The speed hurts the game. Anyone here, you try doing anything around the house at full speed and see how that goes. odd man rushes on full speed and on bad ice are a disaster.
The NHL forgot that when they got rid of clutching and grabbing, the offensive player clutches and grabs too. You guys have played hockey so you understand. Puck gets dumped in and there's a race. The forward will grab the defender and ride him responsibly into the boards and then there's a puck battle. Nowadays the forward has to allow the defender to get to the puck then at full speed can either drill him (and most likely get penalized) or peel away and let the defender pass the puck out. There is no battle, there is no possibility of a turnover. No offense.
The quick faceoff, no line changes after icings, removing the red line. These all hurt offense.
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Watching the Oilers defend is like watching fire engines frantically rushing to the wrong fire
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