Quote:
Originally Posted by undercoverbrother
Is scoring down significantly from prior years?
My recollection is that it isn't.
Is it down from the 80's? Yes, but as many have posted that wasn't "good" hockey.
I like the idea of serving the full 2 mins on a penalty.
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http://www.hockey-reference.com/leagues/stats.html
Here are the numbers. 97-2004 and 2010-2015 are eras of offensive futility the likes of which the league hasn't seen since the 1950s. So if you loved the scoring in the 50s I guess you have a legitimate argument. Arguments against 80s hockey alone are moot, look at 1960-1995.
The really telling number there though is save pct. Look at the steady climb which I would argue has a lot to do with equipment. Save pct has absolutely nothing to do with how the game is played other than how many shots are stopped. Hockey is hockey. But unlike 97-2004, this drought isn't due to boring games or the trap. It's because of massive goalies.
And what's worse, it's not great goalies like Hasek or Roy or even Belfour. It's a lot of arguably average goalies. I mean, look at the Flames. It wasn't much of a disadvantage to have a Hiller. In fact, I'd argue because of equipment and styles most goalies in 2015 are pretty indistinguishable from one another.