The point total of the top players is a joke

[Ragamuffin Gunner]

I'm so sick of these threads. Change the channel if you don't like it

Well, people are changing the channel. Rating are down this year.

Love the irony too BTW!

 

[Ragamuffin Gunner]

And that's the part I don't get from fans....like the post above mine.

We ALL KNOW the goalies are better.
We ALL KNOW the systems are better.
We ALL KNOW the goalie equipment is bigger.
We ALL KNOW the goalie themselves are bigger.

So with ALL these things going in the goalies favour, why is it such a big deal to increase the size of a net by 2-3 inches?

To me, it shouldn't be.

Are you just going to ignore that shooters are better too?

 

[XanderCrews34]

Call the ****ing obstruction, it's not that hard to figure out.

That's exactly right. Calling all of this obstruction that goes on these days - it's already on the books anyway - would:

1.) Increase PP's and obviously increase scoring

2.) Force teams to change how they play and open up 5v5 in a way we haven't seen since the lockout ended and they spent a season or so actually calling the obstruction penalties.

How many time does a guy dump a puck in the corner and the dman will go 5 feet out of his way to obstruct the forechecker? That should be called every single time. I don't care if it's in game 7 of the cup finals.

You let marginal players dictate the game when you allow them to essentially cheat by obstructing the more skilled players. It's not necessarily that the average player in the NHL has gotten so much better (though that is partially the case), it's also that the average player can obstruct so much and neutralize the skills of the better players.

 

[Kristopher Letang]

That's exactly right. Calling all of this obstruction that goes on these days - it's already on the books anyway - would:

1.) Increase PP's and obviously increase scoring

2.) Force teams to change how they play and open up 5v5 in a way we haven't seen since the lockout ended and they spent a season or so actually calling the obstruction penalties.

How many time does a guy dump a puck in the corner and the dman will go 5 feet out of his way to obstruct the forechecker? That should be called every single time. I don't care if it's in game 7 of the cup finals.

You let marginal players dictate the game when you allow them to essentially cheat by obstructing the more skilled players. It's not necessarily that the average player in the NHL has gotten so much better (though that is partially the case), it's also that the average player can obstruct so much and neutralize the skills of the better players.

/thread
You can close it now.

 

[SaintMorose]

Best thing to do imho call strict on the hooking and holding with the hybrid icing there's no need to slow the game down any more and although it will kill flow for a couple months with PPs it show open up the game in the long run. At the same time they could be a bit more lenient with "picks" in the offensive zone not to make it okay to go out and run interference but holding your ice a bit stronger instead of losing that with an obstruction crack down.

And that's the part I don't get from fans....like the post above mine.

We ALL KNOW the goalies are better.
We ALL KNOW the systems are better.
We ALL KNOW the goalie equipment is bigger.
We ALL KNOW the goalie themselves are bigger.

So with ALL these things going in the goalies favour, why is it such a big deal to increase the size of a net by 2-3 inches?

To me, it shouldn't be.

And most people who own pads know that this is no longer the case with the exception of Chesties. Gloves are smaller, Blockers are shorter, Pads are .5" or more thinner.

 

[romba]

That's exactly right. Calling all of this obstruction that goes on these days - it's already on the books anyway - would:

1.) Increase PP's and obviously increase scoring

2.) Force teams to change how they play and open up 5v5 in a way we haven't seen since the lockout ended and they spent a season or so actually calling the obstruction penalties.

How many time does a guy dump a puck in the corner and the dman will go 5 feet out of his way to obstruct the forechecker? That should be called every single time. I don't care if it's in game 7 of the cup finals.

You let marginal players dictate the game when you allow them to essentially cheat by obstructing the more skilled players. It's not necessarily that the average player in the NHL has gotten so much better (though that is partially the case), it's also that the average player can obstruct so much and neutralize the skills of the better players.

Agreed on all points especially about calling it during game 7.

I think the NHL agreed with you too which is why we saw the changes post lockout. The game picked up speed and it was exciting. Win win right? But then with the increased speed there were significantly more high speed hits into the boards which brought negative media attention. So it seems that the NHL then began to allow a bit more interference especially on dump ins allowing defenders to move out of their lane and block the oncoming players. The defender is still not allowed to dump the offensive player but they're allowed to occlude the offensive guy even after moving out of their lane so as to slow the overall play down and make the subsequent hits along/into the boards appear less scary looking to the media. Same is true, in my opinion of course, with hooking and holding elsewhere on the ice. Allow it enough to slow things a little without completely clogging the game. This is why the NHL is looking for other alternatives to improve scoring and excitement such as small goalie pads etc., and not strictly calling the penalties according to the rules.

In any case at the very least I wish the playoffs were called similarly to the regular season.

 

[SmellOfVictory]

And the top teams aren't that good anymore either. Any one of like 18 teams can win the Cup. It's just an overly-balanced league.

Balance and competitiveness? Oh no! What a horrific thing. I'll bet everyone longs for the days when playing the Oilers or Islanders was an automatic loss for most teams. What a thrill, being able to go into a game and already knowing the outcome.

 

[MoreOrr]

Expansion would change that. Scoring would go up.

The League has 4 teams with records somewhat similar to expansion teams.

It's parity, and it's the theme of the day. The more teams that can be or appear to be competitive, the more fans that keep their attention focused on how their team is doing and thus also the teams that their team is seen to be most directly competing with. I don't see this as a reality that's going to change, and the Salary Cap will help to keep it that way. The only thing that will allow it to change is an ever increasing Salary Cap with a widening separation, $-wise, between the ceiling and the floor.

 

[MoreOrr]

And the top teams aren't that good anymore either. Any one of like 18 teams can win the Cup. It's just an overly-balanced league.

The OP has a point regarding the records of individual players during the course of a Season. But your post just isn't really supported by recent history. We can clearly see which have been the dominant teams over the past several Seasons. It may not show up so clearly in the Regular Season Standings, but come Playoff time there definitely have been "top teams" and teams good enough to be contenders year after year.

Now this Season perhaps there's going to a change of the guard and a new Champion that hasn't won the Cup ever or at least in recent years; that we'll have to wait and see.

 

[Ogopogo*]

56 points? This is *****ed honestly.Scoring has to go up again.

The top players are struggling to stay above a point per game.

Until goalie equipment goes back to 80s sizes and coaching isn't all focused on defense, we will see scoring stay down. The game just isn't that entertaining anymore - I find myself watching a lot more basketball these days.

 

[sharski]

calling obstruction in the neutral zone is the obvious first step and it really should be all that is necessary if enforced right

then ban all protection from the skates up to the knees to discourage shot blocking

 

[Ogopogo*]

Yep, expansion is going to force teams to play younger players or sign less talented guys to fill out a roster. Should open up things.

Think about that. If we need to bring in less talented guys to create more scoring, the game is clearly broken. Besides, when we brought in the Florida Panthers, they figured out a way to trap their way to the finals with no talent on the roster.

 

[mr gib]

I want more scoring.

tell the five guys cramming the front of the net to move outta the way

and that lovely basketball zone defense when puck possession is lost in the offensive zone ...

 

[MarkGio]

Clearly this is the only answer

I seriously think your onto something here.

 

[romba]

tell the five guys cramming the front of the net to move outta the way

and that lovely basketball zone defense when puck possession is lost in the offensive zone ...

Unfortunately(or rather fortunately) the play isn't like basketball where its feasible to create an illegal defense rule that is fair, and easily identified and enforced.

Lets get rid of the inner flap on goalie pads that is meant to facilitate the butterfly style of goaltending. There HAS to be a way to keep the entire knee and thigh protected when dropping to the ice without completely altering the angle and shape of the padding to promote the butterfly technique. Let goalies play the butterfly if they want but we should't have pads specifically designed to facilitate this style and technique.

 

[mr gib]

Unfortunately(or rather fortunately) the play isn't like basketball where its feasible to create an illegal defense rule that is fair, and easily identified and enforced.

Lets get rid of the inner flap on goalie pads that is meant to facilitate the butterfly style of goaltending. There HAS to be a way to keep the entire knee and thigh protected when dropping to the ice without completely altering the angle and shape of the padding to promote the butterfly technique. Let goalies play the butterfly if they want but we should't have pads specifically designed to facilitate this style and technique.

... that's a good point ... the catching glove is way to big too ... but not getting a point shot through ... every play or pass on the outside ... nothing clean to the net ever ... unless a fast break or mistake ... the trap was lemaire but hitchcock perfected the fine points

 

[NHL Dude 120]

as the game becomes more about skill, teams are learning to be more defensive.

 

[Shwaguy*]

As a fan of a team without superstars, I have no problem with scoring by committee.

are you gonna be saying that in 3 or 4 years when Gaudreau should (Hopefully) be one of the better scorers in the league?

 

[Fear the Wushu]

This. People have the most elaborate theories about why scoring is down. The reason is literally no more complicated than the fact that the NHL doesn't strictly enforce holding, hooking and interference calls. It would be a different league if they re-calibrated their threshold on enforcement of these three rules.

Then we would have a league just like the NFL has become. Penalties, penalties, and yes, more penalties. Just accept the fact that minor penalties occur in every game, hockey is a fast paced game and stuff like this is bound to happen.

 

[Ragamuffin Gunner]

goalies in '98 :

That glove, blocker and pads would all be illegal in today's NHL.

 

[Ragamuffin Gunner]

One of the reasons the scoring is down is goalies are bigger and better now days, but mainly it's because the offensive talent is not what it was lets says back in 80's and 90's.

Look at how many 100 point players they had back in 90's and compare it to today. Outside of Crosby no one gets 100 points today.

It's actually almost the exact opposite. The increase of talent in bottom 6 players and bottom 3 Dmen is the issue. Stars can't just skate through half of every team whenever they want anymore.

 

[SladeWilson23]

Does anybody know the current restrictions on thigh rises?

 

[tony d]

Yeah, it's not good, I remember one year Lemieux had 100 points by New Year's Day I believe it was, looking at things now we might not get a 100 point scorer this year.

 

[Fataldogg]

And the top teams aren't that good anymore either. Any one of like 18 teams can win the Cup. It's just an overly-balanced league.

Overly balanced from the loser point. Or tie point [however you want to look at it].

If it was just W-L a lot of teams like the Panthers wouldnt have a chance, and other teams like the Red Wings would have a tenuous spot at best.

There are teams in the standings with more total wins, more regulation wins, and they are behind in the standings because when they lose they dont lose in OT.

It gives a false sense of parity. And the reason this exists is a marketing ploy. Keep all teams as close to the playoffs as possible in an attempt to keep attendance up.

Look at the NBA. Im not saying it would be as bad as that, but if it was just W-L, you would see a much bigger spread.

 

[Gabe Kupari]

The players are bigger these days, the goalies are way bigger, 6'5 inch goalies didn't happen 10 20 years ago. Players are better these days, you have much more balance on your roster now, you have kids in places like California Arizona and Carolina playing hockey now when they are young kids. The skill level is higher, it's more even across the board, there are no more Gretzkys or Bossys or Lemieuxs, there are more of them now, each team has one really, not elite talent but they have talent across the entire roster. Teams play a different game now, it was way more wide open back in the day, sports evolve tho and players evolve with the sport. Half those guys from the 80's probably couldn't compete these days. The goons are few and far between now, people can stick up for themselves. I don't see any issue with how many points a guy scores, who cares really, all that means is that guy wins a trophy.. big deal.

Some of you guys are watching the wrong games i guess or are fans of boring teams like the WILD, i dunno.