What's Your Most Controversial Hockey Opinion?

[Sentinel]

Players should have to go back to wood sticks.

This would carry more weight had you written it on parchment with a quill.

 

[Gavy]

Fighting and fighters do not deter anything.

Players who played in the NHL disagree

 

[Master P]

This would carry more weight had you written it on parchment with a quill.

My mistake, but I think they should go back. Makes the guys who can really shoot it that much more valuable. You can even shrink the goalie gear down more.

 

[HomerJLeafs]

defence first hockey is boring
fighting should be banned
playoff hockey is disgusting
all this oldschool view on hockey should not exist: the oldboys club in management, thoughness, so called balanced teams, hazing, headshots, DonCherry etc

 

[Master P]

defence first hockey is boring
fighting should be banned
playoff hockey is disgusting
all this oldschool view on hockey should not exist: the oldboys club in management, thoughness, so called balanced teams, hazing, headshots, DonCherry etc

Whats wrong with playoff hockey specifically? Too much defense? Too much hitting?

 

[Clint Eastwood]

Modern NHL is FAR more entertaining then the "the good old times" of NHL.

As a matter of fact, the current version of NHL is as close to ideal league then we've seen in any sport, maybe ever.

Playoff seeding doesn't seem to even matter these days. President Trophy winner hasn't won the SC in 6 years and only twice in the last 17. Which league in history can you say that about?

Just compare this league to what is happening in NBA...

I think they're both great in their own ways. Big hitting hockey wasn't not fun to watch, but the speed and skill of today is hard to match. I just think people who bitch about hockey sucking now are just looking to complain about something. Also the "there is no passion" argument is a load of BS.

 

[Cyclones Rock]

The instigator rule should be eliminated.

 

[ItWasJustified]

Hitting should be removed (due to the risk of sustaining permanent head injuries or other bodily harm).
The league should not count player statistics. The only thing it does is dividing players into we (the good players) and them (the bad players).
Keep the Stanley Cup but all 31 (soon to be 32) teams is in it and all teams is the winner. Just because some teams may have performed better during a period of time doesn't mean they're more deserving of the honour of be called winners than other teams.
Remove professional league tiers. Everyone deserves to play in the NHL as long as you are a good person.
Stop keeping the score. Just like in real life , there are no losers or winners and competing isn't good for the well being of humans.

 

[HFBS]

The same opinion I've had since the 1980's and posted here several times:

There are too many teams.

At least 10 teams need to go.

 

[Master P]

The same opinion I've had since the 1980's and posted here several times:

There are too many teams.

At least 10 teams need to go.

What if they split the NHL into two leagues? Winner of each league plays for the Stanley cup.

Not like the eastern and western conference though. Each league plays their season and playoffs within that league.

 

[Just Linda]

Peters being a horrible coach was controversial until just recently. I've hated him (like the coach aspect, not necessarily the person) since his Carolina days. I've long ranted about him and seem to always have people disagree with me.

Another one that shifted was the Weber is far better than PK and PK would be a diminishing asset far sooner than Weber. Time seems to have agreed with me here. I hope PK heals up and finds his passion again soon but I think he's on a major decline.

My other controversial one is that NHL should be funding a Euro league. I only half believe my arguments for that one anyways.

Also, Byfield is the true 1oa pick. You can't build a team around Lafreniere

 

[kilowatt]

Ties weren't a bad thing.

 

[HomerJLeafs]

Whats wrong with playoff hockey specifically? Too much defense? Too much hitting?

exactly
jokes aside: there is no PO rulebook
a headshot is a headshot in May too

 

[Perfect_Drug]

Sean Avery didn't do anything wrong or illegal against Brodeur.

They should allow that.

(Also, I used to play like that, and I jumped out of my seat when I saw Avery do that to Brodeur. I got like 12 texts from buddies telling me Avery stole my move).

 

[Sega Dreamcast]

With all of the technical advancements over the past 20 years, it's time to revisit the glowing FoxTrax puck.

The league should not re-up their contract with NBC.

 

[Master P]

exactly

Its the playoffs. Every game matters so I don't think the emphasis on defense is ever gonna change. The hitting in the playoffs is also a great thing imo. Its fun to watch and can shift the momentum of a game. The only issue I have with the playoffs currently is the extreme inconsistency with what gets called and what doesn't get called by the refs.

 

[ZeroPucksGiven]

They should eliminate the curve restrictions on sticks

 

[ItWasJustified]

My other controversial one is that NHL should be funding a Euro league.

You stay out of our continent. We don't need any more of your culture spilling over.

 

[MadLuke]

Playing the game of hockey at some **** level doesn’t make you a better hockey fan than those who never played.

Analytics are constantly ruined by the few who cherry pick and make outlandish stupid claims for attention.

Maybe not a better fan (a good fan being one that is pleasant to watch game with and a bad fan one unpleasant I imagine), but they will normally have a different appreciation of what they watch.

Study show than when we watch someone doing something we tend to try to run a mirror simulation in our head, of us doing the same to try to know how it would feel and learn, if you never played the sport almost nothing will run and the feel will be quite different (so will be the ability to predict what happen and appreciate what was required from the players to achieve to do what they just did).

Blame it on the Mirror Neurons — Musicians' Health Collective

Inside the mind of the elite athlete
For example, in an experiment with cricket players, footage of an oncoming swing (fast) bowler was shown to expert, intermediate and novice players. The footage was stopped at various points as the bowler advanced and subjects were asked to predict whether the ball would swing into or away from the body of a right-handed batsman. It was found that expert players could more accurately predict the trajectory of the ball much earlier than the intermediate or novice players and that their predictions continued to improve as more of the film was shown.

Someone that played hockey watching hockey will have quite the different experience and appreciation than someone that never had, closer to the nhl level (they will feel the bodycheck, what it meant to have that level of space and time to act and so on), closer their simulation in their head will be, a bit like musician will tend to have a different and better experience listening to hard and complex to play music to those who never played, singer when listening to someone singing, etc...

 

[Nemesis Prime]

Bruins cup win in 2011 is starting to look like a fluke.

Playoff hockey should also be 5 game series. Better hockey and doesn't take 40 years to get to the finals.

 

[JETZZZ]

Although its too late to go back on these, it would probably have been better in the long run if the NHL never went away from wooden sticks, or less Michelin man sized goalie pads.
It would make the game from the 80s to now a little more comparable.

Woops. Meant to quote a post or 2 up there. Aw well you get the idea.

 

[Just Linda]

You stay out of our continent. We don't need any more of your culture spilling over.

Well since I'm an indigenous person, don't forget that you sent it over first :p

 

[ElysiumAB]

I don't need everything to be pink for a month to be aware and support breast cancer survivors and research. I realize it's probably a huge benefit for fundraising, but I just don't need that in sports.

There are also entirely too many ceremonial face offs. Can we just crank through these ****ing anthems and drop the puck for once?

 

[domiwroze]

NHL's referee are actually doing a good job.

 

[Dr Quincy]

Players who played in the NHL disagree

1) Players in the league think that if you step on a line in warm ups bad things will happen. Do we ignore science because players who played in the NHL think things like that?

2) A player's thoughts aren't as persuasive as their actions. Cooke hit Savard while Lucic was on the ice and the team had Shawn Thornton, Chara, McQuaid, Bitz, Mark Stuart, Begin, and Boychuk on the team. I can give you example after example after example.

Oh, but wait that's because of the instigator. Before that cheap shots didn't happen!!!

Tell me, when Pat Quinn destroyed Orr, who else was on that Boston team? And why didn't their presence stop Quinn?

Answer: Because players don't stop and do a cost benefit analysis before a cheap shot. So whatever the players "think" doesn't matter when what they do is to continue to do cheap shots when other players want to fight them afterwards.