If You Could Change One Thing.........

[beantownmaniac]

If you could change one thing about hockey, what would it be?

Me, I would make the rinks a little bit bigger.

 

[dash]

I would reduce the size of goalie equipment...

 

[IPostedWhat]

I would increase the size of the goalies.

 

[Comeds]

Goalie equipment and perhaps even player equipment size. Even with the recent changes the goalie equipment is still very big to what it used to be. Watch the NHL playoffs ad they keep showing with Roy in it. It wasnt that long ago, 20 years, and he looks tiny compared to any goalie now.

And the skaters look quite different too.

 

[beantownmaniac]

Goalie equipment and perhaps even player equipment size. Even with the recent changes the goalie equipment is still very big to what it used to be. Watch the NHL playoffs ad they keep showing with Roy in it. It wasnt that long ago, 20 years, and he looks tiny compared to any goalie now.

And the skaters look quite different too.

I believe the average size of an NHL player has grown. Seems like there is a lot more players 6'4" and up than back in the day

 

[scottflyers88]

decrease goalie pads and tune up some of the rules such as no automatic slashing for a stick break and no 4 minutes penalty if you cut someone with a high stick.

 

[Comeds]

I believe the average size of an NHL player has grown. Seems like there is a lot more players 6'4" and up than back in the day

I agree, but beyond that I still feel the players equipment has gotten bigger too.

And for Cherry's sake, remove the hard shell on elbow and shoulder pads.

 

[anderwho2513]

Make all teams play without a goalie. Basically, make the teams win the same way the Flyers have been trying to win for the past 20 years.

 

[RangersReds03]

Goalie equipment and perhaps even player equipment size. Even with the recent changes the goalie equipment is still very big to what it used to be. Watch the NHL playoffs ad they keep showing with Roy in it. It wasnt that long ago, 20 years, and he looks tiny compared to any goalie now.

And the skaters look quite different too.

As I read this the commercial comes on

 

[scottflyers88]

sign a horrible channel to show the playoffs. one which a ton of fans do not have or have to pay extra for. then sign a national channel that threatens to turn off the game for horse racing if it goes on past overtime. o wait they did this.

 

[NJDevils_30]

Definitely going with the decrease the size of goalie equipment idea.

Let's put it this way. The league has made it blatantly obvious that they want to increase scoring due to some of the rule changes they've implemented over the last few years. Hell, they put in the trapezoid because of how much goalies like Turco and Brodeur influenced the game (and prevented scoring chances off dump-ins).

Yet the league will let goalies walk out onto the ice with couch cushions on their legs and oversized chest protectors which obviously limit scoring. I'm not naming names, but we know who they are..

It's something that has to be addressed sooner rather than later.

 

[dare2be]

lol scott, but that would be my biggest change...a real TV contract that promotes the game and is widely available.

 

[scottflyers88]

the ratings have been increasing. could you imagine if it was on espn?

 

[Comeds]

I have no confidence the ratings would be higher on ESPN.

 

[scottflyers88]

why? some fans do not even get vs. you get ratings on espn just by the fact that every bar has it constantly playing.

 

[MM213]

I would increase IQ of referees

 

[scottflyers88]

i would always have jim jackson call the game with either keith jones or bill clement. coates can be there also. basically i want the csn feed for every game.

 

[Comeds]

why? some fans do not even get vs. you get ratings on espn just by the fact that every bar has it constantly playing.

Are bars and businesses usually surveyed in the Nielsen ratings? A couple of years ago they were looking into ways to measure that, but I dont know if they did or not. If not that would have no effect on ratings.

Some fans do not get Versus, but its not nearly as far behind in homes as it used to be to ESPN2 at least. Even so, 73 million houses get Versus and the games shown in the first round had an average of 685,000 watching them. So how much difference really would another 10 million households mean?

Plus Versus coverage is so much better than ESPNs.

 

[puckhead]

I would change the rule for flipping the puck over the glass.

It should be the same as an icing. Face-off deep, with no line-change for the offending team. It's the same basic offense (firing the puck out of the zone to relieve pressure), and should have the same consequence. I would give the referee the option of calling a delay of game if the shot out of the rink is blatant.

 

[Destroydacre]

I have no confidence the ratings would be higher on ESPN.

I agree. I prefer the league not being on ESPN. Where was ESPN when the league's ratings weren't increasing? Oh that's right they were laughing and offering a ridiculous TV contract that guaranteed nothing. The Sharks/Red Wings game last Sunday got the highest rating of any hockey game for the last 10 years. That includes 4 years of games on ESPN. Versus' coverage of hockey is fine, IMO.