THN: 8 things that can improve the game

[ckg927]

Let's get some debate going....

1. Say goodbye to the salary cap. Just look at how Detroit is deking around it; they dealt Pavel Datsuyk to Arizona basically to get them off the hook for his contract and to get the Yotes to the cap floor. And THN's Ken Campbell adds that Henrik Zetterberg may have that same fate awaiting him when HE retires. Plus, name one major-market team that got stiffed by a major player going to a smaller market.

2. Less(games)is more. The NHL should take a cue from the NFL, where each game means a hell of a lot more than it does in the NHL. Jason Kay posts a 60 game season(2 games a week for 30 weeks); I'd go for 70 games over the same time frame. (Look, if the AHL can have 76 games a season...the ECHL as many...and if junior league can go with 68 and 70 game regular seasons...then so can the NHL. Plus, the quality of play will improve.)

3. Put another referee in the press box. Have him act as another set of eyes, focused on stuff that happens behind the play.

4. Get rid of offsides. Enough said!

5. No cheating on face-offs. The linesmen have a 20 second clock; if you're not in the faceoff dot and ready to go...well, too bad.

6. Icing when you're shorthanded? Forget it! You took a penalty, you should be punished fully for it.

7. NO MORE SHOOTOUTS! Instead, when OT hits, play the first 5 minutes 4 on 4...then 3 on 3 for the next five...2 on 2 for the next....and then one on one.

8. Change the point system. No more loser points for the shootout(see #7). Instead, a regulation win gets you 3 points....an OT win nets 2...and an OT loss gives you 1 point.

[OpIv37]

I've being harping on #8 for at least a decade. Each game needs to be worth the same number of points in the standings. No more artificially manufactured points. I really don't give a **** if that means they can't compare the 16-17 Capitals to the 91-92 Penguins.

[Mr. Pink]

No offsides is a terrible idea. You'll have forwards in this league who don't like backchecking already as it is, just standing in the offensive zone all game cherry picking. You won't have to worry about icing every occurring because there will be a guy just hanging out down there to either get the puck or force the goalie to play it.

All you need to do is clean up the clutching and grabbing in neutral ice, actually call it every time it happens until the players realize they'll no longer get away with it at all. And make the goalie pads smaller so there's more to shoot at.

Both of those will return the game to the more exciting 1980s variety of hockey.

[OpIv37]

Also I think getting rid of the cap is a terrible idea. The Leafs, Bruins, Rangers and maybe 2 or 3 other teams will just buy all the good players like the Yankees do in baseball.

[Ingtar33]

Let's get some debate going....

1. Say goodbye to the salary cap. Just look at how Detroit is deking around it; they dealt Pavel Datsuyk to Arizona basically to get them off the hook for his contract and to get the Yotes to the cap floor. And THN's Ken Campbell adds that Henrik Zetterberg may have that same fate awaiting him when HE retires. Plus, name one major-market team that got stiffed by a major player going to a smaller market.

nope. all types of nope. granted we have a deep pocket owner, so this might help a bit. but watch salaries hit nba insanity instantly when this happens. Only a couple of teams will benefit, and I can guarantee buffalo will not be one of them. What THN really wants is for when McDavid inevitably ditches Edmonton he ends up in Toronto. However at this point, Toronto won't have the cap room to sign him, so they're already whining about it.

2. Less(games)is more. The NHL should take a cue from the NFL, where each game means a hell of a lot more than it does in the NHL. Jason Kay posts a 60 game season(2 games a week for 30 weeks); I'd go for 70 games over the same time frame. (Look, if the AHL can have 76 games a season...the ECHL as many...and if junior league can go with 68 and 70 game regular seasons...then so can the NHL. Plus, the quality of play will improve.)

until the NHL can actually keep itself alive with TV money, this will never work. Its the only 'major' sport that depends on almost all of it's $$ coming from the gate.

3. Put another referee in the press box. Have him act as another set of eyes, focused on stuff that happens behind the play.

because what the NHL needs is even more penalties. sounds fun to me

4. Get rid of offsides. Enough said!

I've been saying this for years.

5. No cheating on face-offs. The linesmen have a 20 second clock; if you're not in the faceoff dot and ready to go...well, too bad.

who cares?

6. Icing when you're shorthanded? Forget it! You took a penalty, you should be punished fully for it.

I can live with this

7. NO MORE SHOOTOUTS! Instead, when OT hits, play the first 5 minutes 4 on 4...then 3 on 3 for the next five...2 on 2 for the next....and then one on one.

this is stupid and even more artificial then the shootout. but yes, lets get rid of one of hockey's most popular features because... why again?

8. Change the point system. No more loser points for the shootout(see #7). Instead, a regulation win gets you 3 points....an OT win nets 2...and an OT loss gives you 1 point.

I'm all for changing the point system. Frankly they should drop it completely. Every game has a victor and loser, it should be like every other major sport and just go by winning percentage. No more participation points for overtime. If that doesn't work then yes, I can live with a 3 for a regulation win, 2 for ot/shootout, and 1 for ot/shootout loss. Still I think points are stupid.

[ckg927]

Ing, let me take on some of your points(in no particular order)...

7. Explain to me why a team sport has to end with a penalty shot-like competition. That belongs in team scrimmages for the public, not in games that count. (And we sure as hell don't see playoff games end in a shootout.) Besides, the vast majority of games under that proposal would never reach 2 on 2 or 1 on 1. It'd get solved in the first 10 minutes.

5. Would you like to see one team get their player tossed out of a faceoff and wait for someone else to set up, then see the OTHER team have the same thing happen, thus wasting time? Good. I don't either.

[Ingtar33]

I don't care enough about the penalty shot either way. I don't think I was even for it when it came in and it certainly hasn't made me watch more hockey. But by all accounts it's rather popular with fans. So why ditch it?


as for the face-off thing, I don't particularly care either way. I wasn't expressing an opinion about the proposal just stating my indifference to the problem (if there is one) itself.

[mightysimi]

No Offsides would be brutal. Not just the guy who cherry picks but also clearing the zone doesn't mean anything if it could just be dumped right back in and acquired. I'm on board with no icing the puck during the penalty kill though although I think you would just creating more face offs than scoring.

[coastal]

Reassign the Sabres to the AHL.