Sydney Crosby won't rescue the NHL

[Myers57]

I was reading the AP Story on Crosby being out for 8 weeks and one paragraph struck me:


The injury comes at a bad time for the league, with Crosby expected to be the big drawing card at Sunday's All-Star Game in Atlanta.

The kid is younger than me and is expected to rescue the league from its own problems.

People aren't going to start watching hockey because Crosby is playing, he won't rescue the sport.

I think the league needs to cut play from 5 on 5 to 4 on 4 to actually make a difference in excitement.

Problem is if it doesn't work, you just made a huge change to the game for little results.

EDIT:
Found this article on the Onion, didn't know the Onion covered sports:


Sidney Crosby's One-Goal, Two-Assist Performance Saves Hockey

PITTSBURGH—After a decades-long decline in fan interest that reached its nadir with the loss of an entire season to labor strife, the National Hockey League was rescued by the efforts of reigning MVP Sidney Crosby, whose goal and two assists against the New Jersey Devils restored the league to the heights of its former glory...

http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/sidney_crosbys_one_goal_two

[Dr. Lecter]

I don't think you go from 5 on 5 to 4 on 4. That won't make a difference either.

There is a problem: Hockey is NOT for everybody. Sure we love it. But it will never be a national sport. Never. It will not be big in Texas regardless of what the NHL does. Fans need to realize that.

The best thing for the NHL to do is to cut down the number of teams too. The talents is spread too thin.

[hydro]

I don't think you go from 5 on 5 to 4 on 4. That won't make a difference either.

There is a problem: Hockey is NOT for everybody. Sure we love it. But it will never be a national sport. Never. It will not be big in Texas regardless of what the NHL does. Fans need to realize that.

The best thing for the NHL to do is to cut down the number of teams too. The talents is spread too thin.

I agree. Also other ideas that I am sure are well know and thought about are making the goal bigger or making the goalie pads smaller.

[SabreEleven]

I think the NHL needs to do two things

1. Cut down on the goalies equipment all together
2. Call the ****ing rules that are already in the rule book. You can't TOUCH a player or get in his way when he DOESN"T have the puck. You can't touch him if he is going for the puck, he has to be actually touch.

[im4bflo]

I think the NHL needs to do two things

1. Cut down on the goalies equipment all together
2. Call the ****ing rules that are already in the rule book. You can't TOUCH a player or get in his way when he DOESN"T have the puck. You can't touch him if he is going for the puck, he has to be actually touch.

If they did that, they probably could play without helmets like the old days.
The goalie equipment was smaller back then to. Old school baby! :oldskool:

[RockStar36]

For as many fans as Crosby brings, his over exposure annoys the other hockey fans. Then again, I'll never stop watching hockey because Crosby is shoved in my face every two seconds.

The NHL seriously needs to cut back like 6-8 teams. Stop putting those teams in markets that don't appreciate hockey and move them up NE or to Canada. Sure, some Canadien cities might not have as big a population, but they will fill the arena nightly and be more true to the team.

I really wish the NHL would realize this. I can't stand watching games in PHX, FLA, NSH, and other cities like that. Just eliminate it and cut your losses.

[Dujek]

The NHL needs to drop to 24 teams as an absolute maximum. Stop trying to spread the fan base and instead consolidate itself in the strong markets it has. As well as the embarassment of good teams (Nashville last year) playing in front of half empty arenas it will reduce the dilution of talent that has been seen in the last decade.

The other benefit it will have is that I'll see better hockey. The worst NHL players drop into the AHL, and some of the players that drop out to make room for them
finally make their way to the UK and hopefully to the Belfast Giants (hey after one year of magic from Theo Fleury I'm hopeful we'll see a few more decent players over here for a final payday).

[ShipHockey7]

The thing with cutting 5 v 5 back to 4 v 4 is it will open an insane amount of ice. If you've ever seen roller hockey at all, I play roller, its normally 4 v 4 on the same size rink as the NHL plays. There is a lot more open ice for the players to skate into and more passing lanes, which will ultimately lead to more goals.

However, this being said, I'm not sure I am all for it because I don't want to see games that the final score is like 8-6 or just an insane amount of goals. It would probably attract a few more fans because of the increase in scoring, however I'm not sure that those fans would be ones that would buy any merchandise or go to a game other than the casual fan that goes everyone once and again now.

[Dujek]

Or they could make everyone play on a proper sized rink. Your NHL rinks are tiny, it's no wonder that the game is always so tight.

[Myers57]

that would take some hard core renovation at 30 arenas...

[Dujek]

True. But it wouldn't be as big a change in sporting terms as switching to 4-on-4