Bigger Nets

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

I think it is. When you dramatically increase the size of goalies, dramatically increase the size of their equipment, and dramatically increase their training and skill, you're effectively reducing the size of the net. Even with the increased power and skill of players, and composite sticks, scoring is going relentlessly down...

This is just baseless hyperbole. In actual fact, scoring in the NHL has been relatively consistent for the past six years or so. There was a big spike in scoring following the lockout, but this had entirely to do with the adjustment to the rule changes implemented in 2005. This was an outlier. I will agree that there was a substantial reduction in scoring between 1990–98, but in the most recent years, any reduction has been extremely modest.

*EDIT*
Does anyone honestly believe that an extra goal every game or two would make things any more exciting? I sure don't. The quality of a game is NOT determined by the number of pucks that actually enter the net. Entertainment in this sport has much more to do with great speed, skating, puck movement, and physical battles. Games like last night's are not dull because of the number of goals scored. They are dull because both teams are struggling with the puck, and a bigger net is not going to improve on that.

[AcGold]

I'd like stricter penalties when the forwards get hooked, slashed and interfered with. The problem isn't the equipment there's not enough room for the skill guys to perform while getting hacked and whacked all game

[Jacks]

Anyone remember Garth Snow and his "push up" shoulder pads?

He had something in his padding that any time he went down into the butterfly it would push up his shoulder pads.

[Caged Great]

Reduce the size of the goalie equipment, eliminate the ability to drop to the ground to block shots and you'll see scoring increase.

[BACKCHECK!!!]

Count me in on the 'reduce goalie pad size" bandwagon.

Make goalie pads for protection, not for covering as much net as possible.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by AcGold

I'd like stricter penalties when the forwards get hooked, slashed and interfered with. The problem isn't the equipment there's not enough room for the skill guys to perform while getting hacked and whacked all game

Wow, your head must have exploded during the 90's. Today's players have tonnes of space compared to the stars in that time period.


I actually think the game is ref'd way better than it has been for some time.


Put me in the goalie equipment camp. Reduce the size of it, and there is more to shoot at. I will also say that there can be a lot of exciting plays in a 2-1 game.

[undercoverbrother]

Here is a graph.


Graphs explain everything, nothing further needs to be said.

[King Theo]

I think goalie equipment should be cut back a bit as well. You can cut off the cheater on the catcher, and make the blockers smaller, even cut back the length of goalie pads. What is the normal size of a NHL goalie pads? 38+4?
Most of the time you cannot see a goalie pants because of the pads.

[AcGold]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

Wow, your head must have exploded during the 90's. Today's players have tonnes of space compared to the stars in that time period.


I actually think the game is ref'd way better than it has been for some time.


Put me in the goalie equipment camp. Reduce the size of it, and there is more to shoot at. I will also say that there can be a lot of exciting plays in a 2-1 game.

Yeah the clutch and grab then was bad but there is still a ton of stuff that goes on, little shots, hooks and grabs, whatever they can do to gain a small edge.

Compounding the issue is the wildly inconsistent Reffing where they'll change the standards based on the game, there is little objectivity and tons that players get away with. Imo it's the worst officiated pro league around and a game with not much room, high speeds, and huge goalie equipment should have consistent officiating.

I'd like to see calls against players made from a 4th perspective up above, don't take out the hitting but take out all the little stuff the players get away with nightly. Imagine if the skilled guys could go to the net knowing they aren't going to get slashed or crosschecked every time. Open up the ice, not the net.

[Fire]

I think most people that are against larger nets are those that worry that goal scoring records will become meaningless even though that's already the case. A goal in the 80's is not the same as a goal now. Ovechkin would probably have a 100 goal season if he played in the 80's.

Increase the size of the nets by wrapping the new goal posts around where the current goal posts are located. That will keep the height/width ratio the same and I bet most fans wouldn't even notice the difference unless they were told beforehand.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by AcGold

Yeah the clutch and grab then was bad but there is still a ton of stuff that goes on, little shots, hooks and grabs, whatever they can do to gain a small edge.

Yeah, noting compared to what it was, honestly.

Compounding the issue is the wildly inconsistent Reffing where they'll change the standards based on the game, there is little objectivity and tons that players get away with. Imo it's the worst officiated pro league around and a game with not much room, high speeds, and huge goalie equipment should have consistent officiating.

A hook in the 5th minute of the game is a hook in overtime.

I'd like to see calls against players made from a 4th perspective up above, don't take out the hitting but take out all the little stuff the players get away with nightly. Imagine if the skilled guys could go to the net knowing they aren't going to get slashed or crosschecked every time. Open up the ice, not the net.

Explore this more please.

[Locke]

At this point I'd be on board with all of the other teams getting a bigger net than the Flames.

Hey! Thats what we can do! Have a whole variety of net sizes and as a goalie gets a higher and higher save percentage he has to play with a bigger and bigger net.

That way we can maintain parity and keep scoring up! Brilliant!

[VladtheImpaler]

Leaving aside the equipment size, average human is 10% (more?) taller than 50 years ago. Increase the net proportionally. Look at that picture of the Isles goalie (Chico?) above - his shoulders barely reach the bar; Bishop's reach the bar when he is on his knees. And Bishop is now the trend in goaltending...

[Bend it like Bourgeois]

I'd be in for slightly larger nets and smaller goalie gear, though a 6'5 guy who can move is going to be bigger than any 80s goalie no matter what.

Does anyone remember when nets were slightly deeper and were made shallower? It looked weird for about a week, but now all I notice is gaudreau and Bennett using that space to their advantage.

I think the nhl should look for that kind of outcome. Hardly noticeable change that creates new things for players to use. You almost never see a player rip a shot from the top of the circles off the rush anymore because it's useless without traffic. So teams defend that way. fewer options = easier to defend = more predictable and less exciting. To me. If players could flat out beat a goalie again they have a new tool. They'll use it. it's not the extra occasional goal that matters, it's the extra 5-6 chances a game that become possible.

I would way, way rather see that than a parade to the penalty box or turning hockey defense into basketball. Just 1 opinion though.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by VladtheImpaler

Leaving aside the equipment size, average human is 10% (more?) taller than 50 years ago. Increase the net proportionally. Look at that picture of the Isles goalie (Chico?) above - his shoulders barely reach the bar; Bishop's reach the bar when he is on his knees. And Bishop is now the trend in goaltending...

Do you think the average human has actually gotten that much bigger over time? I think its just that back in those days any idiot could play in the NHL if they were willing to withstand the abuse and the punishment for low pay.

Calling it a 'Professional League' in the 80s was being incredibly generous.

Its come a long way since then.

[VladtheImpaler]

Originally Posted by Locke

Do you think the average human has actually gotten that much bigger over time? I think its just that back in those days any idiot could play in the NHL if they were willing to withstand the abuse and the punishment for low pay.

Calling it a 'Professional League' in the 80s was being incredibly generous.

Its come a long way since then.

5'6" vs 6'1" for a male I believe, and I think even more for NHLers. Someone else can do the research and verify that.

[WCW Nitro]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

If people want scoring so badly, why not just remove goalies and make the nets twice as big? Remove offside too.

I don'get this line of thinking. What is so wrong with wanting some exciting hockey? And it's just not the amount of goals, but how the goals are scored. How many truly "nice" goals do you see anymore?

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Bend it like Bourgeois

...I think the nhl should look for that kind of outcome. Hardly noticeable change that creates new things for players to use. You almost never see a player rip a shot from the top of the circles off the rush anymore because it's useless without traffic. So teams defend that way. fewer options = easier to defend = more predictable and less exciting...

I don't believe that this outcome is at all likely. A "hardly noticeable change" will produce nothing but hardly noticeable results.

If the League decided to increase the size of the nets by a post-radius (= 2⅜"), then I expect that for a full season we would see an increase in shots from lower percentage areas, and a net result of more goals. However, before very long, goaltenders will adjust to the new angles, will make these saves, and players will again look for higher percentage shots.

[edslunch]

Originally Posted by flylock shox

I'd be interested to see the numbers over a few dozen games if nets were increased in size by 1 inch in every direction (i.e. elevate the crossbar an inch and widen the goal by 2 inches.

It would be an almost invisible change, and one goalies shouldn't have a hard time adapting to, but it would also mean that every shot that hits the post today would be a goal in future. As tiny a change as it might be I could see it increasing goals by about .5 per game.

I don't want to see anything dramatic though, like bowed posts or a net that's a foot wider or something.

If I really had my druthers though, I'd expand the rink by 2 feet in every direction to improve flow and scoring opportunities, and would leave the nets alone. Great passing plays and skills are more exciting than goals, and the league is pretty stifled by the small ice surface.

I like this proposal. It doesn't fundamentally change the game or force goalies to relearn their position, it mostly helps tilt puck luck towards the shooter. Freeze current equipment sizes at the same time

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by VladtheImpaler

5'6" vs 6'1" for a male I believe, and I think even more for NHLers. Someone else can do the research and verify that.

No. The current average height for men is around 5'9". And no, the average height of men has not increased by any notable amount in the past 50 years. Yes, people are taller now than they were in the 19th century, but height indexes in the industrial world have levelled off since at least the 1950s.

*EDIT* Without looking at the numbers, I would expect that professional hockey players are a lot bigger today than they were in the 1950s, but this has nothing to do with average height generally. It has more to do with the revolution in sports training and conditioning.