Proposal: What changes would you want to see made in the NHL?

[PuckMunchkin]

The NHL is probably more entertaining than it has been in close to 2 decades. Most would agree? Some miss the intensity and physicality that has definitely been on the way out since the 2004-05 lockout. Others probably miss the abundant fighting that is also going extinct (I find these two are linked but two separate things still.)

Faster, younger, more skilled. Kids no longer need to be roided for 4-5 years to be able to stay alive on the ice against some of the massive defenders who would crush you every opportunity they got:

This year 6 of the top 10 scoreres weighed in at under 200 pounds:

Player	Points	Weight
Nikita Kucherov	128	178
Connor McDavid	116	193
Patrick Kane	110	177
Leon Draisaitl	105	208
Sidney Crosby	100	200
Brad Marchand	100	181
Johnny Gaudreau	99	165
Nathan MacKinnon	99	205
Steven Stamkos	98	194
Aleksander Barkov	96	213

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

2002-03 we had 5 under 200 pound players in the top 20.

Speed. Skill. Youth.


Now... Thread topic. The league is far from perfect. The illusion of parity, insane amount of games with bad travel, the old boys club style where the same men switch jobs be it coaching or managing hockey teams...

My biggest beef is with the regular season and how little it matters once you are a playoff team. Just look at how the brackets formed this year. Tampa has a historic season dominating the regular season. What does that get them in the playoffs? They get to go against Columbus round one, favorable match-up by all means, after that they get to play Boston Bruins... This is simply idiotic. The teams will soon catch on to this and you will see situations where teams that are securely in a playoff spot, healthy scratch their star players to keep them fresh through the season.

I can only think two fixes to this. Either you shorten the season (will never happen, ever) or you come up with a system that rewards the regular season winner(s) more.

My solution; Hold an "draft" of sorts at the end of the regular season where you let the 1. team in the league pick his opponent for round 1, after he was chosen from ALL the playoff teams, let no.2 team pick then the 3rd team picks, and so forth.

This would be a dramatic event where story-lines are created instantly. Drama. And the regular season now matters.


I have a couple of other radical ideas but I'll save them for later and let you guys present your own silly, crazy, conservative or just plain awesome changes that you would like to see the NHL implement.

Click to read more...

 

[Scott Stevens]

Scott Stevens and Chris Pronger are hardly evils of the past. They were such good hockey players that each of them would have been fine without their bulk.

You have a point with Hatcher.

 

[PuckMunchkin]

Scott Stevens and Chris Pronger are hardly evils of the past. They were such good hockey players that each of them would have been fine without their bulk.

You have a point with Hatcher.

True.
That doesnt relate to my point really.

 

[Scott Stevens]

True.
That doesnt relate to my point really.

Fair enough. I just took a little exception to my favourite player and one I can’t help but admit is one of the best ever being compared intentionally or not to a goon like Hatcher.

 

[PuckMunchkin]

Fair enough. I just took a little exception to my favourite player and one I can’t help but admit is one of the best ever being compared intentionally or not to a goon like Hatcher.

Well.. To be fair Stevens playing today the way he playes back then would spend half of every season suspended.

That was my point. They would no longer be allowed to dominate physically with their strenght and mean streak the way they did back then.

But on topic. What change would you want to implement?

 

[Scott Stevens]

Well.. To be fair Stevens playing today the way he playes back then would spend half of every season suspended.

That was my point. They would no longer be allowed to dominate physically with their strenght and mean streak the way they did back then.

But on topic. What change would you want to implement?

Stevens is a legit as they come hall of famer who I would bet heavily on being able to adapt to any time period.

As far as changes to the game go, I don’t have an answer for that tonight.

 

[Cogburn]

More transparency in regards to discipline at all levels. How referees are instructed to call plays should be publicly disclosed in detail (we all see when a new call or renewed emphasis on a call is made).

Reviews of plays off the ice and away from the game (including comparisons to other similar players in the even of a suspension/fine) must be broken down when a decision is made (I liked this from the Shanahan player safety days until it became a pre-recorded joke).

Body/helmet cams for refs and linesmen.

An instant process of review from the league for every injury with an eye for prevention.

In the event a league official is punished disclosure of said punishment (ie a suspension or prevention from officiating for a certain team).

Removing "intent" in the event of a suspension worthy action.

A complete removal of "he hasn't been suspended before" as an excuse for a warning or a non-punishment.

100% less Bettman.

 

[PuckMunchkin]

Removing "intent" in the event of a suspension worthy action.

Do you mean an accidental career ending highstick = getting 44 faceplanted in the eyes of the officials?

 

[vanuck]

I would love to see them no longer change the standards of officiating come playoff time.

 

[PuckMunchkin]

I would love to see them no longer change the standards of officiating come playoff time.

Definitely.

Overall transparency for officiating.

I love how in Premiership Rugby, when the ref goes to video you get to hear what they both are talking about and they show (picture in picture) what the video ref is currently watching / working on.

 

[forget]

For rewarding winners of regular season you could just have less teams make the playoffs. Hockey is the sport that can succumb the most to luck so there’s no reason half the league makes the playoffs besides playoff revenue.

 

[PuckMunchkin]

For rewarding winners of regular season you could just have less teams make the playoffs. Hockey is the sport that can succumb the most to luck so there’s no reason half the league makes the playoffs besides playoff revenue.

Again, will never happen.

Playoff games bring ALOT of money in.

 

[forget]

Yeah and isn’t it all for the one team instead of being league shared (I could be wrong but I remember hearing something like that on the radio).

 

[LordBacon]

I lived in Asia my whole life up until 2010 when I moved to vancouver as a foreign exchange student for 4years. The Canucks of that era has gotten me so in love with hockey, the combination of speed skill and physicality has got to be the most hot blooded sport I’ve watched in my life. But as every other Canucks fan who has been through the tragedy that is 2011 playoffs, I soon realised the nhl has one of the most absurd and unprofessional officials in all sports. They really need to fix that crap, totally ruins the game for me sometimes. The game is already underrated don’t make it worse.

 

[valkynax]

Changes to NHL? A certain team from Alberta should be barred from picking in the first round for the next ten years.

 

[LordBacon]

Changes to NHL? A certain team from Alberta should be barred from picking in the first round for the next ten years.

Add New Jersey to the list

 

[Balls Mahoney]

The NHL is probably more entertaining than it has been in close to 2 decades. Most would agree?

The NHL is a boring cardboard league that has gone out of it's way to remove the passion and blue collar religious aspect of it in favor of corporate greed. This game now is sanitized and lame. It's so fun watching pampered millionaires skating around in circles to disinterested luxury boxes and corporate partnerships over things like the Avs/Red Wings rivalry.

I'd bring back amphetamines and other performance enhancing drugs.

 

[sexydonut]

Stevens and Pronger were allowed to flourish because the NHL was run by dinosaurs and pandered to idiot traditionalists. Yes they had skill, but they also injured countless players, and these actions were rationalized as "part of the game."

At least the threat of lawsuits has slowly made the NHL realize that health concerns are more important than elbows to the head.

 

[Melvin]

I would abolish the draft and entry level contracts. Let players sign wherever they want for however much they want once they are 18, but keep a strict salary cap.

 

[Cogburn]

Do you mean an accidental career ending highstick = getting 44 faceplanted in the eyes of the officials?

When was the last time someone was suspended for an accidental high stick?

I meant that as more of the "I didn't mean to body slam that rookie I just saw red" kind of intent.

 

[PuckMunchkin]

When was the last time someone was suspended for an accidental high stick?

I meant that as more of the "I didn't mean to body slam that rookie I just saw red" kind of intent.

I was trying to understand what "intent" meant in this context.

 

[PuckMunchkin]

I would abolish the draft and entry level contracts. Let players sign wherever they want for however much they want once they are 18, but keep a strict salary cap.

I would probably lose all interest in the NHL.

 

[Melvin]

I would probably lose all interest in the NHL.

I would be in favour of making other changes, to ensure competitive balance. I don't mind maximum contracts, and other tweaks.

But nonsense where teams are awarded great players for their incompetence has all but killed the sport for me.

 

[Javaman]

Letting the top 3 seeds in the conference draft their first round opponent for the playoffs would lead to all sorts of salty rage on these forums lol

I'm okay with the top 3 from each division making the playoffs and then the next two best teams. But after that, seed all the rounds strictly by regular season records: 1 v. 8 and so on.

My understanding is that the NHL wanted to enhance divisional rivalries with the wild card system, but I can't imagine a divisional rivalry being any more heated than it would be in the conference finals.

 

[Hit the post]

I would be in favour of making other changes, to ensure competitive balance. I don't mind maximum contracts, and other tweaks.

But nonsense where teams are awarded great players for their incompetence has all but killed the sport for me.

I think the lottery addresses that somewhat. Not a perfect solution obviously.