and chase game. So in the beginning after the Lock out I felt it was one of the best ideas ever in NHL. 13 years later I'm not as sure. I don't mind speed, but like you say, it has come at the cost of many things; Passing-game is almost gone, hitting, intensity is low. Fair enough you get a lot of speedy players but that doesn't necessarily mean skilled in any other sense. There are a lot of speed demons with no passing skills while I bet a lot of cerebral players are deemed as to slow.

The big question would be; What kind of NHL would we get without it? The dead puck era = Then no. The high scoring 80's and 90's = Then yes.

If anything it would be interesting to see what would happen for a season. The problem is that it always takes a few years before the right kind of players come in to the league.

 

[Duke749]

The only way you could maybe get away with bringing the two line pass back is you would have to call penalties like hooking, holding, interference, etc very tight. Otherwise it would just ruin any flow to the game and clog everything up.

 

[Kahvi]

Or players losing their careers when they shatter their heels a'la Joni Pitkanen



Last NHL game the man would ever play in and one of the last games he'd ever play in. It would take him 3 years to get on the ice again and even then he played only 3 games before he retired.

Brings back memories. I really hoped Pitkänen could have played pro hocke again, and now I just wish he doesn't suffer from continuous pain

 

[FrozenJagrt]

If you want to play the game and make millions of dollars that is the risk you take. Football player take this risk every time they tackle someone or are tackled.The fast speed game has made hockey fun again and I would not change the red line rule. Best rule change in 30 years. Hockey can be a dangerous sport but so are many other sports so the risks the players are willing to make to play a speed game is on them and fans are better entertained. The best part of this rule change and the calling of slashing is it has allowed small skill players to flourish in the NHL game instead of slow large goon players. The best players in the world should play in the NHL no matter what size they are not just the biggest players.

I'm talking about icing. There is absolutely no benefit to going back to the old icing rules.

Think of it this way. If all traffic lights and stop signs were removed at intersections, would that be a good idea? After all, if you get in a car you should know the risks right?