Quote:
Originally Posted by CliffFletcher
The worry isn't just that scoring is down, but the direction of the trend. Goalies continue to get bigger and better-trained. Blocked shots per game continues to rise. I could easily see a drop of another goal per game over the next couple years. It makes sense to address the issue before fans start to turn out, not after...
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First off, I do think that s reduction in the size of goaltenders equipment is a very good idea, but I do not agree that the current trend is projecting scoring to drop by another goal/game in a ten year time frame.
The reasons that scoring increased in 2005 had to do with a variety of adjustments to the game, and also capitalized on players' inability to make the same adjustments immediately. The drop in scoring actually occurred very quickly, within a three-year span, and scoring has actually been pretty consistent with only very small fluctuations from one year to the next since about 2009.
I think a reduction in the goaltenders' equipment is likely to increase scoring a little bit, which is fine. But I do not agree that the occasional additional goal is going to "improve" the game. Just as there are some terrible low scoring games, there are just as many—perhaps more—awful games that feature 9+ goals. The number of pucks that enter the net is not what makes the game great. It's how they get there and everything that happens when they do.
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