If you could change the NHL.....

[FLPensFan]

To keep in line a bit with the other post about NHL officiating in the playoffs, I thought I'd take it a step further. If the NHL hired you as a consultant to provide feedback on what changes you would make to increase the overall health of the NHL (the game, officiating, discipline, salary cap, pricing, TV contracts, etc, etc), what types of things would you recommend.....or do you feel that the game and the overall state of the NHL as a whole is in perfect shape, and nothing needs to be done.

I'll give my response in a separate post. Interested to see the feedback here.

[Sure, Not]

Call penalties the same way in the playoffs as they are in the regular season. The playoffs is clutch and grab city. Stop the absurd NHL.tv blackouts. Go to the friggin Olympics. I'm ok with the cost of games, its very market driven. I've paid $40 for 100 level seats at BB&T Center, $70 at Amalie Arena, $90 at Nationwide Arena and $150 at PPG. I like the salary cap where it's at because you don't have diluted talent like the NFL and you don't have stacked talent like the NBA. Replay needs retooled, eliminate offsides challenge, add challenging a penalty. Other than that, limit replay, I like one a game with your timeout, replay has ruined the NFL for me. Also, firing Gary Bettman would go a long way to making the league better.

[Hugo Stiglitz]

Really good topic...

1) I'd make the rink Euro size to open up the game.

2) Go back to how things were the first few years after the lock-out. Calling as many as they can in the regular season and playoffs. Call the act, not severity.

3) Alter the repeat-offender rule. Accidents will happen and even the most respectful of players will commit some gnarly hits by virtue of how fast this game moves, but players should know they're not given a mulligan for bad hits. Suspensions shouldn't happen just because of reputation. Repeat offenders should be punished harder for repeat offenses.

[Durbano]

Proper officiating would be first on my list. I know it will never happen, but I'd shorten the regular season to around 62 games. The quality of play (regular and post-season) would increase, and the number of injuries would decrease. (As always, pardon my firm grasp of the obvious on the latter point.)

And I would fire Milbury.

[Hugo Stiglitz]

Proper officiating would be first on my list. I know it will never happen, but I'd shorten the regular season to around 62 games. The quality of play (regular and post-season) would increase, and the number of injuries would decrease. (As always, pardon my firm grasp of the obvious on the latter point.)

And I would fire Milbury.

Yeah... the league would lose way too much money if it shortened the season, but I agree that a shorter season would keep players from wearing down and becoming more susceptible to injuries.

Proper officiating is possible, they just have to WANT to do it and it seems that they changed their minds for some reason.

[suzinpgh]

Great question, and something that I've thought about often. I am prepared to be a one person focus group if anyone at NHL headquarters will listen to me.

1. Start to look for a successor to Bettman. He's been in this job for over 2 decades and has done some good things but it's time for his tenure to wind down.

2. Post a photo of Sidney Crosby in every office at HQ. Make sure that every employee knows that this is the face that sells the tickets to your league's games, brings in television viewers and revenue, and also provides you all with employment. It's not Matt Niskanen's face that sells tickets. Don't forget this.

3. Realize that the novelty of an outdoor game is reaching its saturation point. I, for one, will not attend any future outdoor games in which the Pens are involved. Not worth the money, the time, and the fact that you can't see a damn thing. I also got the impression that Bridgestone was not satisfied with the number of people who attended their sponsored pre-game festivities at Heinz Field

4. Set a standard for a penalty, and stick to it. Take the health and well being of your players in to consideration.

5. Be more generous to your players with their travel schedules. I don't know how west coast teams handle the travel, from time zone changes to air miles logged. If a team is scheduled to play 2x during the season, have them make one trip to that city and play 2 games in 3 nights, or something like that. It seems that so much time and jet fuel is wasted with the travel schedule. Recalling the Pens western Canada trip this season where, including a home game, they played in four time zones over five or six days. Stupid.

6. Deal with the Olympic matter and do so quickly. It's not about principle, it's about $. I do in a way understand their stance, because it is big, big dollars and sort of a shakedown, but time is wasting away.

7. Address the flaw in playoff scheduling that came to light in the Eastern conference this year. It's not fair and it's not working as expected.

I'll wait for your call, NHL headquarters. I'm here if you want to talk.

[FLPensFan]

So, I, um, have never been one to be long-winded ( ), so here it goes:

1. Officiating of the game
---I would ensure on-ice officials made every effort to call penalties of any obstruction variety. Specifically, things like when a player dumps the puck into the offensive zone, defensive players skating into the puck chasers line as a deterrent to slow down the player while another defensive player gets the puck. That is interference. Always has been, but yet it happens EVERY SINGLE NHL GAME and goes uncalled 99% of the time. Any attempt to use a stick in the mid-section or hands to slow a player down is a penalty. Putting a free hand on a player for the purpose of slowing them down or causing loss of possession would be a penalty. These, in my mind, are efforts made by players who lack the skill or position to make a proper player, and they are penalties. Players who occupy roughly the same area and speed (ie, offensive player is not ahead of defensive player by a stick length or at a faster speed) can fight for possession through body contact.
---Any on-ice official has the ability to call high sticking penalties, or penalties of an blatant nature (ie, a vicious slash behind the play missed by a referee). Linesman should not be focused on being a 3rd or 4th referee and looking for calls not made by the referees, but have the ability and duty to report missed infractions to the refs. This is someone in effect today, but used less often than it should be.
--High sticking penalties are an automatic 4 minute minor. Teams can only score once during this 4 minute minor. A 5 minute major is assessed for intent or when a cut occurs.
--At the end of each game, an off-ice official reviews each game where any questionable hit may have occurred, whether or not a penalty was called on the play.
--An off-ice official shall be stationed in the penalty box area. This official handles video reviews of any type.
--The goalie trapezoid shall be removed, and goalies may play any puck via stickhandling (taking possession of the puck) from the faceoff dots and back. Beyond the faceoff dots, a goalie may charge a puck for an attempted clear (possible breakaway and beating player to the puck), but cannot take possession of the puck.
--Clearing the puck over the glass shall no longer be a penalty, unless it is ruled a deliberate attempt to stop play.
--The "retalitory" penalty shall be eliminated. If two players engage in infractions, both players shall be penalized. If possible, without lengthening the game, the off-ice video official can review for retaliation and even up penalties after the initial call is made by the referee. This shall take 30 seconds or less.
--Goaltender interference can actually be called as a penalty. This has gone by the wayside in many instances with the reviewing of goals by way of interference. Goalies have a right to have their skates in the blue paint to make a save. If they are beyond the blue paint when contact is made, goalie interference can be called with no penalty to the player for contact outside the goal crease.

Actually, I'll break this up into parts.....gonna be a long one, so I'll stick to officiating for this first part.

[FLPensFan]

Really good topic...

1) I'd make the rink Euro size to open up the game.

2) Go back to how things were the first few years after the lock-out. Calling as many as they can in the regular season and playoffs. Call the act, not severity.

3) Alter the repeat-offender rule. Accidents will happen and even the most respectful of players will commit some gnarly hits by virtue of how fast this game moves, but players should know they're not given a mulligan for bad hits. Suspensions shouldn't happen just because of reputation. Repeat offenders should be punished harder for repeat offenses.

Only way they'd make Euro sized rinks is by passing the cost of lost seats onto the ticket payer. While it seems easy, the fact that refrigeration pipes likely don't extend past their current points in a usable method would make this one very hard to achieve. I didn't get to this part yet in my novels, but shrinking goalie equipment size and/or increasing net size by 2 inches in each direction would make a huge difference in opening up the game, along with your #2 that I touched on. Any attempt to impeded or slow down a player by getting in their line, hitting them without the puck, hooking them from behind, etc.....gets called immediately. Open the game up to be an offensive game, not a defensive one.

I don't know if I would put a full ban on the trap, but I would consider a rule that prevents those types of defenses where you don't attack at all. Similar to how NBA instituted a 3 second defensive violation.

Along those same lines, I would probably call a penalty for any shot blocking attempt where a player lays on the ice. If you can block a shot staying on your skates or by jumping, fine, but throwing your body on the ice to block a shot, or going down on the ice to play goalie in the crease.....penalty.

[FLPensFan]

Proper officiating would be first on my list. I know it will never happen, but I'd shorten the regular season to around 62 games. The quality of play (regular and post-season) would increase, and the number of injuries would decrease. (As always, pardon my firm grasp of the obvious on the latter point.)

And I would fire Milbury.

Eliminate blocking shots by laying on the ice, and headshots, and I bet injuries decrease too.

I also really don't like 3rd man checking.....that is, when two players are engaged and battling along the boards for the puck, and a 3rd player comes in with a full on body check to one of the opposing players. There's no problem with additional players joining the scrum, but they don't have to come skating in full speed from 20 feet away. This is a classic Tom Wilson play. When a player is already engaged and battling for a puck with another player, he's vulnerable. You aren't expecting to be hit into the boards out of nowhere.

[FLPensFan]

Great question, and something that I've thought about often. I am prepared to be a one person focus group if anyone at NHL headquarters will listen to me.

1. Start to look for a successor to Bettman. He's been in this job for over 2 decades and has done some good things but it's time for his tenure to wind down.

2. Post a photo of Sidney Crosby in every office at HQ. Make sure that every employee knows that this is the face that sells the tickets to your league's games, brings in television viewers and revenue, and also provides you all with employment. It's not Matt Niskanen's face that sells tickets. Don't forget this.

3. Realize that the novelty of an outdoor game is reaching its saturation point. I, for one, will not attend any future outdoor games in which the Pens are involved. Not worth the money, the time, and the fact that you can't see a damn thing. I also got the impression that Bridgestone was not satisfied with the number of people who attended their sponsored pre-game festivities at Heinz Field

4. Set a standard for a penalty, and stick to it. Take the health and well being of your players in to consideration.

5. Be more generous to your players with their travel schedules. I don't know how west coast teams handle the travel, from time zone changes to air miles logged. If a team is scheduled to play 2x during the season, have them make one trip to that city and play 2 games in 3 nights, or something like that. It seems that so much time and jet fuel is wasted with the travel schedule. Recalling the Pens western Canada trip this season where, including a home game, they played in four time zones over five or six days. Stupid.

6. Deal with the Olympic matter and do so quickly. It's not about principle, it's about $. I do in a way understand their stance, because it is big, big dollars and sort of a shakedown, but time is wasting away.

7. Address the flaw in playoff scheduling that came to light in the Eastern conference this year. It's not fair and it's not working as expected.

I'll wait for your call, NHL headquarters. I'm here if you want to talk.

Great responses. I had looked this up early in the year....Bettman is the first NHL commissioner. Before him, they had league presidents. I remember John Zeigler as the president back in the 80's, especially when as a kid I would by souvenir pucks with his name on the back of every league puck. Bettman has been in power 24 years, but his contract was extended recently through 2022. If he stays commissioner for the entire contract, that would be 29 years as the head of the league. Frank Calder was first president for 26 years. Calder actually had a heart attack during an NHL board of governors meeting in late January of 1943. He had two more heart attacks in the next week, the 3rd one finally killed him. Clarence Campbell was president for 31 years. Campbell was very sick whenever he stopped being president in 1977, and died 7 years later, ill for all that time. The commissioner is appointed by the owners, so, while a lot of people hate Bettman, the owners pay his salary, and they apparently like him. I admit the guy has done some good things for the game in his time as commissioner, but I also don't think the guy needs to stay in office indefinitely. The NHL seems like it needs a change to me.

I agree with 2, 3, 6 and 7....and 5 to a degree.

[ville5]

-Ban composites, eliminating the need for monstrous goalie equipment needed for enhanced goalie protection.
-Remove redline
-Make nets slightly larger
-3 points for regulation win
-A penalty is a penalty: regular season, playoffs, 18 minutes to go, 30 seconds to go....

[Puck-Lurker]

1.) Get the Olympics on the schedule, not in competition with the NHL.
2.) Larger rinks.
3.) Consistent penalty calls. Draw a line somewhere and stick to it all season and post-season.
4.) Break up the divisions, the east-west divide is enough. Artificially maintained rivalries are fun the first two rounds of the playoffs, but after that it hits a low. Invariably you get a match-up between two teams that don't have that much history in a conference final.
5.) Renegotiate the deal with the CHL regarding players going back and forth.
6.) Sirens after goals scored to be banned. They're lame, even if you support WSH.
7.) Have a continuous video review during games. If someone got away with murder, it'd be nice if the offending team went shorthanded a bit, even if it is 10 mins after the infraction.
8.) Stop murdering the Star Spangled Banner and O Canada. My ears bleed! They're anthems, hymns to be sung by a crowd, not a free-form recital.
9.) I'll stop here..

[RisslingsMissingTeeth]

I can't support positions that result in a lot more penalties called. What a completely boring game it would be if it turned into the NFL with a penalty called every 30 seconds. Now, suspension discipline I can get behind and I support the idea of post game review of headshots, even small ones to "send a signal" getting immediate 5 game suspensions with 5 more added to each subsequent infraction.

One more penalty one. Face washes are roughing. 2 minutes. All people who did it get the penalty and can be looked at with replay at the scorers table. I'd rather see more fights than little babies face washing with their gloves on.

Other things in this thread I agree with:
- smaller goalie equipment
- can't lie down to block a shot

Things I strongly disagree with:
- changing rink size
- pretty much most of the rest (I like Bettman, the Olympics are silly and injuries waiting to happen, let players play in the playoffs)

[MSL2]

Have penalties carryover from game to game within a playoff series.
It would reduce the amount of garbage that takes place at the end of a game when it is already over. Teams would think twice about it if they had to start the next game of the series down a man. Today you can pretty much do whatever you want and get a penalty for a few seconds at the end of a game that is already decided.

[ville5]

I doubt there's any chance of rink sizes changing. That'd mean the elimination of prime seating.

[Humperdink]

I would permit all 4 on-ice officials to call any and all penalties. The NFL does it. Still retain two designated linesman, but they would also have the authority to call penalties. Would there be more penalties? Yep, but the players would learn quickly.

I agree fully with the 3rd man engaging in a check. The NFL also does this with offensive lineman (chop block). These situations are injuries in the making.

[no name]

1. any new arena could be build with a bigger rink, not euro size, but a modified, 90 feet wide and deepen the corners.
2. Smaller goalie equipment, keep shrinking the goalies until scoring goes to a decent limit.
3. trade deadline day should be around mid season.
4. a new playoff system.
5. full 2 minute power play for stick infractions.

[Daniel]

To keep in line a bit with the other post about NHL officiating in the playoffs, I thought I'd take it a step further. If the NHL hired you as a consultant to provide feedback on what changes you would make to increase the overall health of the NHL (the game, officiating, discipline, salary cap, pricing, TV contracts, etc, etc), what types of things would you recommend.....or do you feel that the game and the overall state of the NHL as a whole is in perfect shape, and nothing needs to be done.

I'll give my response in a separate post. Interested to see the feedback here.

Officiating has been pretty thoroughly discussed. I think removing the instigator penalty and protecting star players would be a nice first step. People pay to see the stars, not the scrubs. The threat of a beat down might curb some of the nonsense and force them to play hockey. Not that agitating is bad, but some of the nonsense we see from agitators needs to go away. Removing the instigator would help.

Promote the league better, in mainstream media and sports outlets. As much as I hate Ovechkin on the ice, he's a pretty cool dude off it. Promote his off ice stuff. Promote Sidney Crosby delivering season tickets, and not just local media. That should be a CNN human interest story.

Protecting and promoting the star players nationwide will go a long way towards getting rid of the boxing on ice perception a lot of people have.

[FLPensFan]

I can't support positions that result in a lot more penalties called. What a completely boring game it would be if it turned into the NFL with a penalty called every 30 seconds. Now, suspension discipline I can get behind and I support the idea of post game review of headshots, even small ones to "send a signal" getting immediate 5 game suspensions with 5 more added to each subsequent infraction.

One more penalty one. Face washes are roughing. 2 minutes. All people who did it get the penalty and can be looked at with replay at the scorers table. I'd rather see more fights than little babies face washing with their gloves on.

Other things in this thread I agree with:
- smaller goalie equipment
- can't lie down to block a shot

Things I strongly disagree with:
- changing rink size
- pretty much most of the rest (I like Bettman, the Olympics are silly and injuries waiting to happen, let players play in the playoffs)

I can definitely see your argument for too many penalties being called slowing down the game. I think for the first few months of the season, it might be a little painful, but players will learn. It will take getting penalties, coaches sitting players for taking too many penalties, etc. But the players will learn. It is the fault of the NHL that it has gotten this bad, since they refuse to call their own rulebook and have situational penalties (less penalties in 3rd period of close game, less penalties when one team is blowing out another, less penalties in the playoffs). They did it to themselves. It needs fixed, and it won't be a simple instant fix.

Fighting....I am completely ok with fighting as long as it doesn't get back to the point of, I'm a heavyweight, you are a heavyweight, we need to fight just because. Fighting should only occur to keep dipshats like Dubinsky from wielding his stick like a sword with no repercussions. You want to run around not respecting players with cross checks to the head and blind side hits, you better be ready to pay the price yourself.

[no name]

I doubt there's any chance of rink sizes changing. That'd mean the elimination of prime seating.

it would have to be grand fathered in, like from this date all new arenas have to have ice rinks built to these new dimensions. You would have to go through 30 years until all rinks are compliant. but eventually it would come through. Some GM likened it to baseball, not all fields got the same dimensions it would be ok for some rinks to be a bit bigger and he didn't want Olympic sized he wanted 5 to 7 feet wider since players are so much bigger. I would like to see the corners deepened. Watching the WC on NHL channel, you can see it makes things a little smoother when a team is in their offensive zone.

one more change, line changes can't be made until the player you are replacing is at the bench. No more of this he is close enough.

[Cow_Master66]

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/chances.

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)

[Pruezy11881]

-Smaller goalie equipment, condensed crease area, nets are 5' x 6.5', no trapezoid
-Repercussions for officials who consistently refuse to call the game by the rules
-Players can't go to more than one knee to block a shot.
-Penalties go the full allotted time no matter what.
-3 - 2 - 1 point system
-Like to see a limit on the amount of penalties allowed to be committed by one player similar to NBA. Would force player and/or coaches to keep control.
-Reduce size of the neutral zone by moving blue lines back from the end boards. More room for the offense to work.
-If serious injury occurs from illegal check or cheap shot, player committing the infraction is suspended for the duration of the time the injured player is out. This is in addition to repeat offender status.
-No instigator penalty. Fighting still needs to be part of the game.
-Sensors in puck, boards, and net so that technology will assist with puck location/trajectory on goals and goals played with high sticks.

[Big Easy Pens Fan]

There are certain things you can't do and certain things you can do above.

Can't do:
- Bigger rinks. As mentioned above, you can't just reconfigure the ice/arena after it is already built.
- Go to 62 games. If/when you go to 32 teams, it would mean playing each of the other 31 teams twice. This would be necessary because the latest CBA dictates that East vs West games must be played twice (home and home). That would be the end to rivalries. And a ticket that today costs $75 would then cost $100.

Can do:
- Making the net larger. While this is possible but it comes down to the integrity of the game, which myself I wouldn't want to mess with. This is akin to bringing the fences in, oh 10 feet, in baseball.

One think I definitely want to do is get to 32 teams, 16 in each division. Quebec needs to have their team back. It goes in the east and, I guess, Detroit moves back to the west.

That's all I have for now.

Editing here: I definitely like your "sensors in the puck" idea Pruezy11881.

BEPF

[BurghThing]

-Smaller goalie equipment, condensed crease area, nets are 5' x 6.5', no trapezoid
-Repercussions for officials who consistently refuse to call the game by the rules
-Players can't go to more than one knee to block a shot.
-Penalties go the full allotted time no matter what.
-3 - 2 - 1 point system
-Like to see a limit on the amount of penalties allowed to be committed by one player similar to NBA. Would force player and/or coaches to keep control.
-Reduce size of the neutral zone by moving blue lines back from the end boards. More room for the offense to work.
-If serious injury occurs from illegal check or cheap shot, player committing the infraction is suspended for the duration of the time the injured player is out. This is in addition to repeat offender status.
-No instigator penalty. Fighting still needs to be part of the game.
-Sensors in puck, boards, and net so that technology will assist with puck location/trajectory on goals and goals played with high sticks.

Similar to your serious injury idea. Each team needs to submit an official player lineup each game, with C1 R1 L1, C2 R2 L2, etc designating the lines. If a suspendable injury occurs, the offending team loses the similarly ranked player for the duration of the injured players absence. Losing your 4th line hack for a week while Crosby nurses a concussion is not penalizing the offender.

[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.