If you could change the NHL.....

[DelPen]

I'm not even going to get picky on calling the same rules in October as you do in April. I won't even go as far to ask that a penalty in Game 1 of the ECF is a penalty in game two. I just ask that they rules are consistently applied all game for both teams despite the score which we rarely ever see.

Minor other issues, but wings back on the crease and waive off icing if the puck goes through the crease, it used to be that way and no reason to not have it.

Allow the goalies to play the puck and remove the trapezoid.

Make offside be breaking the plane, no more toe on the ice or not, if your leg is being the line then you are clear. Its like saying a puck has to go in over the line on the ice.

Use the IHL scoring of all game are worth 3 points, you win in regulation you get all three, OT is split 2-1

[FLPensFan]

- I agree with the above point about Bettman. While I don't loathe him like some, I think a fresh set of eyes is needed. His lockouts and cancelled seasons have hurt.
- I think the playoff format needs changed. I would like to see the best 8 teams seeded 1-8, forget divisions. I like some of the unique matchups you get from other divisions playing each other. And it makes it more special when teams like PIT/WASH/PHI play each other as opposed to playing every year.
- Goalie equipment has never been addressed in any meaningful way. Do you really notice the changes to the pants this year? Reduce the height of leg pads, blocker/glove size, and the chest protector. The equipment should be for protection and not made to stop the puck. The league has talked about making changes since the 04-05 lockout but nothing ever gets done.
- Change the offside challenge. If a team scores within a few seconds of the alleged offsides, then waive the goal off. If possession changes, a goal should never be waived off even if the puck illegally entered the zone.
- Get rid of the trapezoid. Goalies should be able to play the puck wherever they want. It's a skill that shouldn't be taken away.
- Get rid of the double minor for high sticking when someone bleeds. Either make all high sticks 2 or 4 minutes. Extremely violent ones could get 5.
- Make it mandatory for players to wear a full cage for face protection. College hockey does it and it doesn't take any physicality away from the game. Too many bad injuries recently where players are getting hit with bullet shots square in the mouth. It would also reduce a lot of potentially serious injuries to eyes, jaw, teeth, and orbital bone.
- No touch icing(Olympic style). The icing rules is too confusing and puts too much on the referees to have to decide who was first to the dot. Whistle the play down once the puck crosses the goal line, regardless of who's first to the dot.
- Change OT rules. Play 5 minutes, 3 on 3. 2 points for win, 0 points for loss. 1 point for each team for a tie.
- On the TV side, get a whole new team of commentators for NBC intermission/pre-game/post-game. Most of the guys they have currently hurt the sport. They also need to start showing more teams like Edmonton and Toronto during the regular season. Start showing the best players in the game instead of a throwaway Buffalo-Detroit matchup every week.
- Another minor quip is that you should get NHL.tv at no extra charge if you have Center Ice. The MLB does it with Extra Innings and mlb.tv.

I like the international icing rules.

I also like the commentator idea. While originally, I was going to suggest a new TV deal/network, in reality, the fact that Comcast/NBC own NBC, NBCSN, USA, CNBC.....that is probably going to be the most far reaching coverage in the US. They just need to expand the amount of games they have on a national level. Use more of those channels, go to 2-3 more games a week, and use NBC channel suite instead of NHL Network, as lots of people don't have access to it.

Back to the commentators, they need to stop with this old guard crap and get some fresh faces in there. Milbury, Jones, Edzo, and Roenick are horrible. I actually don't mind the NHL Network guys as much for the intermissions stuff, guys like Rupper and Kevin Weeks.

[14Thumb]

While the TV contract is ok because it's under the NBC umbrella, finding NBC Sports is ridiculous. Especially when traveling for business, I often must watch on my iPad because most hotels don't offer NBC Sports. I actually like the early rounds of the playoffs when they leverage USA and CNBC...all hotels carry those stations.

[Sigwolf]

Get rid of the neanderthal image of hockey glorified by nearly every media personality covering it. It was truly painful to watch Hockey Central today and see all three morons talking about what a great job Ottawa has done playing the Penguins "heavy" and injuring key players. It's really pathetic when the goal of the game is not to play the game better than the other team, but instead the goal is to eliminate the other teams good players to gain an advantage.

I fully understand injuries will occur in a contact sport, but when they occur it should be viewed as a shame and a negative thing for whichever team that suffered the injury. To use injuries as a positive for the team that inflicted them is beyond despicable, regardless of whether that injury happened on a "clean" hit.

[Puck-Lurker]

I don't think the phantom point for OTL and SOL matters much this year.

I eliminated Overtime an Shoot-out points (losses) two ways.
One: with a 3 (reg win) - 2 (win ot/so) - 1 (loss ot/so) - 0 (reg loss).
And two: with a 2 (reg win) - 1 (win ot/so) - 1 (loss ot/so) - 0 (reg loss) -- treating OTL/SOL as a tiebreaker.

The result were two exactly the same brackets. The difference? Some home ice swapped in the east, three matches changed west, but all the playoff teams this year are in.

MTL - NYR
OTT - BOS (home ice changed to OTT)
WSH - TOR
PIT - COL
MIN - CGY (different matchup)
CHI - STL (different matchup)
ANA - NSH (different matchup)
EDM - SJ

[DelPen]

I don't think the phantom point for OTL and SOL matters much this year.

I eliminated Overtime an Shoot-out points (losses) two ways.
One: with a 3 (reg win) - 2 (win ot/so) - 1 (loss ot/so) - 0 (reg loss).
And two: with a 2 (reg win) - 1 (win ot/so) - 1 (loss ot/so) - 0 (reg loss) -- treating OTL/SOL as a tiebreaker.

The result were two exactly the same brackets. The difference? Some home ice swapped in the east, three matches changed west, but all the playoff teams this year are in.

MTL - NYR
OTT - BOS (home ice changed to OTT)
WSH - TOR
PIT - COL
MIN - CGY (different matchup)
CHI - STL (different matchup)
ANA - NSH (different matchup)
EDM - SJ

Add in the option for the extra point and maybe strategy changes to get a win in regulation?

[Mango Salsa]

I would change the delay of game penalty for shooting the puck out of bounds to the same as an icing. Face off in your end, no player changes.

Zero tolerance on head contact like in the USA hockey youth leagues.

No east coast game can start later than 7:30.

[the riddler]

- I agree with the above point about Bettman. While I don't loathe him like some, I think a fresh set of eyes is needed. His lockouts and cancelled seasons have hurt.
- I think the playoff format needs changed. I would like to see the best 8 teams seeded 1-8, forget divisions. I like some of the unique matchups you get from other divisions playing each other. And it makes it more special when teams like PIT/WASH/PHI play each other as opposed to playing every year.
- Goalie equipment has never been addressed in any meaningful way. Do you really notice the changes to the pants this year? Reduce the height of leg pads, blocker/glove size, and the chest protector. The equipment should be for protection and not made to stop the puck. The league has talked about making changes since the 04-05 lockout but nothing ever gets done.
- Change the offside challenge. If a team scores within a few seconds of the alleged offsides, then waive the goal off. If possession changes, a goal should never be waived off even if the puck illegally entered the zone.
- Get rid of the trapezoid. Goalies should be able to play the puck wherever they want. It's a skill that shouldn't be taken away.
- Get rid of the double minor for high sticking when someone bleeds. Either make all high sticks 2 or 4 minutes. Extremely violent ones could get 5.
- Make it mandatory for players to wear a full cage for face protection. College hockey does it and it doesn't take any physicality away from the game. Too many bad injuries recently where players are getting hit with bullet shots square in the mouth. It would also reduce a lot of potentially serious injuries to eyes, jaw, teeth, and orbital bone.
- No touch icing(Olympic style). The icing rules is too confusing and puts too much on the referees to have to decide who was first to the dot. Whistle the play down once the puck crosses the goal line, regardless of who's first to the dot.
- Change OT rules. Play 5 minutes, 3 on 3. 2 points for win, 0 points for loss. 1 point for each team for a tie.
- On the TV side, get a whole new team of commentators for NBC intermission/pre-game/post-game. Most of the guys they have currently hurt the sport. They also need to start showing more teams like Edmonton and Toronto during the regular season. Start showing the best players in the game instead of a throwaway Buffalo-Detroit matchup every week.
- Another minor quip is that you should get NHL.tv at no extra charge if you have Center Ice. The MLB does it with Extra Innings and mlb.tv.

I like the international icing rules.

I also like the commentator idea. While originally, I was going to suggest a new TV deal/network, in reality, the fact that Comcast/NBC own NBC, NBCSN, USA, CNBC.....that is probably going to be the most far reaching coverage in the US. They just need to expand the amount of games they have on a national level. Use more of those channels, go to 2-3 more games a week, and use NBC channel suite instead of NHL Network, as lots of people don't have access to it.

Back to the commentators, they need to stop with this old guard crap and get some fresh faces in there. Milbury, Jones, Edzo, and Roenick are horrible. I actually don't mind the NHL Network guys as much for the intermissions stuff, guys like Rupper and Kevin Weeks.

I think NBC presents the game itself fine, but everything else isn't that great. I like the NHL network guys much better and it's just a lot more informational than what NBC trots out there. I always thought the NHL needs a signature night or day like Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday or how Sunday is for football. Do something like Wednesday or Sunday night hockey with double headers or 3-4 marquee matchups with updates and hot stove stuff. Or team up with HNIC on Saturday, just something where they can get a national audience interested.

[dagny]

Haven't posted here in years (couldn't even remember my login so had to get new one), but felt like chiming into this...

Everytime I read posts like this, so many responses are around "more goals", where I think the focus should stick to opening the game and increasing flow/changes.

These are off the top of my head:


1) Have the long changes occur during periods 1 and 3

2) Eliminate all video reviews. I'm fine with human mistakes. Less extreme would be to only allow goalie interference reviews during last X minutes (5?)

3) Icing from behind defensive blue line, instead of red line. This would allow for dumps to come immediatly after exiting defensive zone; clogging up neutral zone would be more difficult.

4) Eliminate trapezoid.

5) Allow clean hits on goalie when he is outside of crease.

6) Icing when shorthanded (remember, only behind defensive blue line).

7) Eliminate delay of game on pucks over glass.

8) Eliminate hand passes in defensive zone.

9) Overtime Rules: Long changes, keep 3 on 3, eliminate shootout, tie after 5 minutes each team gets a point, lose in OT you get 0 points, winner gets 2.

10) Can't use timeout after icing.

11) Linesman can call penalties.

12) If team has a PP at start of period, faceoff in offensive zone.

13) Go back to announcing "diving" as DIVING.

13a) If a diving penalty is called, the player on the other team does not get a penalty.

14) Penalties on goalies would be served by the goalie. Backup would need to come in cold to kill until whistle(not including icing on his team as he would need to stay in until a "legitimate" whistle)

Quoted, late post approval from previous page.

[dagny]

While the TV contract is ok because it's under the NBC umbrella, finding NBC Sports is ridiculous. Especially when traveling for business, I often must watch on my iPad because most hotels don't offer NBC Sports. I actually like the early rounds of the playoffs when they leverage USA and CNBC...all hotels carry those stations.

Late post approval.

Welcome to the board!

[Southern Fan]

1) if infracting team doesn't follow into the zone on an icing, waive it off and treat it like a delayed offside. Would speed up the game and allow team to get speed through their own zone.

2) Automatic five for a head shot. Additional five (not a full if team scores) if injured player does not return. Probably some shenanigans, but whatever.

3) No double minor for high sticking. Nose bleed almost gets as much power play as a concussion.

4) Significantly cut back on goalie equipment size and reduce tolerance on crashing into goalies as an offset. Rewards skill and penalizes net crashers.

5) Ban air horns. Make Ted sell the Caps. Put shock collar on NBC sports guys and shock them when they say something stupid.

6) Like the long changes for 1 and 3.

7) Like the big ice but that might be a short term cost issue.

8) Eliminate the unsportsmanlike penalty for players mouthing off to a ref. They deserve the abuse.

9) Like removing the trapezoid rule but leave the line there and if a goalie goes out there he can be checked like a skater.

10) Playoffs - division winners 1 and 2 and the other 6 by record. The entire league must be getting tired of playing the same teams every year.

[blurryhaze312]

- I'll echo Mango's call for zero tolerance on head-shots. I made a big deal of it at the time of the incident against WSH, and I'm sticking to it.

I won't rehash my entire argument, but I will say that if you can get an additional 2 minutes tacked on to a penalty simply because you drew blood on a high-stick, an automatic ejection for contact with the head of any kind is fair punishment. You should be expected to control your stick and your hits. I'm all for physical play, but this is the only way I can think of to severely curb the concussion epidemic.

- Since others opened the door in this thread to tv-related talking points, I say you scrap this format of allowing streaming access to your product to ONLY out of market games. It's garbage. Charge a slightly higher price-point so that the local broadcast gets a portion of the cut; allow me to purchase a stream directly from them; whatever.

I'm not asking to give away the product for free - I'm WILLING to pay extra. I just want access without needing to, in some cases, subscribe to higher tiers of programming simply to get a LOCAL sports network. You want to grow the game, while also staying on the cutting edge of your industry? Allow more people to have access anywhere they want to watch.

- I used to be a fan of the idea of international-sized ice surfaces. The other day I caught a few minutes of the WC and I couldn't believe how bland the game looked, compared to the playoff intensity I watched the night prior. There was simply too much space out there to move. I suppose I'd be fine with a middle-ground between the defensive snooze-fest we encountered in ECF game-1, and the wide-open ice of international play - small adjustments to the rink as others have mentioned.

- Figure out this thing with ultra long-term IR. If a guy is retired, he's retired.

[Cu11en]

These are great responses, most of my suggestions have already been mentioned, so I'll leave it at this:

- Give more of a home ice advantage to the team with the better regular season record. We all know the lower seeded team just needs to steal a split in the first two games when teams are feeling each other out, and then they get 3 of the next 4 at home once things become more settled.

I would go
Game 1: higher seed
Game 2: higher seed
Game 3: higher seed
Game 4: lower seed
Game 5: higher seed
Game 6: lower seed
Game 7: higher seed

[Southern Fan]

These are great responses, most of my suggestions have already been mentioned, so I'll leave it at this:

- Give more of a home ice advantage to the team with the better regular season record. We all know the lower seeded team just needs to steal a split in the first two games when teams are feeling each other out, and then they get 3 of the next 4 at home once things become more settled.

I would go
Game 1: higher seed
Game 2: higher seed
Game 3: higher seed
Game 4: lower seed
Game 5: higher seed
Game 6: lower seed
Game 7: higher seed

How about lower seed (games 1 and 2), higher seeds (games 3 thru 5), then low seed, high seed ?

[Cu11en]

These are great responses, most of my suggestions have already been mentioned, so I'll leave it at this:

- Give more of a home ice advantage to the team with the better regular season record. We all know the lower seeded team just needs to steal a split in the first two games when teams are feeling each other out, and then they get 3 of the next 4 at home once things become more settled.

I would go
Game 1: higher seed
Game 2: higher seed
Game 3: higher seed
Game 4: lower seed
Game 5: higher seed
Game 6: lower seed
Game 7: higher seed

How about lower seed (games 1 and 2), higher seeds (games 3 thru 5), then low seed, high seed ?

I can buy that. It still keeps the 4/3 ratio and brings it to the higher seed's building for a 3-game stretch when the intensity of the series is really heating up.

Look at the Ducks/Preds. It got really intense by Game 3 and the Ducks could have brought all that back to the Honda Center for 3 straight games and avoided the Preds building entirely.

[FLPensFan]

Haven't posted here in years (couldn't even remember my login so had to get new one), but felt like chiming into this...

Everytime I read posts like this, so many responses are around "more goals", where I think the focus should stick to opening the game and increasing flow/changes.

These are off the top of my head:


1) Have the long changes occur during periods 1 and 3

2) Eliminate all video reviews. I'm fine with human mistakes. Less extreme would be to only allow goalie interference reviews during last X minutes (5?)

3) Icing from behind defensive blue line, instead of red line. This would allow for dumps to come immediatly after exiting defensive zone; clogging up neutral zone would be more difficult.

4) Eliminate trapezoid.

5) Allow clean hits on goalie when he is outside of crease.

6) Icing when shorthanded (remember, only behind defensive blue line).

7) Eliminate delay of game on pucks over glass.

8) Eliminate hand passes in defensive zone.

9) Overtime Rules: Long changes, keep 3 on 3, eliminate shootout, tie after 5 minutes each team gets a point, lose in OT you get 0 points, winner gets 2.

10) Can't use timeout after icing.

11) Linesman can call penalties.

12) If team has a PP at start of period, faceoff in offensive zone.

13) Go back to announcing "diving" as DIVING.

13a) If a diving penalty is called, the player on the other team does not get a penalty.

14) Penalties on goalies would be served by the goalie. Backup would need to come in cold to kill until whistle(not including icing on his team as he would need to stay in until a "legitimate" whistle)

Welcome back to the board. #1 is interesting. Never really thought of it. I like most of what you say. I agree with increasing flow. I've said it as more goals, but I think opening up the game with less obstruction would bring that about.

In the simplest form, you have guys like Crosby, Ovechkin, McDavid, Kucherov, Tarasenko....etc, etc.....all the skill in the world.....but any 4th line slug, goon, or career minor league can disrupt their game by interfering with them, hooking, slashing, etc. The game needs to be more about skill, not neutralizing the stars with minimum wage type players. That doesn't mean getting rid of hitting or physical play, it just means keep the hitting and physical stuff within the rules. I love a great open ice hit, and hate that a good hit on a good player results in guys wanting to fight. At the same time, I mentioned Tom Wilson and his 3rd party hits......the link below has a good one from last night of Neal nailing an unsuspecting Kesler while he was already engaged with another Predator. If it weren't for the linesman's leg, Kesler would have smashed his face into the dasher.....no need for these types of hits.
https://twitter.com/PeteBlackburn/statu ... 1250574336

[Southern Fan]

When Bettman retires, have the Bettman award where the player that gets booed the most by fans wins the award.

Sid will win until he retires

[Cu11en]

When Bettman retires, have the Bettman award where the player that gets booed the most by fans wins the award.

Sid will win until he retires

Bettman award...Nice.

[Big Easy Pens Fan]

One more thing I'd like to add. No delaying of hockey for slow ass golfers to finish. That could definitely have been avoided.

BEPF

[DelPen]

All head shots get a hearing and at minimum a fine. The money is going to go to the retired players who suffer the effects of head shots anyways. Even if the hit was unintentional you still get a mark of the hearing and at least the minimum fine.

Then when you go and hockey play someone you have a record and that can't be an excuse why you didn't suspend someone.

Eventually player X will have had 10 hearings for incidental contact and will step over the line. He will have shown he didn't learn and the one time he goes over the line he is intentionally flirting with he should face a heavy suspension.

[pressure=9Pa]

1. Four referees who rotate at whistles likes basketball refs. All have primary responsibilities (which shift when they rotate), but all have the authority to call anything at anytime. AS a basketball referee, I can assure you this cuts down on the "I owe them one" mindset. Since it wasn't your call, you assume everything was correct through that point and you call what you see. Then, call the game by the rules. Lots of powerplays are fine.

2. Divisions are fine for the unbalanced regular season, but playoff seeding is best division champ is the one seed, other division champ is the two seed, and 3-8 fill in according to record regardless of division. Re-seed after each round.

3. 2:00 of powerplay time awarded after a failed conversion of a penalty shot.

4. Ok to go to replay to assess or overturn major penalty - initiated by the NHL. Similar to college football's targeting rule. The game is simply too fast to get this one right 100% of the time at live speed.

5. Regular season OT - 8:00 clock. Play 4 on 4 until the first whistle under 4:00. After that a media timeout, and come back 3 on 3. Shootouts to follow.

6. Faceoffs to start powerplays go back to where the infraction occurred, not always in the offensive zone.

[Sams_Dog]

Great topic. I think about this a lot, mostly because there is so much that needs changed in the NHL.

I think the biggest thing by far is the culture that pervades the sport and values violence as much as speed and skill. Not toughness so much as VIOLENCE. Hits that are clearly outside the rules and injure other players are not only tolerated but almost encouraged in this league. That starts at the very top with the commissioner, owners, union reps, GMs, coaches. Players are guilty too but the onus is on the people who make the rules and enforce them. The people who run this league refuse to do anything that will seriously cut back on dangerous stick fouls, hits from behind, hits to the head and I have never understood why. The "old school" mentality is still the law of the land and until that changes players will continue to get hurt unnecessarily and the sport will continue to be dragged down into the mud. A new commissioner with a progressive approach to the rule book and discipline is badly needed but that commissioner needs to be hired by progressive owners who think differently. There are still too many old school owners and GMs who's biggest fear is that their sport will turn into soccer with guys flopping all over the place and feigning injury. I don't want to see that either but I think there is a balance to be found there. Right now the things that are tolerated in this league are absolutely ridiculous. Two game suspensions and $2500 fines are laughable. That's a bad joke.

Best sport, worst league. That needs to change.

[Cu11en]

4. Ok to go to replay to assess or overturn major penalty - initiated by the NHL. Similar to college football's targeting rule. The game is simply too fast to get this one right 100% of the time at live speed.

It's a good idea. College football has the right mindset; NFL unlikely to implement it because it'd be difficult for CBA to agree to it.

[PaLionking]

1. No icing while killing a penalty. Why give the team that's penalized a free out. They committed a foul & shouldn't be rewarded.
2. If you score on a delayed penalty, the penalty is still enforced. After all a goal can still be scored by the opposing team with a goalie pulled
3. Option to take a penalty instead of a penalty shot.
4. Consistancy in penalties called all season long including playoffs. Nothing more frustrating than watching all the extra penalties going uncalled in the playoffs that you know would have been in regular season. By not calling them it still influences the outcome of the game.

[Pruezy11881]

1. No icing while killing a penalty. Why give the team that's penalized a free out. They committed a foul & shouldn't be rewarded.
2. If you score on a delayed penalty, the penalty is still enforced. After all a goal can still be scored by the opposing team with a goalie pulled
3. Option to take a penalty instead of a penalty shot.
4. Consistancy in penalties called all season long including playoffs. Nothing more frustrating than watching all the extra penalties going uncalled in the playoffs that you know would have been in regular season. By not calling them it still influences the outcome of the game.

especially when the announcers specifically state that such and such would have been called a penalty during the regular season. That happened on multiple occasions last night.