What is your perfect NHL?

[daver]

I don't think many argue that an 82 game season is too long and ending in mid-June is too late.

Maybe some think that only half the teams making the playoffs is too little.

Maybe four best-of- 7 playoff series is too much.

What would your NHL look like?

How many teams?

How many games?

How many playoff teams?

Click to read more...

 

[Dallas Winston]

75 gp
30 teams
16 teams (back to the 1-8 system)

 

[Faterson]

The perfect NHL for me would include a European Conference, with a coupla divisions (Northern and Central, perhaps?).

Of course, the name "NHL" is a misnomer even today, because the league stretches across two different nations. I suppose the NHL would need to be renamed to, say, WHL (World Hockey League), but I would have no issue with that.

Or, we can close our eyes and keep calling it NHL even after it expands to become a global league – just like we close our eyes to its current name making no sense.

I'm not kidding in the least. World-wide sports leagues are the path of the future. We'll get there one day – it's only a matter of time. Let's hope it's gonna be sooner rather than later.

(Yup, if the league is to consist of 44 or even more teams, a round-robin home-and-away format would no longer be feasible, in all likelihood. Some other playing format would need to be devised. I agree that 82 games per regular season is too much, or let's say, 82 or 84 games is the absolute maximum that anyone should require of these athletes. A reduction to around 70 would likely be reasonable, but it's improbable to happen.)

 

[Moridin]

One where I will experience a Leaf Stanley Cup victory in my lifetime.

 

[MangoX]

One where I will experience a Leaf Stanley Cup victory in my lifetime.

Until they can show they can stop choking in the first round, that's never gonna happen buddy.

 

[Oddbob]

750 teams, so that each player can have their own team.
-9 ads on the front of the jersey, with the team logo small and on the side of the jersey under the arm.
-Video replay for everything. ex- Linesman dropped the puck 1mm to the wrong side, 11 minute replay to get it right.
-If you hit minus 5 in any game, you get a 1 game suspension, but a $250,000 bonus for the special achievement.
-Flat cap of $300 million, just to make it fair.
-Gary Bettman handles all league news for every team with a press conference for any and all news.
-1 goalie can have equipment as big as they want, but if a team does this, the other goalie has to play with 1950s equipment. (including lack of helmet)
-Any players that are dumb as a stump, have to wear a special dunce helmet with massive padding to protect their noggin.
-Every time the whistle goes, there is a 1 minute ad for a gambling site. Must be the same ad used each time.
-Teams can have 10 players that can approach the ref when calls are made. 10 from each team should be enough to tell the ref what he did wrong or right.
-Each and every goal shall be reviewed no less than 5 minutes, and since we are waiting, five 1 minute gambling ads shall play. (again same ad each time)(no need for fans to see replay of goal, that is unimportant)
-Every big hit, incurs a forced fight. Loser gets kicked out of game.
-Stanley Cup winner, rides a team bus to each losing city to rub it in. They don't get summer break until each city has been visited.

 

[hangman005]

Probably one where, Vegas, Carolina and Calgary.... you know what throw Columbus in there too take turns at winning the cup each year.

 

[BLNY]

An even number of teams between 21 and 30. 70 games. 16 playoff teams. Go back to proper divisional rounds. Bettman's excuse to go away from it was to create new playoff rivalries. It hasn't worked. The animosity of the 80s is gone for the most part.

 

[Profet]

I want more rivalry matchups.

I also wouldn't mind them being spread out less. More home and home division games.

 

[ACLEVERNAME]

Nuke all teams west of the 100th Meridian and reset the league as it was meant to be played. Local ties and rivalries between big name cities. Every away game should be no more than a days train ride away. San Jose? Vancouver? UTAH? May as well have teams in Europe as the guy above said or even Siberia. It's ridiculous what Eastern teams have to go through traveling out west, screwing with time zones and adjusting to the culture. And that's not even getting into my real issues as a fan - 10 or 11 PM puck drop on a Tuesday night? Who do they think I am? So my kids are going to risk missing the school bus because my Sens are on a 'western road swing'? f*** that. Chicago, maybe Minnesota should be the absolute limit. Maybe cull a few of the more southern teams as well.

 

[Moridin]

Until they can show they can stop choking in the first round, that's never gonna happen buddy.

At least i got to see them reach 4 conference finals as an adult.

 

[Faterson]

my real issues as a fan - 10 or 11 PM puck drop on a Tuesday night? Who do they think I am? So my kids are going to risk missing the school bus because my Sens are on a 'western road swing'?

The horror! For us in Europe, NHL games start between 1 and 4:30 AM in the middle of the night, but I can certainly sympathize with the suffering incurred by your household due to all those brutal 10 or 11 PM game starts. You just can't get any life then, eh? (See my avatar caption...)

 

[Suntouchable13]

22 teams
60 games
8 playoff teams
2 conferences only, no divisions
Top 4 in each conference make the playoffs

I like it more compact. I don’t think we need this many teams.

You also don't need half of your league to make the playoffs either.

I am in the minority, but that's ok.

 

[wedge]

I'm fine with 32 teams ans wouldn't mind 34 or 36. I don't care. Many people say it dilutes the product and it's true but it also allows the best of the best to be even more important. I don't really care about 4th lines being scrubs and playing 6 minutes a night like they used to.

82 games is a bit much. I would want to say 70 to have a round number but maybe it's not enough so I'm gonna say 74.

Finishing at the end of june is way too late. First week of june should be the max and they could start a bit earlier too. Training camps are way too long and there are too many preseason games.

Keep the best-of-seven format. Everybody loves playoffs and there's a reason why the Stanley Cup is the hardest trophy to win. Keep it that way.

I would probably want more teams making the offseason but I don't really like the idea of having teams 7-10 battle it out for the last two spots. There are enough games as it is to determine who are the 8 best teams.

PO should be 1vs8 2vs7 with the division winners at the top as a reward.

Overtimes should be 10 minutes. I can deal with the shootouts but they should happen less.

 

[ACLEVERNAME]

The horror! For us in Europe, NHL games start between 1 and 4:30 AM in the middle of the night, but I can certainly sympathize with the suffering incurred by your household due to all those brutal 10 or 11 PM game starts. You just can't get any life then, eh? (See my avatar caption...)

I'm sorry, but I'm pretty sure the thread I was responding to is "What is your perfect NHL" not "What time does @Faterson have to wake up to watch NHL games?"

Consider yourself lucky you even get a half decent signal over there.

 

[HockeyVirus]

I liked the ~60 game schedule of the covid year. I am against asking for less hockey in general, but the last few years it feels like the last 20 games are just meaningless to 85% of the league while 7 wildcard teams change position in the standings over and over. That could happen for eternity if we let it.

So IDK. I guess only thing I would change is 1-8 playoff format again. Ideally 1-16 but logistically I know that won't happen

 

[Megustaelhockey]

The N in NHL has always meant Canada. Don't call the league anything else.

 

[Prsut18]

I wouldn´t want this pernamently, but if somehow the league stops for a year, I would love to see a season like the "O6" era..
6 teams stacked with all the best players of today
4 best to the playoffs

 

[ERYX]

I don't think many argue that an 82 game season is too long and ending in mid-June is too late.

Maybe some think that only half the teams making the playoffs is too little.

Maybe four best-of- 7 playoff series is too much.

What would your NHL look like?

How many teams?

How many games?

How many playoff teams?

My personal preference, and maybe it's influenced by nostalgia, but I felt that early 90s was a good number of teams so as not to dilute the talent, but 82 games still too long.

So my ideal would be:

• 22-24 teams, all in traditional hockey markets (i.e. Winnipeg, Quebec City yes, Vegas, Florida, Arizona, Utah, etc. no)
• 60 game season
• 16 teams in playoffs
• First round best of 5, the rest best of 7

 

[Rodgerwilco]

On my shortlist of things I think would improve the product.

- 70 game season
- No more than 30 teams
- Stanley Cup ends before June.
- Blatant headshots ACTUALLY being punished with hefty suspensions instead of the league and talking heads promoting these players.

 

[zappa4ever]

28 teams
80gms
Playoffs Top-8 each conference (1v8 2v7... )
with a 8v9 1gm play-in
RS OT is 4v4 10:00 sudden death, no shootouts

rule changes:
- remove trapezoid, goalie free to handle
- 1 minute penalty option for some of the minor penalties like Puck-over-glass

 

[BLNY]

I want more rivalry matchups.

I also wouldn't mind them being spread out less. More home and home division games.

I thought one thing that worked well during the pandemic was the 'baseball' schedule where you'd play 2 or 3 games in a row against the same team. Cuts down on travel a bit. Would be difficult for multipurpose facilities though.

 

[NyQuil]

I liked the ~60 game schedule of the covid year. I am against asking for less hockey in general, but the last few years it feels like the last 20 games are just meaningless to 85% of the league while 7 wildcard teams change position in the standings over and over. That could happen for eternity if we let it.

So IDK. I guess only thing I would change is 1-8 playoff format again. Ideally 1-16 but logistically I know that won't happen

I've enjoyed a few of those lockout seasons because each game mattered so much more.

Those February dog days can lag, and having a Cup final in July is asinine.

Won't happen - but 60 games + 4 7 game series is about right.

 

[Ace Card Bedard]

28 teams
80gms
Playoffs Top-8 each conference (1v8 2v7... )
with a 8v9 1gm play-in
RS OT is 4v4 10:00 sudden death, no shootouts

rule changes:
- remove trapezoid, goalie free to handle
- 1 minute penalty option for some of the minor penalties like Puck-over-glass

This is pretty ideal for me too.

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

The season isnt too long as much as they've made far too many no emotion, no one cares forgettable games by moving away from emphasizing divisional opponents. Go back to emphasizing divisional games in the regular season. This "play everyone twice" crap is causing too many throw away games. It's also choking the life out of rivalries. Familiarity breeds contempt.

For example, its garbage that the Bruins only played the Canadiens 3x. It should be 6x a year like it was, then play the other division in your conference 3x and play the other conference once. (42 division games + 24 conference games + 16 other conference games). Get the emotion and hatred back into the game and the games will be more exciting to watch.