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How would you “fix” the NHL

1) call the rule book, or at the very least, call it 50% more. I don't expect 100% given for human error, but even 50% more will help tremendously & add consistency.
2) go back to the old conference/division names.
3) Eliminate the instigator penalty. That would eliminate about 80% of the stupid stuff Marchant & Wilson do. For the remaining 20%, call unsportsmanlike penalties on that behavior.
4) Cap is fine. There is no credible reason to have a luxury tax, though I would like to see contracts become less guaranteed. In other words, follow the NFL's model.
5) Promote the players. Goes hand in hand with #1
6) Get NHL players out of the Olympics for good. The league has yet to see any discernable value from this & it unnecessarily risks the players.
 
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1. Modernize the offside rule so that puck carriers can always enter the zone regardless of where any of his teammates are. You should only be offside if you receive an illegal offside pass. This would still prevent cherry picking while also stopping teams from stacking the blue line with 3-4 guys, which is what causes excessive neutral zone play and too much boring/repetitive dump and chase hockey. This used to be fine, but the game is so fast now that offsides are just cringy momentum killers that hurt the entertainment value of the product.

2. Hockey primes are now from ages 23-27, not 28-33 like they used to be in the 80s/90s. The free agency/years of control from draft rules should be changed to reflect this. IMO the years of team control should fall from 7 NHL years to 5, and all players should be UFA eligible regardless of number of NHL seasons just 7 years after being drafted (25 years old). And yes, I'm fully aware about how fans of small market teams would react to this suggestion.
 
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WolvesAndWings said:
1. Modernize the offside rule so that puck carriers can always enter the zone regardless of where any of his teammates are. You should only be offside if you receive an illegal offside pass. This would still prevent cherry picking while also stopping teams from stacking the blue line with 3-4 guys, which is what causes excessive neutral zone play and too much boring/repetitive dump and chase hockey. This used to be fine, but the game is so fast now that offsides are just cringy momentum killers that hurt the entertainment value of the product.

2. Hockey primes are now from ages 23-27, not 28-33 like they used to be in the 80s/90s. The free agency/years of control from draft rules should be changed to reflect this. IMO the years of team control should fall from 7 NHL years to 5, and all players should be UFA eligible regardless of number of NHL seasons just 7 years after being drafted (25 years old). And yes, I'm fully aware about how fans of small market teams would react to this suggestion.
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These are the two best ideas in this thread. I like your offside rule. It still "preserves" the offside, but allows for more offense and, crucially, prevents teams from just playing a neutral zone trap and stacking the red line or blue line. Let skill dominate the game, but not pluggers and trap-happy coaches.

I've been all on about reducing the RFA system. The player should have more control over their careers. And having star players change teams more frequently introduces more fun/excitement to the league in terms of player transactions and big "sweepstakes". I would probably go even farther than you!
 
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bossram said:
These are the two best ideas in this thread. I like your offside rule. It still "preserves" the offside, but allows for more offense and, crucially, prevents teams from just playing a neutral zone trap and stacking the red line or blue line. Let skill dominate the game, but not pluggers and trap-happy coaches.

I've been all on about reducing the RFA system. The player should have more control over their careers. And having star players change teams more frequently introduces more fun/excitement to the league in terms of player transactions and big "sweepstakes". I would probably go even farther than you!
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Thanks for the positive feedback. I should clarify that my proposed offside rule would be a tad more complex...in that in order for it to work the rule has to be "Player B is only deemed offside if he receives a direct pass over the blueline from Player A" (i.e. a tape to tape pass, any pass where the puck moves directly from any part of Player A to any part of Player B). Player B needs to still be able to chase a chip in or dump in from an offside position as long as the puck hits an opposing player, the boards, or the glass AFTER it crosses the line.

Without that point of clarification, the rule wouldn't work because then the optimal defensive strategy would be to stack 5 guys just ahead of the line to prevent basically any and all zone entries lol.

With it though, defending teams, who currently stack 3-4 guys at the line as the rule exists today, would need to track offensive decoys to prevent the risk of them from getting a clear 1 v 1 break in on goal. My guess is that the defending teams would only stack about 2 players on average, allowing more space for the puck carriers to create a few more quality chances at 5 v 5 per game, and better PP efficiency.

Would love to see something like this or a variant of it trialled in the AHL.
 
WolvesAndWings said:
Thanks for the positive feedback. I should clarify that my proposed offside rule would be a tad more complex...in that in order for it to work the rule has to be "Player B is only deemed offside if he receives a direct pass over the blueline from Player A" (i.e. a tape to tape pass, any pass where the puck moves directly from any part of Player A to any part of Player B). Player B needs to still be able to chase a chip in or dump in from an offside position as long as the puck hits an opposing player, the boards, or the glass AFTER it crosses the line.

Without that point of clarification, the rule wouldn't work because then the optimal defensive strategy would be to stack 5 guys just ahead of the line to prevent basically any and all zone entries lol.

With it though, defending teams, who currently stack 3-4 guys at the line as the rule exists today, would need to track offensive decoys to prevent the risk of them from getting a clear 1 v 1 break in on goal. My guess is that the defending teams would only stack about 2 players on average, allowing more space for the puck carriers to create a few more quality chances at 5 v 5 per game, and better PP efficiency.

Would love to see something like this or a variant of it trialled in the AHL.
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Yeah I do like that. Teams could still gameplan to deny controlled zone entries, but they wouldn't be able to stack the line because someone would have to cover the "cherry-picker" already in the zone. It would essentially delete the trap from hockey systems.
 
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First priority: Actually calling penalties by the book.

Second priority: Wider rinks.

Trap and such for example would not work with wider rinks and most other issues would be fixed by calling penalties. For example, look at the amount of interference players experience after dumping the puck in and chasing it. If those were called as interference, the game would be much more eventful. Similarly, calling slashes and cross checks would prevent player injuries and help with offense, as this stuff is generally done by defensive players(for example netfront).
 
ijuka said:
First priority: Actually calling penalties by the book.

Second priority: Wider rinks.

Trap and such for example would not work with wider rinks and most other issues would be fixed by calling penalties. For example, look at the amount of interference players experience after dumping the puck in and chasing it. If those were called as interference, the game would be much more eventful. Similarly, calling slashes and cross checks would prevent player injuries and help with offense, as this stuff is generally done by defensive players(for example netfront).
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Wider rinks wouldn't increase the pace of the game or create more offense. If anything, it does the opposite. The European game is generally slower-paced. The trap works just as fine because the actual "dangerous" space on the ice remains the same. Teams will still collapse in the defensive zone too. Attackers get more free space on the outside, but getting to the scoring areas remains just as difficult. It's slower because with more room to work on the outside, attacking teams can just punt it around like in a soccer game, with slow build-up possession and fewer changes of possession.

Actually calling the rule book, well yes, that would be nice.
 
  1. Every team has to hire Peter Chiarelli as a GM for a minimum of 3 years.
  2. Have a channel or stream without commentators so that we can choose a player and listen to the game via their mic.
  3. Install a gopro in the goalie helmet so we can watch the game through goalie vision.
 
I have watched the NHL since the 1976 playoffs. The only things I would change is:
- taking out the instigator penalty,
- let players curve their sticks to however they want,
- more divisional games (even if it increases the schedule to do so),
- divisional playoff matches with no crossovers,
- any minor penalties that could potentially cause an injury (high sticking, roughing, etc) would have the offending player off the ice for the full 2 minutes regardless how many ppg's are scored,
- a straight win-loss record like baseball and basketball and no more loser points,
- if you win the President's trophy, you will have 5 home games in any best of seven series through out the playoffs.

Possible changes include:
- 8 divisions of 4 teams

As for the cap, it's good as it stands right now. I would tweak it a bit because of what Tampa got away with and then bragged about it with their t-shirts. The last thing I would want is a luxury tax or no cap at all.
 
Chungo2 said:
I loved hockey back in the 90’s and early 2000’s and as I got older, the game is definitely not as much fun to watch and I have more excitement for the NFL. After watching movies like Ice Guardians, you can see the game isn’t the same.

Just curious, if given control over the NHL what would be your priorities?
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I like that you mention the NFL. I very much liked 90s/early 2000s hockey, but to me there was a lot of NFL/USA influence on it. I mean, my link to the NFL is, the NHL becamse a very hit oriented game where, fighting was down (Instigator rule) and hitting à la Scott Stevens was starting to get really popular. Rock em' sock em'! Someone may find some component of this era in different "lower" leagues, but in the NHL, it is a lot about speed these days, so there is lots of skating, lots of trying to rush plays, shots wide, too high, deflection attempts. The game is faster these days, but it feels like there's less action out there. Fast and light, which gets boring in regular season games at times.
 
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Thirty Seven said:
  1. Every team has to hire Peter Chiarelli as a GM for a minimum of 3 years.
  2. Have a channel or stream without commentators so that we can choose a player and listen to the game via their mic.
  3. Install a gopro in the goalie helmet so we can watch the game through goalie vision.
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Wow, some people really do like to see the world burn.
 
Compensatory Picks based on how much teams lose in UFA vs how much they spend there. Picks can't be that high (probably no more than 3rd rounders if that); in season acquisitions don't count. Wouldn't be much, wouldn't be a fix, but would be a small bonus to teams that succeed and reward their RFAs rather than signing UFAs, and would give a little further boost to teams thinking "Lets go for it and keep the pending UFA" as they'll get a little something for it.
 
Call. The. Rulebook.

After an adjustment period of inflated penalties, players will learn what they can and can't do. Pre-season, weekday game in January, last minute of OT in SCF. A penalty is a penalty is a penalty. Will push game management and referee inconsistency way down if they just call the game by the rulebook. Has been a pet peeve of mine for >20 years.
How is a player to know what a penalty is if it changes from game to game and referee to referee??
 
Sorry in advance, because I haven't read the entire thread, but I do have some ideas. Since I have never (or very rarely) taken someone to a live NHL game that came away disappointed, but hardly anyone watches live, my takeaway is that the NHL really has to up their TV game. They always seem too traditional to actually do it.

I think HD was a help, but they really need more in game stats, puck tracking, etc., especially since youth are in love with screen graphics now. In golf, driving ranges are doing land office biz now that you can track every shot, for example. The National Golf Foundation now tracks on course and off course (i.e., driving range only golf devotees) Even watching TV golf is more interesting when they put up the velocity, height, and curve of each shot.

Flashing a graphic of shot speed (He hit 100 MPH, Jim!) and many other things would help. I still think the glow puck would add viewers, and maybe those John Madden type analysis of players skating patterns (he got open with a classic basket weave give and take passing play!) and other things might help retain viewers.

Not an expert in exactly what might work for hockey, but I think they need to keep trying things, maybe anything once, to see how non-traditional viewers respond. Heck to attract them in the first place, they might have to have some sort of "watch to win" promotion or something.

Just some ideas, which might not work. However, I am convinced my main point - drastically improve TV presentations - is certainly valid.
 
As far as the on ice play....Just make the ice bigger. Not Olympic size but somewhere in between current NHL and International.

Other...

- come up with some kind of salary adjustment based on a number of factors to level the playing field between cities. The incentive for the player to go to one city over another shouldn't be based on does he pay taxes or not.

- 3 points for a regulation time win, 2 points for an OT / shootout win, 1 point if you lose in OT / shootout.

- stop making suspensions so judgmental . Have a list of infractions and penalties multiplied by recurrences. You do "X" it's suspension "Y" and if you have been naughty before it's now "Y" times "R"

- All salary lost by the players suspended should be given to minor hockey programs

- get rid of all NMC / NTC in contracts. You want to make money like a mercenary , you get treated like a mercenary.

- if you miss more than 75% on the season due to injury you are not allowed to play in the playoffs

.... the list is endless
 
Upsize the rink 10 ft length(2 ft in the centre ice zone/4 ft inside the blueline) x 6 ft in width, this should end officials becoming part of the play 'accidently!'

get rid of the trapezoid and standardize goalie equipment, no more michelin men playing net

get rid of shoot-outs and go to one 7 min 4 on 4 if it's still tied then it's tied, end of story.

get rid of the guaranteed contract, go to the NFL type base salary(guarantee) + bonuses, along with a flexible cap and a luxury tax.

make the referees accountable publicly, if a guy keeps missing or making phantom calls then he gets to ref in the E or A until he learns how to call a game using the rule book!
 
Thirty Seven said:
  1. Every team has to hire Peter Chiarelli as a GM for a minimum of 3 years.
  2. Have a channel or stream without commentators so that we can choose a player and listen to the game via their mic.
  3. Install a gopro in the goalie helmet so we can watch the game through goalie vision.
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I think Tim Murray would be a better albatross:laugh:
 
For the playoffs
- get rid of late hits, obvious stick lifts (nowhere near the puck), after puck is played clutching/grabbing/holding down a player
- allow one extra player (max) to dress in between periods in case of on ice injury. Player who leaves the game and if team replaces him, is not not allowed to play the next game
- In order to qualify for the playoffs, player must play one regular season game. Unless it is a minor league status player
- Get rid of current faceoff rules. Both sticks on the ice before puck drops regardless location on ice.
- Get rid of handpass/hand batting. Only can catch and drop to own stick
 
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