[Wolven]

Finally had the time to read the whole article instead of just sniping points. Organized my thoughts into Good, Bad, Meh.

===Good Ideas

Spoiler!

- Fix the standings and kill the loser point -
Agreed but instead make every game 3 points.

- Hybrid icing -
Agreed. Icing races are seldom interesting and have an unreasonable amount of risk in the play. I would much rather go to the no-touch icing with a fast faceoff and speed the game up even further.

- Fix the diving problem -
Do everything possible to fix diving.

- Redefine late hits -
- Keep the instigator rule, but tweak it -
- Keep fighting, but eliminate the enforcers -
All good ideas. It doesn't change very much but it does improve the rules.

- Crossover final -
I actually like the idea of re-seeding the playoffs once you get to the final 4. We often hear comments like "The Western Final is the real cup finals" because the two teams in one conference were both expected to beat whichever team made through from the other conference.

- More home-and-homes -
I like. Rivalries are always good in sports.

- Smaller goalie equipment -
Just approved by the NHL and NHLPA

- Close the salary floor loopholes -
I like this too. Its silly that the Islanders took on a contract just to make it to the floor. They should have filled that cap space with a productive player that could further improve their team.

===Bad Ideas

Spoiler!

- Longer overtime, fewer shootouts -
Disagreed. I love real sudden death overtime for playoff hockey but for regulation hockey in an 82 game season it simply doesn't matter. The idea of the 4v4 and 3v3 overtime periods is ######ed. I would rather go to a shootout immediately and make it 5 skaters instead of 3. Maybe force the shootout to be a team's starting lineup (3 forwards and 2 D).
People who say a shootout "isn't hockey" have apparently never seen a penalty shot.

Futhermore, what is the point of borrowing some random crackpot idea for a draft system and say it is a good idea and then take an idea used in one of the most popular sports in the world (soccer) and say it is a gimmick.

- Lose the puck-over-the-glass penalty -
Disagreed. The puck over the glass penalty looks bad now because players do everything they can to avoid it so it is usually an accident when it happens. However, before the penalty was in place players were willing to rifle the puck out of the rink whenever they were pinned in their own zone. Its easier to roof the puck out of the rink than it is to ice it. If the penalty is downgraded to an "icing call faceoff", I think we will see a lot more pucks being shot out of the rink.

- Make the nets bigger -
Disagreed. Making the pads smaller will do the same job and has just been done.

- Change the way we determine draft position -
All this idea does is change how teams tank but doesn't actually discourage tanking. Legitimate bad teams that need a #1 draft pick would be punished for not being able to win games.

- Go back to home whites -
Disagreed.

===Doesn't do anything

Spoiler!

- No more Bettman Cup presentations -
Doesn't improve the game and is really only a small part of the last game of the playoffs.

- Get rid of the referee microphones -
I would rather put better microphones on the refs

- Continue to enforce the rules against obstruction -
Its already in the rules. No biggie.

- Place a moratorium on redesigned logos/jerseys -
Cool idea, doesn't really change anything.

- You sign a contract, you disclose the terms -
The information seems to come out anyway.

- No more "upper/lower body" injuries -
I don't see this really changing anything.

- Fewer outdoor games -
Sure. 2 per year is good. Doesn't really matter.