Fix the NHL

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by Cube Inmate

I remember an idea from many years ago... but can't remember if it was ever tried. After gaining the zone onside (at blue line), the offensive zone expanded to the red line, meaning defense had to clear beyond the red before offense had to tag up.

It sounds more complicated to call but ignoring that, what would it do to the actual play? At the very least, those plays in OT where the offensive team clears the zone and regroups would be less common.

I'd have to see this in action to figure out if it would be a good idea but if it were to happen I feel like they might have eliminate icing. It just seems like it would be too easy to trap a team in their own zone and it make line changes on the fly for the defense way too challenging.

[SaskyFlamesFan]

Get rid of offsides completely, chaos coming in to the zone.

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by wretched34

No more guaranteed contracts, make them performance based with option years.

I hope you are ready for a 2 year strike on that point.

You may as well ask for salaries to be cut in half and free beer for the first 20,000 fans who show up every game.

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

Get rid of the stupid delay of game penalty for the puck being cleared over the glass in the defensive end. .

I'm okay with the rule but they need to make the glass along the sides the same height as the glass around the ends so it's consistent.

Originally Posted by Macho0978

Get rid of the dirty plays in hockey. Some guys go careers without doing something stupid. Guys who are repeat offenders should get 5 times what they get in suspensions

Clean that up and turn clean up the I’m allowed to cross check guys in front of net or along the boards stuff. Then we don’t have teams targeting guys like mark stone or AP situation happening

Clean these 2 things up and get rid of fights. Just not worth it.

Would love to see the automatic penalty for head contact like they do in minor hockey. There is a lack or respect between players and with the increase in knowledge about concussions we need to get away from the mindset that hitting a players head is okay.

Two minutes for incidental contact, 4 if it's intentional (eg facewash after the whistle).

[direwolf]

Originally Posted by Mr.Coffee

they must have some data that shows that the more game management, the more excitement and therefore more money- but I honestly ####ing hate it with the passion of a thousand suns.

It is ruining the sport, the integrity of the league, and makes me view the NHL as more like the WWF than a real sports league to be taken seriously.

Call the ####ing rules properly. Don't game manage, pick and choose winners and losers, and intentionally turn a blind eye to #### just because somebody is down by a goal or two in the final frame. It's such garbage, everybody knows it, and the biases and poor officiating are by far and away the biggest problem to actually enjoying the NHL. They have, legitimately, tarnished an otherwise incredible game- and I fear it will only get worse.

It's okay for teams to get pounded 6-0 if that's what the outcome is intended to be. We don't need your invisible arm bull#### to steer it in a different direction.

This x 1000. Easily my biggest pet peeve with the current NHL.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by Snuffleupagus

I can’t believe people don’t see the difference, a junior player has no where to play after his overage year, if he goes to Europe his draft status slides and if he doesn’t sign an offered contract he goes back to the draft.

Simply put, it IS a loophole

I'm not sure what you mean by "his draft status slides" if he goes to Europe. Only players who play in the KHL have their draft rights extended indefinitely because there's no transfer agreement between the NHL and KHL.

If a player played the year before his draft in the CHL and then goes to play in Europe, his rights are held for 2 years like any other CHL player.

[lazypucker]

Implement the 3-2-1 point system now

[Barnet Flame]

Originally Posted by The Cobra

I hope you are ready for a 2 year strike on that point.

You may as well ask for salaries to be cut in half and free beer for the first 20,000 fans who show up every game.

If you’re at a Panthers regular season game, do you get 4 beers?

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by lazypucker

Implement the 3-2-1 point system now

Or just wins and losses like the other 3 sports. If your tiebreaking system is too gimmicky to make it a 'real win' then maybe you shouldn't have that as a tiebreaker. Baseball now puts a ghost runner on 2nd base, they don't make those wins worth less.

The NHL insists that making faux playoffs races drives interest. I'm not sure about that. There is something romantic about cheering for a really bad team and you might get a different type of crowd coming to games. The NHL's real problem is not being able to justify its skyrocketing ticket prices for such a poor on-ice product and in-game experience.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by CaptainYooh

My biggest criticism of the NHL is in its bizarre handling of the first three draft picks. Chicago with three Cups and getting Bedard. Tampa - Cup and then Hedman next year. Oilers - no comment. Every team must be entitled to draft 1st, 2nd and 3rd overall at least once in 32 years for their fans’ sake. It would be very easy to manage: draw for 1,2 and 3 overall picks and the lucky teams go to the end of the queues until all 32 teams eventually get their respective 1,2 and 3 picks. There would be 3 independent queues - one for each top pick. The original goal of helping losing teams rebuild next season is no longer working and can be tampered with/circumvented with little effort. It must be changed.

Keep the current draft lottery, but change how the teams are weighted away from the last singular season. Every team gets a ball for every season they miss the playoffs, and they lose a ball when they make the playoffs (and are ineligible for that year's lottery). They lose an additional ball for every series they win, and if they win the cup they lose all their balls. Same with the lottery winners, top 3 loses a ball, top 2 loses 2 balls, and the lottery winner loses all their balls

In that system a #### team like Buffalo should get their #1 pick eventually. And teams like Calgary that always try to make the playoffs but just suck at it don't get punished for not going full tank

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

Keep the current draft lottery, but change how the teams are weighted away from the last singular season. Every team gets a ball for every season they miss the playoffs, and they lose a ball when they make the playoffs (and are ineligible for that year's lottery). They lose an additional ball for every series they win, and if they win the cup they lose all their balls. Same with the lottery winners, top 3 loses a ball, top 2 loses 2 balls, and the lottery winner loses all their balls

In that system a #### team like Buffalo should get their #1 pick eventually. And teams like Calgary that always try to make the playoffs but just suck at it don't get punished for not going full tank

This is interesting. how far do we go as a starting point? 5 years? Calgary would have -2 balls. 3 out of 5 playoffs made, one round won. You'd have to make weight it with even more balls as teams would too easily get to 0. Maybe not lose a ball for just making the playoffs but not gain one either? Then Calgary would have 1 ball. Make it 2 balls gained for missing the playoffs? Then Calgary would have 3 balls.

[CroFlames]

Win (3)
Loss (0)
Tie (1)

Get rid of gimmicky overtime AND shootout. Games in the regular season should end in ties. But with 3 points on the line for a W, teams will guaranteed pour it on and you'll never end up with a boring tie game. So many times there have been great regular season games that get ruined with a skills comp.

Get rid of the trapezoid (I'll die on this hill).

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

Get rid of the trapezoid (I'll die on this hill).

I think they should keep it as a zone where the goalie can place the puck without expecting contact, but if they do play the puck outside, they are treated like any other player on the ice playing the puck.

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by The Cobra

So, if it's close it OK. Define close? No matter what criteria you use, they'll always be that "gray arear" between acceptable amount of offide.

Offside is meant to prevent cherry picking.

Offside reviews are meant to prevent egregious obvious errors.

Offside reviews specifically should have a time limit - If you can’t tell in 30 or 60 seconds with 4K resolution replays whether or not a play is offside, the call stands.

[Derek Sutton]

Originally Posted by Cube Inmate

I remember an idea from many years ago... but can't remember if it was ever tried. After gaining the zone onside (at blue line), the offensive zone expanded to the red line, meaning defense had to clear beyond the red before offense had to tag up.

It sounds more complicated to call but ignoring that, what would it do to the actual play? At the very least, those plays in OT where the offensive team clears the zone and regroups would be less common.

I think this was one of Brian Burkes ideas, and is how offside works in Broomball.
Burke is also for implementing the "bear hug" rule along the boards allowing for holding/ pinning players against boards instead of trying body check players through the boards, not inline with what the league is trying to accomplish but would be much safer for the players.
https://nhl.nbcsports.com/2013/12/20...bear-hug-rule/

As for the draft, Jeff Marek has the perfect solution, and it is tough to explain. The winner of the draft lottery gets to pick another teams draft position for NEXT year. So you win the lottery (Chi) you get to pick, say CBJ position and if they finish last, you pick 1st. If they finish 15th you pick 15th. And in turn CBJ who finished second last could pick any teams draft position (ANA) and if they finish last, CBJ gets to pick 1st , if they finish 2nd last, CBJ would pick 2nd. This would eliminate tanking and still ensure better draft positions to poorer teams.

[Bandwagon Surfer]

I think the NHL's main issues going forward, and really the issue all sports are going to face is: staying in the cultural zeitgeist with increasing competition for entertainment time & money. The NHL is competing just as much against things like reedit, minecraft, and netflix as it is against other sports.

1) Change the playoff format to add more drama and story-lines
Let the team with the highest points choose their opponent in the playoffs (go in order, highest point to lowest choosing until all match-ups are set). Do it publicly with an event between each playoff round, create a media circus to leverage news and social media to create more hype for the next match-ups. It also creates instant rivalry because each opponent was specifically called out by the team who picked them.

2) Make it easier to watch
Cable subscriptions are dieing, people expect to be able to access the entertainment they want when/where/how they want. It needs to be as easy as it is to watch an NHL game as it is to watch netflix. No blackouts, no ties to cable or other subscriptions, no contracts. Watching an NHL game needs to be easier to do than playing a game of fortnite.

3) Make it easier to play
To survive long term the NHL needs more people playing hockey. There is a big price and complexity barrier preventing a lot of people from playing, and it keeps getting worse. This barrier keeps getting worse too, the cost of playing minor hockey is making it a sport that only the rich can play. If this is not addressed hockey will wither and die (become a rich only sport like horse jumping). Tradition and Hockey Canada's old boys club are not helping things either.

4) Increase trades and player movement
Trades and player movement are exciting. It gets hockey in the news, it gets casual fans excited, it keeps hope alive for fans of losing teams. Ideally there should be enough action to keep the NHL in the news during the off-season, and enough roster change that every season can start with every team's fans having a new and exciting roster which they can believe has a chance to win. More big announcements too, as goofy as it was, events like LeBron James' The Decision tv special was so good at getting attention from outside of the regular sports media.

[playmaker]

Define paths where players at certain positions are allowed to move like they did in Stiga table (rod) hockey. This would prevent injuries and eliminate diving from the game.

[EldrickOnIce]

Originally Posted by Snuffleupagus

I can’t believe people don’t see the difference, a junior player has no where to play after his overage year, if he goes to Europe his draft status slides and if he doesn’t sign an offered contract he goes back to the draft.

Simply put, it IS a loophole

Yeah, he goes back into the draft after 2 years, not 4.

[Sec214]

5 Dollar Beer Price Cap.
3 Dollar Pocket Dawgs.
All Minor Penalties are 5 on 3 for 60 Seconds, if the puck clears then Defensive zone it becomes 5 on 4 for the remainder of the penalty.

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by playmaker

Define paths where players at certain positions are allowed to move like they did in Stiga table (rod) hockey. This would prevent injuries and eliminate diving from the game.

Also known as the Oilers strategy.