What is the single dumbest thing the NHL has done since the lockout?

[These Are The Days]

Why is this a bad thing? The league wants to make regulation and OT wins more meaningful than shootout wins and rightfully so.

That's the point. It negates the meaningfulness of the shootout and it seems to render the practice pointless. I understand it's popularity among new/casual fans but the fact that you participate in a shootout for a 2nd point that is not used in a tiebreaker just bothers the hell out of me.

At this point I'd be in favor of a 10 minute 4 on 4 OT and call it a tie if you can't find a winner by then but I don't know how many players would want that.

 

[Biggs111]

Whomever in the NHL planned this playoffs series on television should get fired (one game consuming an entire period of the next game, having it listed on 3 different channels yet all blacked out, etc etc etc)...

Absolutely horrible - and that is if one game doesn't run over its allotted time...

 

[zar]

I see where you're coming from, but if your boss came in and said "we need to reduce costs by 10%", are you going to be happy giving up 10% of your paycheck?

Uhhh... this happens in the real world all the time.

 

[zar]

Those of you thinking the lottery is bad or unfair. I don't think the last place team should ever be automatically awarded the #1 overall - it promotes tanking. There is a difference between tanking and building through the draft. Not all teams are fortunate enough to be a preferred landing spot for UFAs. There are warmer climates to live in, bigger cities to live in &/or less traveled teams to play for. Some franchises (Edmonton is definitely one of them) do not fall into any of those categories. So unless you have a perennial Cup contender, you are constantly going to be in a weak position to build your team via free agency or trades (many good players have NTC in their contracts). Teams like the Oilers should not and will not apologize for building via the draft. Many teams have taken this same route and have spent 4-5 years in the bottom 5 of the league - go ahead and look at the stats. Have they been lucky? Absolutely... again, not apologizing. From 2002-2013, Florida has won the lottery 3 times and finished last but lost the lottery once. Ottawa did it in the early 90s, Pittsburgh in the mid 90s and the Islanders have had so many top 5 picks overall in the last 20 years.

The lottery is what it is, plenty of luck. The Oilers were lucky with winning first overall picks, not so lucky with having franchise changing players available (Yakupov/RNH)... until this year.

The Oiler's chances of Winning Lottery/Getting 1st overall pick:
2010 25.0%/48.2%
2011 25.0%/48.2%
2012 18.8%/18.8%
2013 4.7%/0%
2014 14.2%/14.2%
2015 11.5%/11.5%

The lottery is fair, luck is what comes into play. If the Oilers didn't improve their play in the last 20 games, Arizona would have been 3rd from last and won the lottery. McDavid would have then had the opportunity to play in that hockey crazed community of Phoenix.

 

[Painful Quandary]

The lottery is what it is, plenty of luck. The Oilers were lucky with winning first overall picks, not so lucky with having franchise changing players available (Yakupov/RNH)... until this year.

Yak and RHN not looking like "franchise changing players" has more to do with how management made mistakes in player development than their actual talent. In fact, that is why people were upset about the Oilers winning the lottery this time. The Kevin Lowe clown car getting a shiny new toy is not a good thing for anybody but Katz and themselves. In short, I think the lottery, however the NHL wants to do it is fine, the problem lies with bad ownership/management (I have no idea how the league should deal with that).

McDavid would have then had the opportunity to play in that hockey crazed community of Phoenix.

Eichel or McDavid would have given that franchise a marketable star player. I do not think they had one since Roenick. That franchise had to suffer through some bad ownership/management though much of the '00s, so there is no need to bash the fanbase.

 

[thestonedkoala]

Let's see:

Eastern Time Zone teams:
Boston Bruins
Buffalo Sabres
Detroit Red Wings
Florida Panthers
Montreal Canadiens
Ottawa Senators
Tampa Bay Lightning
Toronto Maple Leafs
Carolina Hurricanes
Columbus Blue Jackets
New Jersey Devils
New York Islanders
New York Rangers
Philadelphia Flyers
Pittsburgh Penguins
Washington Capitals

Central Time:
Chicago Blackhawks
Dallas Stars
Minnesota Wild
Nashville Predators
St. Louis Blues
Winnipeg Jets

Mountain Time:
Colorado Avalanche
Edmonton Oilers
Calgary Flames

Mountain/Pacific:
Arizona Coyotes

Pacific:
Anaheim Ducks
Los Angeles Kings
San Jose Sharks
Vancouver Canucks

Yes, let's add a 4th time zone to the Western Conference and cater to the Eastern elite teams. Until either the NHL moves one team from the East, expands to the West (sorry Quebec!) or contracts two Eastern teams, the conferences are fine. There is no biased. It's just simple. There are more teams in the Eastern time zone.

What would be fair is to split the teams up in 6 divisions again without an East or West and just randomly create divisions that way.


Boston, Nashville, Arizona, Florida, Pittsburgh

Chicago, New York Islanders, Calgary, San Jose, Columbus

Detroit, Ottawa, Tampa Bay, Anaheim, Dallas

Montreal, St. Louis, Philadelphia, Carolina, Edmonton

New York, Vancouver, Colorado, Washington, Winnipeg

Toronto Maple Leafs, Minnesota, New Jersey, Buffalo, Los Angeles

There, that way every team can be equally unhappy but we at least have one original six team in every division!

 

[zar]

Yak and RHN not looking like "franchise changing players" has more to do with how management made mistakes in player development than their actual talent. In fact, that is why people were upset about the Oilers winning the lottery this time. The Kevin Lowe clown car getting a shiny new toy is not a good thing for anybody but Katz and themselves. In short, I think the lottery, however the NHL wants to do it is fine, the problem lies with bad ownership/management (I have no idea how the league should deal with that).



Eichel or McDavid would have given that franchise a marketable star player. I do not think they had one since Roenick. That franchise had to suffer through some bad ownership/management though much of the '00s, so there is no need to bash the fanbase.

RNH/Yak - not really, there was no where near as much fanfare about those 2 compared to MacKinnon, Taylor/Tyler, Stamkos, Tavares, Crosby, Ovechkin - they were all said to be franchise players out of the gate. RNH, Yak, Ekblad, Johnson - they were all touted to be very good players.

I am not bashing the Arizona franchise but they are not a hockey breathing city like Edmonton. Some of their fans are very loyal but even in the leanest of times, the Oiler fans support their TEAM at a much higher level. Check out the attendance statistics and population bases. The fans of the Oilers deserve to see a competitive product. Why do you not support the Oiler fanbase the same as you do the Coyotes and quote all the other comments being made? We have had to deal with pathetic mismanagement (never will argue this point) but for so many posters saying that the Oiler FANS do not deserve any success because we have ruined picks. The seething comments are pathetic and screams of jealousy that the Oilers won the lottery.
I pay to go to about 10-15 Oiler games every year and I deserve to see a competitive product because I am a true fan of the TEAM. I cheered for them to win in the last half of the season.

 

[capebretoncanadien]

The trapezoid is far worse than shootouts to me. I love watching goalies play the puck.

Me too.

Such a weird rule.

Instead of adding skill to the game it takes it away.

Watching bad puck handlers wander into the corner is always good for a laugh as well.

A guy like Gustavsson would be pure hilarity.