What's Your Most Controversial Hockey Opinion?

[Leafshater67]

The leafs could trade Marner 1 for 1 for Sam Bennett and come ahead.

 

[Breakfast of Champs]

Too much time wasted in OT 3vs3 with taking the puck back to your own end and resetting. I think if you take it back inside your D zone the whistle is blown and face off in your end

I saw someone argue once that if you take it back past the red line after you cross it,the whistle get blown and a faceoff at centre ice. I could be ok with that, 3v3 is so stupid and gimmicky as it is - and it's value is way over skewed since so many games go to OT. I would much prefer at least 5min of 4 on 4 before going to 3v3

Better yet, just go back to ties and negate a lot of the 3 loser point BS. Getting 2 pts for a 3v3 or win is a load of crap when a regulation win is also only worth 2. Even worse, the other team still gets a pt and somehow you have games worth 50% more total standings pts than others. Awful

 

[Oneiro]

Positions for the skaters won’t matter inside of 20-30 years. The game should be played in a continuous flowing fashion - the idea of a skater specializing in defense or offense gets sillier each day as a transition, skill heavy game takes over from static, set piece style of possession.

There is nothing dumber than seeing a defenseman get in on the forecheck, battle for a half second and then scurry back to his position because he’s “not supposed to be there.”

 

[Roo Returns]

-Rangers acquire Brian Rolston for the 2012 trade deadline and they win the Cup (yes I'm waiting for LOLs and I have thoughts and an answer ready).

-NHL should go back to the 1-16, 2-15, 3-14 playoff format.

 

[Space umpire]

The regular season should be more interesting and meaningful. Right now, it's a slog. I also wouldn't really mind alternative ways to earning points than just winning games. An idea I had is for there to be division-wide mini tournaments sprinkled in throughout the season, which reward standings points depending on how well you perform in them. It would at least make the regular season a bit more interesting.

Another one is simply to abolish the NHL draft lottery in its entirity, and instead to replace it with the system, where teams' draft order is determined by the amount of standings points earned while mathematically eliminated. That system would also likely have the worst teams picking first, but it would completely eliminate tanking.

I posted the points earned after elimination here a few months ago … and was trashed for it.
Instead of team’s management trying to lose to improve draft position they would be trying to win to improve it.
Nearly every game would be played to win. Especially in the later parts of the season.

 

[Space umpire]

Hockey was at 1 time played with 6 skaters and a goalie. Now it’s 5.
Within 30 years it will change to 4 skaters and a goalie.

 

[SheldonJPlankton]

The playoffs should move to a 1-32, 2-31, 3-30, 4-29, 5-28, etc. format.

All teams get their shot. Top teams play bottom teams. Extra games, extra money, lots more fun.

 

[SUX2BU]

Playoff format and the number of games played is fine

 

[Voight]

Agreed.

Baseball is much better suited to analytics because you have offense and defense separated. Pitcher versus batter. And one pitch at a time.

Hockey is everything everywhere all at once. So the stats need a ton of context and much of the time aren't supporting the conclusions people are using them for.

Not to mention "counting stats" like pitcher wins were often used to judge how good a player was. Certain guys who either played on really good teams or had long careers weren't as good as most fans thought they were.

-Rangers acquire Brian Rolston for the 2012 trade deadline and they win the Cup (yes I'm waiting for LOLs and I have thoughts and an answer ready).

-NHL should go back to the 1-16, 2-15, 3-14 playoff format.

......

 

[justashadowof]

The NHL should eliminate the draft, no more entry level contracts and every player is an unrestricted free agent at the end his contract. All with some sort of a salary cap.

 

[TampaBayLightning]

Goalie pads are too big

 

[Nogatco Rd]

The league is rigged against Canadian teams.

Do you think the draft lottery is rigged?

 

[yada]

The nets should be bigger like below, why not have McDavid score 200 points, it's time for Gretzky's records to fall. Records fall all the time.


View attachment 712793

Id be ok with larger nets but not blown up huge. Id be ok with a 2-4" increase in width and 2-4" increase to height. This allows the goalies to still have big pads for protection but allow what room there used to be between the goalies pads and posts.

If you watch hockey games on tv live youre doing it wrong. Why spend 2 1/2 hours watching a game when you can watch the same game in close to have the time 1:20 approx, you dont waste time at intermission and you dont get ads shoved in your face.

 

[TheDawnOfANewTage]

Hockey was at 1 time played with 6 skaters and a goalie. Now it’s 5.
Within 30 years it will change to 4 skaters and a goalie.

I’d be interested, but hockey and most fans are too caught up in tradition and how they think things should be. Baseball’s changes have been awesome, I actually enjoy those games again.

My controversial one is that Gretzky wouldn’t dominate today’s game. Everyone learned from him, he was ahead of his time, but the space and time he utilized so well have shrunk considerably. No clue where he’d be in the top 5 current players, but the assumption that he’d mop the floor with McDavid is mistaken.

 

[MichaelFarrell]

The NHL draft age should be raised to 20 and the first 16 picks should be up to a lottery.

 

[rt]

Regular season should be the same length but 65 games.

Also, triple the width of the bluelines.

Playoffs should be 1-8 format and re-seed every round.

 

[McShogun99]

Do you think the draft lottery is rigged?

Oilers would have never won Mcdavid if it was rigged.

 

[wetcoast]

Mine is to have a floating blue line like in ball hockey to increase the offensive zone and make it harder for the defending team to chip it out without icing the puck.

 

[SnuggaRUDE]

1. Big fat floating blue line
2. 4v4
3. Raise draft age
4. Automatic suspensions for injuries incurred during infractions
5. Penalties for delay of game are good
6. Instigator penalties have almost nothing to do with frequency of fighting
7. The NHL can't survive as a gate driven league

 

[catnip]

Hockey is a simple game, and skating is not difficult.

 

[ricky0034]

as long as they don't last long enough to cancel a season entirely the occasional lockout is fascinating to watch and makes for a fun change of pace

 

[HighLifeManIsHigh]

Hockey is a simple game, and skating is not difficult.

There’s some wild takes in this thread, but this might be the wildest. Do you realize how good of a skater you have to be to play in the NHL?

 

[BlueSeal]

That franchises should be granted to places that want and love hockey no matter the market size and can support the team financially. I feel we have totally lost sight on growing the game from a place of love over shoehorning or forcing it just because it’s in a money market with meh or hockey as an afterthought interest.

And yes, Quebec City is one of those places.

 

[Offtheboard412]

-I'd rather have a player like McDavid to cheer for for a decade than win a single cup. A team wins a cup every year, only seldom does a player like McDavid come along and dozens of teams will never get a player of his calibre, ever

I don't think I'd go that far with it, but I've always felt this way to a certain degree. I'm a Pens fan so I've been lucky enough to get to see both all time greats and cups. However, I'd gladly trade 1 or 2 of those cups If it meant that I had gotten to see Lemieux, Crosby and Malkin stay healthy throughout their prime years. Seeing all time greats at the peak of their abilities wrecking the league is more enjoyable to me than winning a cup. I would have rather gotten to see Lemieux and Crosby play full seasons in 92/93 and 10/11 than to have seen them win more cups in their careers.

 

[Breakfast of Champs]

The NHL draft age should be raised to 20 and the first 16 picks should be up to a lottery.

This idea sucks, why punish grown adults who can make a living in any other capacity? It's 18 for a reason, I'd you're a legal adult by the time training camp starts (Sept 15) you're able to play.

Look at what Crosby was able to accomplish at 18-19, McDavid too. Both of those guys were league MVPs before 20. Stamkos won a rocket at age 19 Matthews had 40 goals. MacKinnon was the best player in a playoff series, Pat Kane had 70 pts, Laine had 40 goals etc.
Lots of players are starts at 18/19 , including multiple award winners, why would we force those guys to wait an extra 2 years?

It's supposed to be a league for the best players , excluding elite 18/19 year olds would rob the league of star players, it's fine where it is