Wow, such a juicy thread! Gonna try to tackle it all...
1. Goalie outside crease - I agree in my heart that goalies outside the crease are fair game, but protected more in a larger crease -- but devil’s advocate, they aren’t normal skaters, they have different skates, can’t go as fast, different sticks not ideal for playing and less peripheral vision, they are more vulnerable… but, you say, then they shouldn’t venture out too far… and again, my heart would agree, but my head says, that’s not an easy rule to pass, i.e. safety concerns.
2. Instigator rule - They should get rid of it as automatic penalty. The refs can still call it if a guy goes way outside the lines attacking an unsuspecting player, or add unsportsmanlike or roughing. Or call one guy for fighting and not the other guy if he’s completely jumped and can’t defend himself. Just seems silly to have a voodoo penalty out there to protect cheapshot artists and scare off guys looking to deal with things face to face.
3. More diving/embellishment calls - this one I can’t get behind, not because I don't like it, but because they already are so bad at making the calls, that I can’t see it working out. Two embellishment calls went against the bruins recently that were totally unfounded. You can’t penalize after the fact, it just gets too muddied and weird. The league seemed to call out the embarrassing ones with fines with more regularity in the past, and I think that method should be prioritized again.
4. Offsides - I’d like to get rid of review there all together. I hate them. Offsides is such an arbitrary rule as it is, it shouldn’t be taking away goals. It’s not like they review plays that were blown dead that shouldn’t have been. Just let it go. Don’t agree about changing skate over blueline, or puck that just touches blue. That won’t change the issue, just move it back earlier in play, they’d still be reviewing it the same as now, just different parameters.
But, overwise, 5 second rule is the only compromise that works, calls back the ridiculous ones that lead to goals directly, but stops the insignificant reviews on sustained possession.
And why do linesmen need to be on ice, couldn’t they sit just off the ice at the line, out of the way? They could add one more ref to the ice, and still be less congestion than before
5. Puck over the glass - This is one I liked before when it was a judgement call on the intent. What I don’t understand is why all the officials get together and discuss close plays. If they are that unsure, just let it go. Don’t give one team a decided advantage because they think it cleared the glass clean. Should have never been a penalty in the first place. But… they can’t take the penalty away now. If they do and a fan gets hurt from a cleared puck, their lawyer will have a field day with it, claiming the NHL values the entertainment of the game over fan safety by removing the penalty and encouraging more pucks over the glass by desperate players putting fans in harms way.
6. Officials upstairs - sounds like a progressive idea that needs to be put through plenty of thought experiments first, as it would change the game very dramatically, but promising. Would be concerned about how they look at video though, as we already see in DOPS that they slow the play way down to such an extent that it warps what actually happened. Maybe only limit their power on real-time viewing.
7. Penalty extending regulation - um, can’t see this working at all. Making it a two penalties makes more sense (not a double minor, but say interference and delay of game) making it 5v3. But, I don’t see this happen too much to make a big deal out of it.
8. OT - a big one, probably needs it’s own thread. Every game should be worth 3 points. That is so much common sense, it hurts me that they have gone on this long without changing it. I like 3v3, even if it is a gimmick, it is exciting, but not exactly fair (but hey, each team had a chance to win it in regulation, so fair it out the window). I hate the shootout. It’s so anti-climactic, especially after an exciting 3v3 ends, and the shootout is worth the same amount of points? Again, this hurts my head and my heart. No shootouts, ever. Extend 3v3 to 8 min or 10. No winner (which would be very rare)? Fine, just split the points, give them each 1.5. Why not. Make the point system make sense!
9. Goalie Equipment - agreed, the safety issue is bunk. Slimming the pads slightly has no effect on safety. They are not removing them. I am hesitant, but okay with marginally increasing the size of the nets. Why not? Goalies used to be much smaller and way less athletic back in the day. Adjust accordingly.
10. Penalty waived if team scores - I get why they do that… wait, no I don’t. They don’t have a man advantage yet, and they are at a disadvantage because of the infraction on the play, so if they score, bonus. Don’t agree with the man staying in the box the entire 2 min even if they score. That’s not right for a minor infraction. That’s why they have major penalties that do just that for more egregious infractions.
