What’s your unpopular hockey opinion?

[member 303789]

Replace modern pads with the very modest pads of the 70's. The league has created over protected missiles that enable players to cause catastrophic injuries without feeling a thing. This is extremely unpopular because more is always better....right?

 

[Machinehead]

This is more of an HF opinion than a hockey opinion, but attacking somebody's team because you disagree with them is basically an ad hominem and signals that you have no argument.

"Sorry, but player X sucks."

"Dude, the Rangers suck!!"

Yeah, the Rangers have sucked for 25 years. I still have more opinions than brain cells.

 

[Leksand]

Sidney Crosby is currently the 2nd best player in the league, and top 5 all time.

I don’t think that’s an unpopular view at all (outside the vocal but small group of posters on the history of hockey forum who believe the 1958 Canadiens have at least 10 players ahead of Crosby (and Gretzky))

 

[Aladyyn]

I get what you're saying, but that is provided that that defensemen can stabilize his own end. Brent Burns and Erik Karlsson have almost no interest in doing so. However, guys like Doughty, Giordano, Hedman, Pietrangelo, and Josi can shutdown team's top forwards AND quarterback an offense with good transition. And I'm not cherry picking a few goals from Burns. Every time I watch him and Karlsson, their decisions result in a goal or two against their own team. I can upload many more videos if you would like to see them.

Josi???

 

[BlueMed]

Josi???

Yeah, Roman Josi is a top 5 defenseman in the league. I would take him over Karlsson or Burns any day.

 

[HarvP19]

enforcers should still be in the game

 

[Aladyyn]

Yeah, Roman Josi is a top 5 defenseman in the league. I would take him over Karlsson or Burns any day.

Josi convincing people he's good defensively is a magic trick that puts Houdini to shame.

 

[x Tame Impala]

Any opinions based on making hockey any more like soccer are trash

 

[Brownies]

This is more of an HF opinion than a hockey opinion, but attacking somebody's team because you disagree with them is basically an ad hominem and signals that you have no argument.

"Sorry, but player X sucks."

"Dude, the Rangers suck!!"

Yeah, the Rangers have sucked for 25 years. I still have more opinions than brain cells.

I root for Montreal, but when a fellow Habs fan gets stuck in an argument and has to brag about how many more Stanley Cups we have won.... Please ! STOP!

 

[Strait2thecup]

Ovi is more impressive than sid

I think the fact that Ovi has a legitimate shot at a Gretzky record (and it’s the one that ultimately wins you games) speaks more than anything the two have done in their careers and he’s the best goal scorer of all time.

 

[TheDawnOfANewTage]

I think we have a blind nostalgia for the past sometimes. I think hockey jerseys are a good example.

..why exactly is the Blackhawks jersey so good? Taste is a subjective thing, but when I try to be as objective as possible I look at it and I just.. I just don't personally like it. And if you do that's fine, but it's weird to me that overall and in general some people like ALL old jerseys more- were they really better, or are you just kinda glorifying the past? There were some good ones and bad ones in the past, just like now.

You'll see it about eras, too. Hockey is great now, but people always pine for the '80s, '90s, '00s, and forget about all the problems.

 

[IceManCat]

I like Gary Bettman

 

[DannyGallivan]

Replace modern pads with the very modest pads of the 70's. The league has created over protected missiles that enable players to cause catastrophic injuries without feeling a thing. This is extremely unpopular because more is always better....right?

I kinda think that this is a popular opinion among everybody nowadays.

 

[DannyGallivan]

I like Gary Bettman

 

[DannyGallivan]

Any opinions based on making hockey any more like soccer are trash

 

[maxbme]

Any opinions based on making hockey any more like soccer are trash

I think hockey should be played on grass with a big ball. Sorry. Just my opinion

 

[Zeke and luther]

hockey is boring more often than not

 

[NyQuil]

I'm not sure why people are obsessed with making hockey more popular.

"We need more star power in the league to generate more revenue."

"We need to market our players better."

Why? Why do we need more revenue?

NHL players are being paid millions to play a sport. What changes if suddenly they and the owners make more money?

The cap keeps going up which means the NHL keeps making more money as it stands.

 

[Jigger77]

I'm not sure why people are obsessed with making hockey more popular.

"We need more star power in the league to generate more revenue."

"We need to market our players better."

Why? Why do we need more revenue?

NHL players are being paid millions to play a sport. What changes if suddenly they and the owners make more money?

The cap keeps going up which means the NHL keeps making more money as it stands.

Best way to ruin anything is to make it more popular.

 

[tardigrade81]

enforcers should still be in the game

I approve this!

 

[DannyGallivan]

Rant time... Like Nyquil said (above a couple of posts) I'm against the urge to sell the game to non-traditional markets. To the average Canadian fan, there is no benefit to further expansion (unless you live around Quebec City, but the NHL will ignore you for another generation at least). Why should we care about lining the pockets of the owners with expansion money, or bigger deals from American networks. The thought of making the NHL more like the NBA causes me to throw up in my mouth a little bit. Either sports fans can love the NHL for what it is, or watch something else. I could care less if we're the fourth most popular spectator sport in the U.S. or the first.

 

[ArGarBarGar]

Hot take alert:

1. Removing checking from hockey would not make it like soccer or figure skating or any so-called "pansy" sport. The fundamentals of hockey revolve around skating on ice and shooting a puck into the net. Checking is one aspect of the sport that is legal in some leagues and illegal in others, but all of them are classified as hockey.

2. After seeing the trauma that Johan Franzen has gone through post-career I am much less entertained by big hits than I used to be, and would continue to watch the NHL even if they removed checking entirely.

 

[Machinehead]

Any opinions based on making hockey any more like soccer are trash

Trying to mimic soccer would be dumb, I agree.

But we shouldn't actively try to make it "less like soccer" by putting in ridiculous repercussions for diving. Let's worry about headshots and repeated lockouts before we worry about diving.

The rampant diving in soccer is an internet meme anyway. It's about the same level as what you see in hockey.

 

[K Fleur]

90’s hockey wasn’t that great.

 

[DannyGallivan]

The rampant diving in soccer is an internet meme anyway. It's about the same level as what you see in hockey.

Unless you include Kovalev, the diving in soccer is absolutely insane compared to hockey. I think it's a cultural thing... in North America, great pride is taken by playing though pain... having blood run down your face in the middle of a play, losing six teeth and coming back to score a couple of goals later in the game... scoring an overtime goal on a broken ankle. For whatever warped reason, the emasculating image of diving or (worse) faking injuries is not only acceptable but expected in soccer.