What's Your Most Controversial Hockey Opinion?

[Howboutthempanthers]

I want more skating with the puck through the neutral zone and end to end rushes rather than passes that get tipped off into boring long dump and chases or missed passes that lead to icing.

Players should be relying on their skills to get the puck up the ice, rather than hoping for a hail mary to connect. Yes, passing is a skill, but it has eliminated a lot of skills and strategies in the transition.

Goal scoring went down since the rule was taken out in 2005.

You make a good point.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Goal scoring went down since the rule was taken out in 2005.

But that trend is driven by PPs plummetting since their high in 2006. Scoring rates are up at both ES and PP... it's just a lack of PP opportunities. Re-inserting the red line wouldn't help anything and would almost certainly drive scoring rates back down again.

Edit:

Here's how much the top-10 minor penalties called in 2010 dropped during the following decade:

Hooking - 58%
Tripping - 24%
Roughing - 65%
Interference - 48%
Holding - 49%
Slashing - 35%
High-sticking - 45%
Cross-checking - 62%
Delay of game - 52%
Boarding - 80%

Some of that could be chalked up to changes in enforcement (e.g. suspensions for boarding)

 

[YEM]

It hooked me as a kid. Sure it was iffy and didn't work as it was supposed to more often than not, but when it did work it was amazing for novice hockey fans who tend to have difficulty following the puck especially in quick zone transitions. My 5 year old son LOVES hockey but he can't follow the puck live at all. I actually pause the game and point out where it is and show him how to predict where it's going based on body language and the players around the carrier. When the puck is hidden behind the boards I just tell him to wait for it to reappear lol

agreed
the technology obviously exists now to make it excellent

 

[Shruggs Peterson]

NHL teams should stop lying about the players heights and weights

 

[FreddyX]

My controversial opinion is that hooking, tripping, interference, roughing and holding shouldn't be penalized.

The only things that should be penalized are fighting, boarding, crosschecking and charging.

Also, no offside.

And I almost forgot. Outside the crease, a goalie is fair game.

 

[Mr Misunderstood]

Which would probably put more pressure on refs and result in even worse reffing.

I disagree.

If an official has the chance to explain him or herself, I would bet there would be some fans that would back off a bit due to actually receiving an explanation.

Also, it would act as a therapy session.

 

[tarheelhockey]

I disagree.

If an official has the chance to explain him or herself, I would bet there would be some fans that would back off a bit due to actually receiving an explanation.

Also, it would act as a therapy session.

World-ending controversies last 48 hours and are completely forgotten, and this happens constantly.

The best remedy to people flipping out over a terrible call is to let the sun go down and come back up.

 

[Terry Yake]

NHL rigged the '05 draft as a solid for mario saving the penguins

 

[Voight]

You're talking to someone who has 1128 NHL games under their belt.
But anyway I'm talking about the uber progressive pudgy 30-something year old podcasters or twitter people who seem to think analytics are more important than the score itself, the kind of people who come up with flaming hot takes such as "According to analytics you should just give the puck away to the other team" and who constantly feel the need to bash the "old boys club" and act as if some 30 year old math nerd is more qualified than people with any sort of hockey experience.

Reminds me of this - (the guy he quoted is an analytics pod cast writer guy who from what I have seen is an idiot and the exact person you are describing)

 

[Voight]

Breakaways would be fun

Marchand at the blueline

 

[OldCraig71]

I don't know if it is controversial or not but I am sick and tired of officials tossing guys from faceoffs, it does nothing but waste time, drop the effing puck.

Also, bring back the goons, hockey needs fighting, Kassian rag-dolled Tkachuk and it was the most exciting thing to happen all season. I want to see Kassian kick his ass again tonight hopefully.

 

[sabremike]

Reminds me of this - (the guy he quoted is an analytics pod cast writer guy who from what I have seen is an idiot and the exact person you are describing)

God do I hate when people make that argument. I'm not a carpenter, but if I see a guy build a chair with 3 legs instead of 4 I know they aren't a good carpenter. I'm not a chef but I know if my food is terrible. This same argument is used by people in wrestling to knock Dave Meltzer but if you listen to him he has a better understanding of what works and why it works (and conversely what doesn't work and why it doesn't work) of just about anyone and only fools dismiss his opinion.

 

[x Tame Impala]

Leafs should’ve traded Nylander for a defenseman OR not signed Tavares

 

[LuckyDay]

Hockey needs larger nets and the league needs to control (and inspect) all goalie equipment like the Indy 500. If goalies want, they can even have their crease rule back and the get rid of the stupid trapezoid to compensate.

The only downside to this will be the increase in larger goalies like in the NBA.

Also, no limit to curves on sticks. Why are there limits in the first place?

 

[berlin]

I know it’s sac-religious but I’d like to see a 72 game season to help eliminate back2backs.

 

[Voight]

God do I hate when people make that argument. I'm not a carpenter, but if I see a guy build a chair with 3 legs instead of 4 I know they aren't a good carpenter. I'm not a chef but I know if my food is terrible. This same argument is used by people in wrestling to knock Dave Meltzer but if you listen to him he has a better understanding of what works and why it works (and conversely what doesn't work and why it doesn't work) of just about anyone and only fools dismiss his opinion.

I think Prust meant that some people will take a writer/stat guys word as if it came from God himself and won't really acknowledge or listen to what someone whos played the game says.

 

[Limeyjim]

The biggest problem in the NHL is the commissioner. Gary Bettman came from the NBA to be the NHL commissioner, and he has destroyed the game during his tenure.
If he was to be replaced and a Canadian was hired to fill that role, I'm sure that "shoot-outs" would be removed. The NHL All Star game would go back to being conference versus conference during a full 5 on 5 hockey game (including defence, which doesn't exist anymore), and the game wouldn't look like a f**king skills competition!
Gary Bettman has placed teams in NBA cities, rather than consider cities in Canada (who have been requesting teams for decades), I know that Bettman is only looking to make more money for the NHL, but towns like Phoenix-Tampa-Miami etc. drawn little to no attention from the fans in those areas (they're NBA towns!).
Bettman needs to go!

 

[romba]

Also, no limit to curves on sticks. Why are there limits in the first place?

To prevent goalies from dying before masks were mandatory lol

 

[CaptBrannigan]

The biggest problem in the NHL is the commissioner. Gary Bettman came from the NBA to be the NHL commissioner, and he has destroyed the game during his tenure.
If he was to be replaced and a Canadian was hired to fill that role, I'm sure that "shoot-outs" would be removed. The NHL All Star game would go back to being conference versus conference during a full 5 on 5 hockey game (including defence, which doesn't exist anymore), and the game wouldn't look like a f**king skills competition!
Gary Bettman has placed teams in NBA cities, rather than consider cities in Canada (who have been requesting teams for decades), I know that Bettman is only looking to make more money for the NHL, but towns like Phoenix-Tampa-Miami etc. drawn little to no attention from the fans in those areas (they're NBA towns!).
Bettman needs to go!

Lived in Tampa 20+ years, first I’ve heard of being an NBA town.

P.S. there’s no basketball team here.

 

[x Tame Impala]

The biggest problem in the NHL is the commissioner. Gary Bettman came from the NBA to be the NHL commissioner, and he has destroyed the game during his tenure.
If he was to be replaced and a Canadian was hired to fill that role, I'm sure that "shoot-outs" would be removed. The NHL All Star game would go back to being conference versus conference during a full 5 on 5 hockey game (including defence, which doesn't exist anymore), and the game wouldn't look like a f**king skills competition!
Gary Bettman has placed teams in NBA cities, rather than consider cities in Canada (who have been requesting teams for decades), I know that Bettman is only looking to make more money for the NHL, but towns like Phoenix-Tampa-Miami etc. drawn little to no attention from the fans in those areas (they're NBA towns!).
Bettman needs to go!

What Canadian cities could/should have a team and why do they deserve a team over the current American cities that have them?

 

[hmc1987]

Hockey was more fun when it was more physical

 

[BrokenFace]

The Minnesota Wild have a top 10 logo in the NHL. No team west of them has a better logo and the name "the Wild" is better than most team names in the league, especially for a late expansion franchise. Their jerseys could use tweaking though.

 

[Limeyjim]

What Canadian cities could/should have a team and why do they deserve a team over the current American cities that have them?

Quebec City, Hamilton, Saskatoon....I think that Canada should have teams in the NHL, the sport came from Canada. I do not like that the deep southern cities in the US have teams (which do not generate fans), yet the Canadian cities would be behind the teams throughout the entire country of Canada.

 

[Agent Zuuuub]

My controversial opinion is that hooking, tripping, interference, roughing and holding shouldn't be penalized.

The only things that should be penalized are fighting, boarding, crosschecking and charging.

Also, no offside.

And I almost forgot. Outside the crease, a goalie is fair game.

Wtf lol

Why would you want to neutralize the skill of players

 

[Falco Lombardi]

My most controversial opinion is that Alex Pietrangelo is the best defenseman in the league.