HF Habs: Out of Town Thread: 2024-2025 season

Grate n Colorful Oz

The Hutson Hawk
Jun 12, 2007
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It might sells, but coaches do not like seeing 4-6 goals against every night.

The league will change rules that nix strategies meant to limit offense. Let's say the 1-3-1 suddenly gets adopted by many and causing a drop in production, it is highly likely that the league would respond by tweaking a component that hinders that strategy.

The future is all about skills and offense.
 
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Deebs

Without you, everything falls apart
Feb 5, 2014
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I highly doubt it. Offense sells. NHL is following the NBA trend of creating more offense with rule changes.
And look how terrible basketball has become. BBall, imo, has been trash for the past 15ish years.

I understand the idea of selling offense, it just sucks when it comes from ruining the integrity of the game.
 
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Grate n Colorful Oz

The Hutson Hawk
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And look how terrible basketball has become. BBall, imo, has been trash for the past 15ish years.

I understand the idea of selling offense, it just sucks when it comes from ruining the integrity of the game.

Yeah, I'm not saying I agree with it, but it also makes sense in terms of health, injuries, CTEs and protecting their major financial investment in players.

They are profit driven, so how much physicality will remain in the future will be determined in how far they can push the envelope in limiting physicality versus its impact on the popularity of the sport.
 

RabbleMasterBlaster

J't'un gars d'chez nous
Jun 29, 2020
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Yeah, I'm not saying I agree with it, but it also makes sense in terms of health, injuries, CTEs and protecting their major financial investment in players.

They are profit driven, so how much physicality will remain in the future will be determined in how far they can push the envelope in limiting physicality versus its impact on the popularity of the sport.
The lower quality of players on teams seems to have happened a lot faster than I thought it would. Half the league is very bad. Like competing for basement bad. I'm a little surprised. Not sure what's causing that immense divide so soon.
 
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Grate n Colorful Oz

The Hutson Hawk
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The lower quality of players on teams seems to have happened a lot faster than I thought it would. Half the league is very bad. Like competing for basement bad. I'm a little surprised. Not sure what's causing that immense divide so soon.

Smaller goalie equipment creates more goals and it skews the view of the quality of players. The average error rate of players might've gone up a bit because of the small expansion, but the smaller G equipment definitely sets players up to fail more often even though they might not commit more errors on average.

Like anything else, what we see is multifactorial. Expansion, smaller goalie equipment, stricker enforcement of the slashing rule, strategies evolving, culture change, Canada not producing elite goalies anymore, ect. The talent dilution is a small fraction of the whole answer and nothing compared to the dilutions of the past, going from 6 to 12, 12 to 18, 18 to 23 and 23 to 28. It's 30 to 32. It's the lowest fraction of dilution in the history of NHL expansions. In no way is it the main cause of what we see.
 

LaP

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Jun 27, 2012
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The goalies have a tougher time for the same reason the forwards had a tougher time in the dead puck era. A lack of skills. Don't listen to anybody saying otherwise. Now obviously the new rule for goalies equipment plays a role but it's not the bigger factor imo.

In the dead puck era everyone were like defensive system, coaches are too good bla bla bla and eveyrone were ignoring the fact that the best players in the league were the likes of Iginla and Martin St-Louis. Nothing against those very good HOF players but they were not Lemieux, Gretzky or McJesus, Crosby, Ovy quality players.

It's the same atm for goalies. No goalie in the NHL impress me. They are all capable of looking good for a short while but none of them comes remotely close to the best goalies in the history of the league. Outside of a few names they would all struggle to find a job back in the 90ies. The skills right not in the league is up front so expect lot of goals. Even the dmen tend to be offensively oriented like Makar, Hughes and Hutson.
 

salbutera

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Sep 10, 2019
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The goalies have a tougher time for the same reason the forwards had a tougher time in the dead puck era. A lack of skills. Don't listen to anybody saying otherwise. Now obviously the new rule for goalies equipment plays a role but it's not the bigger factor imo.

In the dead puck era everyone were like defensive system, coaches are too good bla bla bla and eveyrone were ignoring the fact that the best players in the league were the likes of Iginla and Martin St-Louis. Nothing against those very good HOF players but they were not Lemieux, Gretzky or McJesus, Crosby, Ovy quality players.

It's the same atm for goalies. No goalie in the NHL impress me. They are all capable of looking good for a short while but none of them comes remotely close to the best goalies in the history of the league. Outside of a few names they would all struggle to find a job back in the 90ies. The skills right not in the league is up front so expect lot of goals. Even the dmen tend to be offensively oriented like Makar, Hughes and Hutson.
Goalies are human beings, with one piece high flex sticks which weigh like a feather & launch pucks like ballistic missiles, combined with tremendous refinement in the science of proper shooting mechanics (like Dr. Shots coaching), and players who are the most fit ever in NHL history….goalies simply stand no chance

That’s why there’s such an emphasis on acquiring “big goalies”… hoping with proper positioning some goals are saved as a result of larger specimens covering more territory and a puck just catching a piece of them

Which makes Price’s success as an elite G even more impressive - he had perfect positioning + size + top-3 all time stick control, and even that wasn’t enough to carry a team to the promised land.

Hasek or St Patrick type “athletic based goalies” stand no chance in todays NHL
 
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Grate n Colorful Oz

The Hutson Hawk
Jun 12, 2007
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The goalies have a tougher time for the same reason the forwards had a tougher time in the dead puck era. A lack of skills. Don't listen to anybody saying otherwise. Now obviously the new rule for goalies equipment plays a role but it's not the bigger factor imo.

In the dead puck era everyone were like defensive system, coaches are too good bla bla bla and eveyrone were ignoring the fact that the best players in the league were the likes of Iginla and Martin St-Louis. Nothing against those very good HOF players but they were not Lemieux, Gretzky or McJesus, Crosby, Ovy quality players.

It's the same atm for goalies. No goalie in the NHL impress me. They are all capable of looking good for a short while but none of them comes remotely close to the best goalies in the history of the league. Outside of a few names they would all struggle to find a job back in the 90ies. The skills right not in the league is up front so expect lot of goals. Even the dmen tend to be offensively oriented like Makar, Hughes and Hutson.

Dude, league wide shot percentage started dropping right after the goalie rule change in 2019. And then came stricker calling of slashing and save percentage went down further. It's not lack of skills.
 
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Weltschmerz

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The league will change rules that nix strategies meant to limit offense. Let's say the 1-3-1 suddenly gets adopted by many and causing a drop in production, it is highly likely that the league would respond by tweaking a component that hinders that strategy.

The future is all about skills and offense.
Right now it seems they limit the scoring a bit with the new(?) way they call goaltender interference.
 
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Weltschmerz

Front Running Fan
Apr 22, 2007
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Imo, that has more to do with protecting goalies, rather than limiting offense.
Not sure about that, there was a thread about that on the main board some days ago, and those don't look like the goalie was in much trouble. They just called one back against the bruins where the goalie wasn't even touched, even some bruins fans said it should be a goal.

And you don't really believe they care about protecting players suddenly?

These goalie interference calls are getting ridiculous
 
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