How to improve hockey

[dumpthemonarchy]

How to improve hockey:

1. Goalies cannot touch the puck behind the net, it stifles offence

2. Make goalie equipment smaller.

3. No more icing the puck, or at least the puck must cross three lines, blue-red-blue. This would make the trap much more difficult to implement.

4. Cancel the All-Star game. It is a joke, give all players three days off.

 

[MikeyDB]

Nekked women....padded boards sponge pucks floppy sticks and no referees...

 

[marygaspe]

Nekked women....padded boards sponge pucks floppy sticks and no referees...

Not hard to guess you're a man! My fix for hockey would be to outlaw it. Not so much now, but when my boys were still at home, the two of them and their father turned into couch potatoes for the entire season........Now, thanks be to God, my husband goes to one of my sons homes to watch the sport!! Yeah! See, there is a God!

 

[MikeyDB]

Guilty

Nothing I can do about that though...

It was just my poor attempt at humor...I'm far more likely to agree with you in your sentiment to get rid of hockey. Although that's a drastic step since I do believe it's possible for the game to be played without maiming each other...

 

[marygaspe]

Guilty

Nothing I can do about that though...

It was just my poor attempt at humor...I'm far more likely to agree with you in your sentiment to get rid of hockey. Although that's a drastic step since I do believe it's possible for the game to be played without maiming each other...

Heh heh, thought so! Thing is, I don't like the violence, but I also didn't like the mentality that seems to go with it with men. They are downright anal about the whole thing!, especially "their" team.

 

[L Gilbert]

My suggestion would be to get rid of the pro league. Especially the paychecks.
I find watching the local kids is lots more entertaining than watching the 400 pro teams.

 

[TenPenny]

How to improve hockey:

1. Goalies cannot touch the puck behind the net, it stifles offence

2. Make goalie equipment smaller.

3. No more icing the puck, or at least the puck must cross three lines, blue-red-blue. This would make the trap much more difficult to implement.

4. Cancel the All-Star game. It is a joke, give all players three days off.

How to improve hockey: Fighting, out of the game, period.
Draw blood, 5 game suspension.
Deliberate attempt to injure, out for the season.

 

[MikeyDB]

Got my vote Tenpenny

 

[Kreskin]

More slashing, crosschecking, and fighting.

 

[talloola]

I am very happy with our "new" hockey as compared to the old "clutch" and "grab" style.

I would never want to "get rid" of it, everyone to their likes and dislikes, if you don't like it don't
watch it. I'm sure hockey lovers would hate watching a group of women sit around and sew, so
go and do something else then. And, by the way, I love sewing too. People do things they enjoy
and noone else should pick that apart, just because they don't like it.

My little contribution to change would be, "you can't ice the puck when you have a penalty",
and if you score a "short handed" goal, your penalty is over. What's the point of being penalized
if you can just ice the puck while shorthanded.

 

[Kreskin]

Talloola, I agree about the shorthanded icing. Why get a benefit the full side squad doesn't get?

 

[temperance]

Don Cherry goes on Style by jury

 

[Daz_Hockey]

How to improve Hockey, well, my friends would have a few suggestions, but here's the non-expleative version.....

1. cut his bleedin hair, it's too long
2. He really should move out of his Dad's (Hockey snr.) house, he's 25...come on
3. Perhaps he should consider odour eaters....his feet get awfully smelly
4. Clean his room for once (his mum's request)
5. Realise Socks should be changed more than once a week
6. Consider getting a "real" job and stop being a bludging student!!!.

oh sorry, wrong Hockey......you mean the sport lol

(sorry, Hockey really is my Birth surname...and is, as you guessed my usual nickname)

 

[talloola]

How to improve Hockey, well, my friends would have a few suggestions, but here's the non-expleative version.....

1. cut his bleedin hair, it's too long
2. He really should move out of his Dad's (Hockey snr.) house, he's 25...come on
3. Perhaps he should consider odour eaters....his feet get awfully smelly
4. Clean his room for once (his mum's request)
5. Realise Socks should be changed more than once a week
6. Consider getting a "real" job and stop being a bludging student!!!.

oh sorry, wrong Hockey......you mean the sport lol

(sorry, Hockey really is my Birth surname...and is, as you guessed my usual nickname)

That's funny!!!

 

[Kreskin]

Get rid of half-court tactics.

Many sports have been ruined by the gimmick that you need to get shots on goal right now.

Lacrosse died when they implemented the 30 second rule. In lacrosse the other team gets the ball and everyone runs back to their own net passively to wait for the opponent. The game was better and more popular when the defender had to go get the ball, not wait for it. Basketball the same thing. No pressure on anyone until there's three seconds before the shot clock runs out.

The CFL put kickoffs back to the 35 yard line to get more offense established. Now a team starts possession at mid field virtually every time by default. Nothing earned about it.

The NFL has it right. They moved the goal posts back ten yeards to make it more difficult to get a field goal.

Imagine if soccer (football) had a shot clock? It's a low scoring game. Not many shots on goal. Somehow it's the most popular game on the planet. Go figure.

Hockey is turning into half court sport. Put a guy in the box, have defenders stand by their own net and periodically flip the puck down the ice. Unfortunately they keep trying to sell this game to Americans but every time they think they're improving it for them fewer of them watch.

 

[talloola]

Get rid of half-court tactics.

Hockey is turning into half court sport. Put a guy in the box, have defenders stand by their own net and periodically flip the puck down the ice. Unfortunately they keep trying to sell this game to Americans but every time they think they're improving it for them fewer of them watch.

I don't believe the game is being changed for the americans, (maybe when fox lit up the puck, that
was so embarrassing for our game).
The americans will come out to a point, and we should just accept that, except for the north east
who do follow the game in large numbers, and always have, and I don't think Bettman is going to
be able to do anything else to create people to show up, the game should be put into cities that will
support it, but "Bettman" won't do that, but I'm sure when he adds two more teams, it won't be in
canada, but somewhere again in the u.s., cause that is where the money is, money to buy a franchise. I do believe that he will move the league to 32 teams again in the next few years.
I don't mind that, as there is enough quality players to support that, as the talent has improved
so much over the past ten years or so, thanks to hockey schools, better coaching, better equipment,
and much more preparation by players, and fitness. The players of old could never make any of
these teams we have now, with the preparation they did back then, and equipment,and
also the game is so much faster now, that many of those big goony players just aren't
good enough, and if you have noticed, they are almost all "gone".

 

[Kreskin]

I have no doubt that all of the changes in the last three decades are to improve viewership in the US. Selling the game to Canadians has not been an issue. Rather than take the hint that most Americans they don't care for hockey and never will the NHL keeps flogging the dead horse. For years it was "we'd watch it if the violence was taken out". OK we took it out, now will you watch? "Er..well..we don't like the slashing". OK it's gone. Now? "Well....we hate games in ending in a tie". OK, shootout in, ready to watch? "Ah...". The people who complain about the way it was still don't watch it. Ratings in the US have never been lower.

I've watched the game for 40 years. Skipped school to watch the 72 series. Quit a pt student job in 78 to watch Bruins/Habs series. Snuck in to Queens Park Arena nearly every game to watch the NW Bruins. Stood in line for 18 hours to get tickets to the 82 cup. The NHL takes someone like me for granted. Now I find most games about as riveting as tennis. Not that they need to do anything for me but they should be careful not to chase away too many long term fans while trying to appease people who will never watch.

 

[darkbeaver]

One bench for both teams
sharpen the sticks
make the rink round
a two kilo puck
steroids:wave:

 

[talloola]

I have no doubt that all of the changes in the last three decades are to improve viewership in the US. Selling the game to Canadians has not been an issue. Rather than take the hint that most Americans they don't care for hockey and never will the NHL keeps flogging the dead horse. For years it was "we'd watch it if the violence was taken out". OK we took it out, now will you watch? "Er..well..we don't like the slashing". OK it's gone. Now? "Well....we hate games in ending in a tie". OK, shootout in, ready to watch? "Ah...". The people who complain about the way it was still don't watch it. Ratings in the US have never been lower.

It doesn't matter if they don't want to watch, doesn't do anything to my life, doesn't do anything
to hockey in canada, rule changes have been for the betterment of the game, and I think the
game right now is better than it has ever been, and not poor at all. All the fans love the shoot-out,
don't know if they will continue with the existing point system in games, but I don't think they will
take out the shoot-out, it is too popular.

I've watched the game for 40 years. Skipped school to watch the 72 series. Quit a pt student job in 78 to watch Bruins/Habs series. Snuck in to Queens Park Arena nearly every game to watch the NW Bruins. Stood in line for 18 hours to get tickets to the 82 cup. The NHL takes someone like me for granted.
Why would you think they take someone like you for granted, I don't think that about myself, so
I would be interested. General Motors Place is full all the time, and my daughter is on a waiting
list for seasons tickets, and the list has more than 3000 people on it.

Now I find most games about as riveting as tennis.
I can't relate to that opinion at all, as I find it more exciting than I have for many years, so
maybe it's just "you", and not the game at all.
What would you like back in the game to bring back your interest, big slow slugs, more fighting,
holding,clutching,grabbing, or? , the game is faster now than it's ever been, the talented players
can show their skills, as they don't have to carry big cling-ons who drag them down and maul them,
the referying is slowly improving and the infractions are down now compared to last year.

Not that they need to do anything for me but they should be careful not to chase away too many long term fans while trying to appease people who will never watch.
No long term fans have gone anywhere.
Noone in Canada has been chased away at all, all attendence is good, so, no worry there.
The u.s. has two winter sports they give priority to, and
of course that is nfl, and basketball, so that's just the way it is, so be it, I really don't care.
But, I do think they need to address the schedule, they voted to leave it the way it is till the end of
next year, because that was the original agreement, and the eastern owners/management like the
way it is now, as they don't have the big travel problems that the western teams do, but they will
change it again, when this agreement runs out.

 

[Kreskin]

On the excitement scale that Flames-Canucks game ranked just above paint drying. Except paint has more emotion. I switched to boxing, it wasn't much better.