This guy doesn't like the new rules....

[JD]

This is from a post on NHL.com Forums:

I dont know about you but these new rules have me &$^#ed. this european style of hockey is just figure skating with sticks. and now im hearing there gonna take fighting out. BULL(REPORT SENT TO ADMIN). Everything done so far has been a joke. the new rules take away the backbone of hockey turning out new players like crosby. *****'s. there doing away with the players that might not skate as fast or score as many goals but go out and build momentum and get the crowd going. im sorry but i dont want to see a bunch of panzies out there skating passing and shooting. its a joke. you change the rules to get more scoring but i dont see any difference. im still seeing 2-1 or 3-2 games. and these new rules are gonna bring more fans to the game. thats bull$%^&. hockeys gonna be back where it was thanks to the "fairweather fan". who only jumps on the band wagon for a year or two and doesnt appritiate the game. it makes me sick to think they would do sumthing like this. i say you start another league with the old rules for fans like me who like to 5 or 6 fights a game and the score ending on 2-1 or 3-2 game. its rediculous. i swear to you if i would see beckman in a parking lot i'd kick the $%^& out him for this bull$%^&. i believe he personally insulted the integrety of the game should not be commishiner but instead sumone like marty mcsorly. who might i add tapped brashears helmet and he took a dive, and you cannot argue with me because if you watch the tape god damn it if he got hit so hard he would have fell forward, not jumped back!!!!! But all i can say is the new rules is turning hocking into one big ***** fest and thats not the game i fell in love playing and watching.

What do you's think??

[Ebenezer]

the kid is 12...other than the red line rules the game doesn't look that different from what it was in 1982...other than Jagr doing well, that is a good thing...

[JD]

I too miss the fights. The instigator rule ruined that. I used to love when some tough guy would hit a goal scorer and the fighter from that team would go after him, I dunno. "Boarding" is complete, BS! And most of the time they are not consistent with the calls. Hard hitting will bring people to games. Especially those sitting near the ice.

[SkateZilla]

someone smoked a bad dubey...

[pyrrhonist]

Being pissed at the instinkator rule doesn't stem from the "new" NHL rules, it is something that has sucked for many years. The NHL just thinks it can pander to the "common" NHL fan, when there is no such thing. You're either a hockey hardcore, or you don't give a damn about hockey. There is no "casual" fan.

As for the NHL this year, I think it is great. I do believe the refs at times give phantom penalties just because guys are down on the ice (What's new?), but overall, the holding & hooking is called. That's not to say they're 100% spot on, because they're not. But overall, they don't allow all of the clutching & grabbing crap from before.

I think my biggest complaint about the rules this season is that they didn't institute no-touch icing, and that they have that stupid trapezoid behind the net for goalies. I think that they should allow goalies who can play the puck well (Brodeur, Turco, DiPietro) to play it. If they make the defense better for their teams, so be it. Maybe more goalies will learn to play the puck well, thereby evening the playing field? As for no-touch icing, it is needed, IMO. Brandon Bochenski separated his shoulder just recently as a result of a race for the puck, but got tied up going into the corner, and spilled into the boards, shoulder first. It was all too reminiscent of what happened to Marco Sturm with Adam Foote the last time there was a season, which knocked out one of the Sharks' top goal scorers.

Other than that, though, I think the "new" NHL is fine.