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frolichoek · 04-30-2004, 09:42 AM

I pretty much agree with what everyone has to say here. Part of me hopes that when hockey returns, it will take me a few games to get used to what I am seeing. I personally don't think we will see a lot of injuries to goaltenders if the rule is changed, mainly because goalies will not venture very far from the crease. I love the way Marty Turco plays, but I would love to see him have to make a decision to play the puck instead of just flying out of his crease for every dump in. It adds a really exciting element to the game that is sorely lacking right now.

Having said all of that, I am not a big fan of the reactionary rule change. It happens all the time. Scoring goes down, so we get rid of the red line, decresase the size of the pads, etc. and scoring goes up. Three years later, scoring to too much so they bring back the red line and decrease the size of the goal. Three years later, goalies are too good so they make them play with blindfolds on. You get the idea. I think the health of the league all depends on how interested people are in the games. Scoring and offense don't always equal attendance. The Texas Rangers are a good example of that. They built their teams in the early 00s around home runs, and no one came to the games, even though they were losing 12-10.

A study of the NFL would be interesting. They have fewer games (baseball and hockey should look into this), and they are the absolute best at marketing their players. This is the area that the NHL fails miserably. Unless you are a hardcore hockey fan, you would never know Joe Sakic or Martin St. Louis if they passed you on the street. And even then, you might have trouble. Betteman has to make the league something that people want to go see, to enjoy, and no one likes to see a game where the superstars (Sakic, etc.) are being prevented from doing what they do best by a guy who just follows him around and slashes, clutches, and grabs him every time he gets some open ice.

The NHL is frustrating to me right now, because some of the answers seem so obvious to me. I know it is easy to play armchair commissioner, but how hard is it to say "Hey, the goalie pads shouldn't be able to block every shot. Let's fix that problem right now."

04-30-2004, 09:42 AM	#12 (permalink)
frolichoek Tilted	I pretty much agree with what everyone has to say here. Part of me hopes that when hockey returns, it will take me a few games to get used to what I am seeing. I personally don't think we will see a lot of injuries to goaltenders if the rule is changed, mainly because goalies will not venture very far from the crease. I love the way Marty Turco plays, but I would love to see him have to make a decision to play the puck instead of just flying out of his crease for every dump in. It adds a really exciting element to the game that is sorely lacking right now. Having said all of that, I am not a big fan of the reactionary rule change. It happens all the time. Scoring goes down, so we get rid of the red line, decresase the size of the pads, etc. and scoring goes up. Three years later, scoring to too much so they bring back the red line and decrease the size of the goal. Three years later, goalies are too good so they make them play with blindfolds on. You get the idea. I think the health of the league all depends on how interested people are in the games. Scoring and offense don't always equal attendance. The Texas Rangers are a good example of that. They built their teams in the early 00s around home runs, and no one came to the games, even though they were losing 12-10. A study of the NFL would be interesting. They have fewer games (baseball and hockey should look into this), and they are the absolute best at marketing their players. This is the area that the NHL fails miserably. Unless you are a hardcore hockey fan, you would never know Joe Sakic or Martin St. Louis if they passed you on the street. And even then, you might have trouble. Betteman has to make the league something that people want to go see, to enjoy, and no one likes to see a game where the superstars (Sakic, etc.) are being prevented from doing what they do best by a guy who just follows him around and slashes, clutches, and grabs him every time he gets some open ice. The NHL is frustrating to me right now, because some of the answers seem so obvious to me. I know it is easy to play armchair commissioner, but how hard is it to say "Hey, the goalie pads shouldn't be able to block every shot. Let's fix that problem right now." __________________ Count me in, bra.