What's Your Most Controversial Hockey Opinion?

[SwedishFire]

32 teams is too much, its fun, but there to much teams. The leuage gets watered out in talent. To few teams go in playoff, If they don create a 32 team playoff schedule.

But worse teams = worse defence, wich maybe saves the sports. We can see 130 pt players, and 50+ goalscorers - except Ovechkin again.

 

[Fixxer]

I miss Coach's Corner...

 

[Rangerfans]

Carey Price had an unbelievable 2 years, but his “legacy” is utterly inflated. I always see “best goalie in the world” but feel he is overrated due to his Canadian background.

Guy had amazing talent and potential, but his numbers (especially in playoffs) are pedestrian in the playoffs and his overall numbers are...meh. People discuss HOF with Price and I’m always baffled by that notion.

 

[MetM]

Delay of game for puck over the glass and the trapezoid were the two best rule changes that came out of the 2004-05 lockout. Both penalties eliminated aspects that were ruining play in the defensive zone: skaters having a lazy escape when they're in trouble and goalies having free reign to stop to dump and chase, but being off-limits for hitting.

That's mine. In the blue paint you are safe. It's your bubble.
Outside you go at your own risks.

 

[tiburon12]

Well I'm a Senators fan and I couldn't disagree more.

His statistics against Ottawa were simply ridiculous, and that started before Boston really came into their own.

I think he won 15-17 games or so in a row against the Senators. We finally beat him 1-0.

I'm going against the grain, so obviously onus is on me to provide reasons to back up my challenge. That said, wins are a team stat and him having good numbers doesn't really combat what I said at all. As is well documented, the Bruins defensive system at the time was to allow lots of low danger shots and few high danger shots, thus inflating stats.

Let's also not forget he sucked in 2010, a year after winning the Vezina...

 

[Zaddy]

There's been a lot of good ones mentioned already, one I'd like to add is that I believe the vast majority of NHL scouts are incredibly overrated in their ability to evaluate and project talent. There are some very good scouts out there but they're few and far between. Mostly it's an old boys club where you get the job based on your connections and not your merits.

 

[Filthy Dangles]

Chip n chase can actually be very exciting. I like little tip/chip plays coming out of or into the zone.

I love the play where a winger is standing on the offensive blue line with a D right on him and tips the stretch pass off the boards into the corner, the center or backside winger comes across to race for the puck. Not to mention you mitigate a lot of risk defensively by avoiding a turn over.

 

[Flying Dego]

Kinda hypothetical but...

Evgeni Malkin would win the Hart decisively if Crosby were out majority of this season. He turns into a different animal when Crosby is out and he reminds you of how special a talent he really is.

 

[Elias GOATtersson]

Lol, Boston never had Savard and won 4/5 essentially
w/o Horton but only Canucks had injuries...lol.

Canucks were lucky to take it to 7. Shouldn't have
gone past 5.

All the canucks were broken! Lu was the only reason it went 7 (I think the canucks scored 4 goals total in their wins or something), but without the injuries it would've been nucks in 3 easy

 

[Channelcat]

32 teams is too much, its fun, but there to much teams. The leuage gets watered out in talent. To few teams go in playoff, If they don create a 32 team playoff schedule.

But worse teams = worse defence, wich maybe saves the sports. We can see 130 pt players, and 50+ goalscorers - except Ovechkin again.

Even 30 teams is too much, and 82 games is way too much. But, NHL seems only about revenue.

 

[Pookie]

If a call in the game doesn’t go your way, it’s not a conspiracy against your team.

 

[Crabapple]

If a call in the game doesn’t go your way, it’s not a conspiracy against your team.

This, except for my favorite team. Then it's true.

 

[tom990]

The Ice should be light blue, like in NHL 94 game etc

to cut down on eyestrain and headaches some people get when trying to watch hockey on TV

 

[NyQuil]

Icing should still be called when killing penalties.

 

[ruaware41]

The human species is naturally archaic and savage. As much as people sitting on a computer screen want to scream into the void about outdated hockey culture it will never truly change and even if it does it will have other consequences. There's very few people in this world who don't partake in these mind games and hierarchies, even if a lot of these are done subconsciously. Initiation rituals have been used throughout the course of human history, probably by every tribe. I notice this kind of stuff over and over and over in my life, it's just how we seem to be wired, especially as men. As soon as I start being too nice to people they almost always instead of appreciating and returning the favour, it's as if this light switch goes off in their head and their only goal becomes to exploit me. People exploit the weak/kind. These kind of primal elements will never change. Also things are even more of an issue in other sports yet hockey seems to be the one taking the brunt of it right now.

Everyone calls everything abuse these days. Marner is asked to write a list and then shamed and that is abuse apparently. I saw a FB video where a guy was throwing lots of candy into the air to kids who knocked on Halloween and a bunch of helicopter parents started yelling child abuse and saying he could injure the kids!

On one hand hazing and the like goes too far, on the other hand micro analyzing everything to ensure the child never faces any adversity or hardship because "awwww cute child" causes long term damage in all likelihood when they face the real world. Viewing the child as just "awww sew cute" without any long term thought into the idea that the child will be an adult one day is probably not optimal for increasing your odds of raising a happy and successful person. Statistics about children (boys) from single mother households do not lie. Anxiety, mental illness in general are through the roof and keeping children in bubble wraps probably doesn't help that. As someone who actually grew up in an abusive environment with lots of physical abuse, seeing people call everything abuse cheapens the word which is sad. I mean I'll read Reddit threads where some chick posted about how her guy called her fat indirectly once and everyone comes running in yelling abuse and brainwashes her to end a potentially great relationship.

Yes Babcock is a dick, but he didn't run over your cat. Also it's hypocritical for people like Carcillo to be Mr Nice guy now and call every little thing in the hockey world a huge wrongdoing when his whole career he was a massive dick on the ice. Seems like the weed has damaged him

 

[Leksand]

The human species is naturally archaic and savage. As much as people sitting on a computer screen want to scream into the void about outdated hockey culture it will never truly change and even if it does it will have other consequences. There's very few people in this world who don't partake in these mind games and hierarchies, even if a lot of these are done subconsciously. Initiation rituals have been used throughout the course of human history, probably by every tribe. I notice this kind of stuff over and over and over in my life, it's just how we seem to be wired, especially as men. As soon as I start being too nice to people they almost always instead of appreciating and returning the favour, it's as if this light switch goes off in their head and their only goal becomes to exploit me. People exploit the weak/kind. These kind of primal elements will never change. Also things are even more of an issue in other sports yet hockey seems to be the one taking the brunt of it right now.

Everyone calls everything abuse these days. Marner is asked to write a list and then shamed and that is abuse apparently. I saw a FB video where a guy was throwing lots of candy into the air to kids who knocked on Halloween and a bunch of helicopter parents started yelling child abuse and saying he could injure the kids!

On one hand hazing and the like goes too far, on the other hand micro analyzing everything to ensure the child never faces any adversity or hardship because "awwww cute child" causes long term damage in all likelihood when they face the real world. Viewing the child as just "awww sew cute" without any long term thought into the idea that the child will be an adult one day is probably not optimal for increasing your odds of raising a happy and successful person. Statistics about children (boys) from single mother households do not lie. Anxiety, mental illness in general are through the roof and keeping children in bubble wraps probably doesn't help that. As someone who actually grew up in an abusive environment with lots of physical abuse, seeing people call everything abuse cheapens the word which is sad. I mean I'll read Reddit threads where some chick posted about how her guy called her fat indirectly once and everyone comes running in yelling abuse and brainwashes her to end a potentially great relationship.

Yes Babcock is a dick, but he didn't run over your cat. Also it's hypocritical for people like Carcillo to be Mr Nice guy now and call every little thing in the hockey world a huge wrongdoing when his whole career he was a massive dick on the ice. Seems like the weed has damaged him

So, putting aside your general points about child raising / helicopter parents etc.. Do you think how Marner was treated as a rookie by his coach was acceptable? Was it perhaps not good coaching but within the boundaries of what one would expect from a coach? To me it is not acceptable. Maybe abusive is too strong if it diminishes what you went through as a child of abusive parent(s) , but it could still not be right. Related, for a coach it’s unacceptable to use racial slurs against minority players as part of the toolkit. Yet, it’s probably preferable than having your drunk dad beat you, your siblings, and your mother up on a regular basis year and year out.

 

[ruaware41]

So, putting aside your general points about child raising / helicopter parents etc.. Do you think how Marner was treated as a rookie by his coach was acceptable? Was it perhaps not good coaching but within the boundaries of what one would expect from a coach? To me it is not acceptable. Maybe abusive is too strong if it diminishes what you went through as a child of abusive parent(s) , but it could still not be right. Related, for a coach it’s unacceptable to use racial slurs against minority players as part of the toolkit. Yet, it’s probably preferable than having your drunk dad beat you, your siblings, and your mother up on a regular basis year and year out.

It was not acceptable and a shitty thing to do but within the boundaries of "sucks but comes with the territory unfortunately." Abuse is definitely a huge stretch, people face way worse transgressions and manipulation from their bosses at work and families. You can't just address every shitty thing someone does as abuse.

Yes the racial slurs are completely unacceptable but that's a whole different can of worms. I think there are a lot of problems with that word. The rationale behind some arguments are extremely immature and frankly childish. Without going into much details basically: "if you cannot respect yourself how can you expect others to?" I personally do not associate myself with anyone who says that word. It is unacceptable to me for someone to call me that word regardless of their race. Especially when they expect me not to say it. I have tons of friends who wouldn't face consequences from using that word who appreciate and agree with my perspective on this fwiw. This is not in reference to this incident in particular which was way worse than what Babcock did and probably something that should've been dealt with then.

 

[Fixxer]

Carey Price had an unbelievable 2 years, but his “legacy” is utterly inflated. I always see “best goalie in the world” but feel he is overrated due to his Canadian background.

Guy had amazing talent and potential, but his numbers (especially in playoffs) are pedestrian in the playoffs and his overall numbers are...meh. People discuss HOF with Price and I’m always baffled by that notion.

As a Habs fan, Price has been good, average and great most of his career. Elite a little bit before the 2014 Olympics up until his injury in late 2015. He was the best for a bit over a year. He had too many ups and downs to be the true undisputed #1 goalie during his time in the NHL. Guys like Lundqvist are comparable, more consistent but maybe not as high as a peak I believe. ?

 

[Jacoby4HOF66]

Grown men trying to fist fight while wearing skates on a sheet of ice is dumb.

 

[Dradavich]

Leon Draisaitl is better then Auston Matthews, and in general Auston Matthews is overrated. The dude was on pace last year for only 88 points on a contender leafs team, and alot of people think he's a top 10 player even though their are plently of guys ahead of him, Mcdavid, Mackinnon, Draisaitl, Crosby, Malkin, Kane, Kucherov, Ovechkin, Pasternak, Giroux, Gaudreau, Stamkos just to name a few

 

[Genesis76]

Calling Price an avg goalie, 9 years ago

 

[OVrocks]

Don Cherry is the GOAT

 

[Leksand]

It was not acceptable and a ****ty thing to do but within the boundaries of "sucks but comes with the territory unfortunately." Abuse is definitely a huge stretch, people face way worse transgressions and manipulation from their bosses at work and families. You can't just address every ****ty thing someone does as abuse.

Yes the racial slurs are completely unacceptable but that's a whole different can of worms. I think there are a lot of problems with that word. The rationale behind some arguments are extremely immature and frankly childish. Without going into much details basically: "if you cannot respect yourself how can you expect others to?" I personally do not associate myself with anyone who says that word. It is unacceptable to me for someone to call me that word regardless of their race. Especially when they expect me not to say it. I have tons of friends who wouldn't face consequences from using that word who appreciate and agree with my perspective on this fwiw. This is not in reference to this incident in particular which was way worse than what Babcock did and probably something that should've been dealt with then.

Thank you, that is a sensible response. I just think I see the Marner incident as worse than you do, as common as it may be. And, yes, the racial slurs are a different can of worms even if I don’t understand exactly what you’re saying . Seems we agree it’s all quite problematic but still very gray not black and white.

 

[Summer Rose]

The officiating in the NHL is good.

 

[32hunter]

Based on that timeline, you missed the 80’s and early 90’s when it was the best product.... with the best hair.

80's t0 early 90's was what I was thinking great offence great goalies and still lots of rough stuff.