The State of Hockey

[GoCanes2015]

Record revenue 6 years running.

Fact is hockey is changing towards a more ballet style game.

I love seeing the speed and skill of the game now but the lack of physicality makes it hard not to puke.

The NHL will have to enforce change again at some point when the pendulum swinging hits a tulip patch and it starts to hit their pocket book harder.

It's inevitable.

The NHL is losing hard core fans more and more and just like in real life when it's time for the pansy patrol to pay their dues they will disappear.

The NHL got into bed with Satan when they put the wants of the vocal minority casual fan ahead of their bread and butter.

A rival league with more traditional standards wouldn't surprise me and is certain to happen at some point albeit possibly decades away.

 

[NostrilGlasshews]

It feels like all the players had a meeting and agreed to stop hitting each other. Why get bruised up and broken for stupid fans? Seriously lets all stop that so we can go home with our millions and models without being banged up.

I can't believe how wussy hockey is now and people enjoy it.

 

[barabas21]

1. Minnesota
2. Michigan
3. Massachusetts

4. Alaska (because of Scott Gomez)

I am sure this was a tongue in cheek response, but I like to believe you came into the thread after reading the title not reading a single post than after posting your list you leaned back in your chair hands behind your head saying to yourself "BOOM, I f****** nailed it!!"

 

[Eisen]

How much longer will it take for the NHL to see the obvious. Regular season hockey has become mundane, boring shinny. Highly skilled players, moving the puck around with ease because there is very little contact.
Fans want the bodychecking, the grit and sandpaper and dare I say, the occasional scrap.
Why do we have to wait for playoffs to see real hockey?
Many Coaches seem bewildered at where the game is going. Its sanitized and its missing what once made it exciting.
Im not alone here; many of my friends/fans are saying the same thing. Thoughts?

I don't. I like clean, technical hockey.

 

[ElysiumAB]

How much longer will it take for the NHL to see the obvious. Regular season hockey has become mundane, boring shinny. Highly skilled players, moving the puck around with ease because there is very little contact.
Fans want the bodychecking, the grit and sandpaper and dare I say, the occasional scrap.
Why do we have to wait for playoffs to see real hockey?
Many Coaches seem bewildered at where the game is going. Its sanitized and its missing what once made it exciting.
Im not alone here; many of my friends/fans are saying the same thing. Thoughts?

1) Minnesota
2) Didn't catch the last Oilers/Flames games I take it.

 

[Jack Flask]

i don't think it's possible to for me to disagree harder than i do with you on this post. playoff hockey is not "tougher" than regular season hockey, the only difference is the refs are mandated to put their whistles away in the playoffs. The NHL playoffs are brutal to watch because the NHL believes that allowing the 4th line plugs to hook, hold, slash, obstruct, generally ride on the backs of the skill players is "good, hard playoff hockey", when in reality all it does is bog games down and allow those plugs to drag the skill players down to their level. It may seem to be better hockey but thats only because the stakes are much higher, but playoffs in actuality, for the most part, a slog to get through.

now don't get me wrong, i love physical hockey, but letting plug players get away with murder on the skill players in the playoffs is not physical hockey, it's complete garbage. hockey is such a unique sports because it is such a blend of high skill and physicality, but the playoffs for some unknown reason, tries to limit skill as much as it possibly can., and it's incredibly frustrating to watch.

You said it pal. The refs put the whistles away and we get the game back. You call them 4th line plugs, that shows your lacking knowledge of the game, especially todays game where there is far less of a gap in talent from line to line.
Put the whistles away, let them play the contact sport that it is. Im not looking for the clutch and grab stuff, the trap, blah blah blah. Im looking for the rivalries, the hits, the scraps, the speed, the skill. I see more competitiveness in my local Junior A reg season game than an NHL game, for $10 bucks.
The game has become a bore , except for the highlight reel on tsn which is about 5 mins of good tv but its not 60 minutes of great hockey. Snoozefest.

 

[Paperbagofglory]

It feels like all the players had a meeting and agreed to stop hitting each other. Why get bruised up and broken for stupid fans? Seriously lets all stop that so we can go home with our millions and models without being banged up.

I can't believe how wussy hockey is now and people enjoy it.

I think Tom Wilson and Matthew Tkachuk missed those staff meetings.

Oh bang models? i thought u said bang nhl players into the boards every time. My bad bros.

 

[Jack Flask]

It feels like all the players had a meeting and agreed to stop hitting each other. Why get bruised up and broken for stupid fans? Seriously lets all stop that so we can go home with our millions and models without being banged up.

I can't believe how wussy hockey is now and people enjoy it.

Imagine being a Coach being handed guys who all want to score goals and not hit or be hit.
Believe me, even Coaches are wondering what is going on with the game??
Mark my words, the teams with the guts and heart to grind it out balanced with skill will compete for the conference finals. Its a game determined by the compete level, probably more so than any other sport. Rugby fans have a valid argument.

 

[BergyTime37]

I don't need huge hits all the time, or enforcers with staged fighting, but I would like to go back to a place where a facewash scrum doesn't immediately follow a hit that knocks a player to the ice. Seems like today we are slowing all big hits down to see what the "principle point of contact" was on the hit.

I still love regular season hockey, but I think its understandable that some people are getting bored with it. There are some fixable things, like getting rid of the damn coaches challenge. Even if a team decides not to challenge the fans still have to look at opposing coaches staring at Ipads to decide if they should challenge. Stuff like that turns people away.

Playoff hockey on the other-hand, will never not be the best professional sports tournament. There is no topping it.

 

[Jack Flask]

Well said. I agree staged fights are a joke. Cant wait for playoffs....,,

 

[Iapyi]

My post was not directed at you specifically and you are about as far off of my motivations as you can be.

I got the impression it was directed at me when you quoted my post and specifically asked ; "would you?"

Sorry if I took your motivations wrong.

 

[Iapyi]

Record revenue 6 years running.

Revenues will rise based on Economics 100.

edit : I also don't care that revenues are being raised if they are. Why should we care about whether or not some billion/trillion dollar entity is making money? I care about hockey. Matter of fact this indoctrination that is being feasted upon fans about "growing the game" etc etc has resulted in a more expensive and less entertaining game for many people.
The casual fan doesn't know or care either way.

 

[drktmplr12]

Here's some "dawn of the dead puck era" for you OP courtesy of the Florida Panthers mimicking what they saw the Devils do by clogging the **** out of everything and obstructing at every turn.. Behold as some of the greatest talents to ever play our game can barely manage a goal during some stretches as the 2 line pass rule and goalies roaming around like a 3rd defenseman stifled play even more.

Now go watch Lindros get mugged and be happy




I'm gonna go vomit now at this sickeningly boring version of our sport and then laugh at Brett Hull for insisting talent dilution caused the drop in goal scoring and not the way the game was being played

the second video, 40:11, lemiuex's pump fake, lol

 

[Atas2000]

How much longer will it take for the NHL to see the obvious. Regular season hockey has become mundane, boring shinny. Highly skilled players, moving the puck around with ease because there is very little contact.
Fans want the bodychecking, the grit and sandpaper and dare I say, the occasional scrap.
Why do we have to wait for playoffs to see real hockey?
Many Coaches seem bewildered at where the game is going. Its sanitized and its missing what once made it exciting.
Im not alone here; many of my friends/fans are saying the same thing. Thoughts?

Don't expect understanding. The youth has already been trained to like what is shoved down their throats.

 

[cliffclaven]

I don't. I like clean, technical hockey.

That’s what euro leagues are for.

 

[cliffclaven]

Record revenue 6 years running.

Record revenues >< good hockey or actual fans of the game. I watched the Leafs/devils game the their night and up 6-3, you could’ve heard a pin drop in the arena. Looking at the crowd shots, you could tell why. Everyone staring at their phones, sitting in $500 corporate seats.

The OP isn’t wrong. Most games are snoozefests anymore.. players are afraid to hit anymore because if you graze someone’s visor it’s gonna cost you thousands of $$$. I’ve seen so many “highlight” goals this year that shouldn’t have even been scoring chances if someone played the body instead of looking down at the puck waving your stick around and getting walked.

 

[Jack Flask]

Amen. Where the hell did the body contact go? When i see some of these ‘walk in’ goals its so hard to watch.

 

[Imnotagoodposter]

It feels like all the players had a meeting and agreed to stop hitting each other. Why get bruised up and broken for stupid fans? Seriously lets all stop that so we can go home with our millions and models without being banged up.

I can't believe how wussy hockey is now and people enjoy it.

Idk man, realizing how badly players were scrambling their brains and ruining their lives longterm kind of took my enthusiasm for big hits away but maybe it’s just me

 

[Channelcat]

How much longer will it take for the NHL to see the obvious. Regular season hockey has become mundane, boring shinny. Highly skilled players, moving the puck around with ease because there is very little contact.
Fans want the bodychecking, the grit and sandpaper and dare I say, the occasional scrap.
Why do we have to wait for playoffs to see real hockey?
Many Coaches seem bewildered at where the game is going. Its sanitized and its missing what once made it exciting.
Im not alone here; many of my friends/fans are saying the same thing. Thoughts?

The league thinks they need the gate revenues but the players can't physically bring it for 82 games. Not even close imho. Maybe they could go hard for 40-50 games.

 

[KingsFan7824]

Blame science? Every sport is softer these days. Catchers can't even block the plate in baseball anymore. Let alone chin music. Or Pistons/Knicks defense in the NBA. Or what used to be great highlight hits in the NFL. Too much has been learned about brain injuries. Add to that players making stupid amount of money, and not only do players want to enjoy their money during and after they're done playing, but owners that pay out the stupid amounts of money, for multiple players, don't want to see their investments on the sidelines getting paid to do nothing.

It's more than just a question of the state of hockey, it's the state of sports. You can even get concussions heading a soccer ball.

Sports are better when there's conflict, when teams actually dislike each other. That's disappearing in every league. A lot of that can also go back to player empowerment. Whether it's NMC's, or the stars in the NBA putting the teams together and not the GMs. The NFL has been made into a QB league with all the rules protecting the golden boys. Free agency/money destroyed the Oilers dynasty. Had the NHL had that same reality a decade+ earlier, we're probably not seeing the 70's Canadiens.

Then there's the CBA's and salary caps, and everyone has business on their minds. Trading in the NHL has become very boring. Used to get 8 player trades, shake up moves in November, and there's rarely anything coming close to that anymore.

Not much else to do but either accept reality, or tune out.

 

[Jack Flask]

Blame science? Every sport is softer these days. Catchers can't even block the plate in baseball anymore. Let alone chin music. Or Pistons/Knicks defense in the NBA. Or what used to be great highlight hits in the NFL. Too much has been learned about brain injuries. Add to that players making stupid amount of money, and not only do players want to enjoy their money during and after they're done playing, but owners that pay out the stupid amounts of money, for multiple players, don't want to see their investments on the sidelines getting paid to do nothing.

It's more than just a question of the state of hockey, it's the state of sports. You can even get concussions heading a soccer ball.

Sports are better when there's conflict, when teams actually dislike each other. That's disappearing in every league. A lot of that can also go back to player empowerment. Whether it's NMC's, or the stars in the NBA putting the teams together and not the GMs. The NFL has been made into a QB league with all the rules protecting the golden boys. Free agency/money destroyed the Oilers dynasty. Had the NHL had that same reality a decade+ earlier, we're probably not seeing the 70's Canadiens.

Then there's the CBA's and salary caps, and everyone has business on their minds. Trading in the NHL has become very boring. Used to get 8 player trades, shake up moves in November, and there's rarely anything coming close to that anymore.

Not much else to do but either accept reality, or tune out.

Wow man , that hits a nerve. Youve made some valid points.
My family and I caught an ECHL game recently, not long after going to an NHL game. Guess what game we all found far more exciting? The EC game had all the elements of what we expect in hockey. The crowd was totally into it too.

 

[ItWasJustified]

The state of the thread title...Haven't you learned capitalization rules?

 

[cliffclaven]

Wow man , that hits a nerve. Youve made some valid points.
My family and I caught an ECHL game recently, not long after going to an NHL game. Guess what game we all found far more exciting? The EC game had all the elements of what we expect in hockey. The crowd was totally into it too.

i go to ushl games here.. they used to be fun, rowdy times.

Any “big” hit now is5+ game and they’ve eliminated fights. The crowd reflects that.

Same with the Iowa wild.

Writing is on the wall.

 

[Jack Flask]

i go to ushl games here.. they used to be fun, rowdy times.

Any “big” hit now is5+ game and they’ve eliminated fights. The crowd reflects that.

Same with the Iowa wild.

Writing is on the wall.

And the results show at the highest levels. The Ushl are supposed to have some of the best talent out there, but look at how the usa team filled with ushl players did at the World Jr A challenge , and that was vs Jr A players.
At the World Juniors, team USA did not compete.
Its my guess it will be a 3-5 year transition back to real hockey and we’ll be talking about this phase as the ballet era

 

[idontusethisanymore]

And the results show at the highest levels. The Ushl are supposed to have some of the best talent out there, but look at how the usa team filled with ushl players did at the World Jr A challenge , and that was vs Jr A players.
At the World Juniors, team USA did not compete.
Its my guess it will be a 3-5 year transition back to real hockey and we’ll be talking about this phase as the ballet era

@cliffclaven is right though. With the discovery of CTE and people like Carcillo actively campaigning on social media against fighting being eliminated, fighting rules are getting stricter every year and I think it'll only get worse. Look how many leagues have either banned or have imposed a limit on fighting over the past couple of years. Right now in the AHL and ECHL there's a 10 fight limit, 3-5 years from now there's probably going to be a 5 fight limit. Plus there's a ton of talent coming from the NCAA, and they've banned fighting just like the USHL did. Sadly, the days of a ton of fighting are pretty much gone.