playoffs or goalieoffs?

[nj_cup]

i was listening just before to nhl home ice on xm radio (great nhl info on all the time if anyone listens to it)

anyway i heard a great thing they were talking about last nights yotes/hawks game. if you didnt watch it the hawks 150% outplayed the yotes in the game and it shows 1st period shots were 16-2 2nd period 12-6 and the 3rd they evened it up to 12-11.

39-20 were the shots and most of them were high quality shots against mike smith. the bothering this is that a team can clearly get outplayed all over the ice and even hints at not being able to compete on the same sheet of ice. yet they win the game 4-0? so is it really a team sport if its the goalie doing all the work? they also pointed out that the top 5 sv% leaders the lowest is .944 THATS UNREAL %.

so naturally the worry is that the nhl is slipping back into the dead puck era possibly? there is also another concern that so many teams are practicing more and more shot blocking. if your lucky a shot makes it through 3 bodies then hits an oversized goalie.


i know hockey playoffs its about getting a hot goalie but last nights yotes game i have to kinda agree with the radio guys. i've fine with a 0-0 game if its back and forth and even play but last night it was insane how 1 sided the game was. and did the better team really move on? not using the yotes as an example but even going back to buffalo in 99 were they really the best team? or was it just all hasek and is that really what we want the nhl to go back to? having teams with 6 goalies out there? its a scary thought. i know not many on here will feel the same way i do but its something to think about.

 

[nj_cup]

also want to point out a new trend that is taking the nhl by storm it seems (except we dont do it) is getting a defenseman to get down and take away anything low on the ice down low. the rangers are perfection at this and it just eats away at anything down low.

 

[Nasty_Magician]

I used to have XM and agree the NHL network is pretty fantastic. I generally tend to think that a goaltender can steal a series, but in order to win the championship you need a legit team. Weaker goalies have won lately, and while they played well, I don't think it's a goalie dominated league and don't think the deadpuck is back.

 

[nj_cup]

It's not back yet but its close is what they are saying. They also think if the nets aren't increased or Goalie pads decreased to make it illegal to block a shot. mot sure how much support that would get but it would help.

Using the game last night imo the better team didn't win.

 

[devils30mb]

But that is the thing about play-offs and making it the best of 7. You can come across a series where the goalie steals one or two games but eventually through the series the rest of the team has to pick it up as the opposing team will try to find ways to get the goalie off their game.

Blocking shots is part of the defensive zone coverage. You try to take away the shooting and passing lanes with your stick or body....which you see increase when play-off hockey comes as players are willing to put themselves out to block the shot.
Have you watched any of the Bruins/Caps series? Both teams are commited to blocking shots but yet it is still great to watch.

 

[CalamityX11]

Want to win games, better have a hot goalie....

May the best Goalie win. IMO.

 

[nj_cup]

I think shot blocking has taken on a life of its own though. Not just playoffs but in general. Also when the top goalies all have % above .944 thats more then a hot goalie...that's unreal!

I think what they were trying to say on the radio was you have to make 4 passes to get a shot and if your lucky it makes it through and u have a giant Goalie to beat.

 

[Nasty_Magician]

The best way to solve "deadpuck" or open up the offenses would be to switch to olympic size rinks. I think it would also cut down on concussions because there is more open ice and more skill would be needed to be in the league, eliminating 1 dimensional goons. Unfortunately every arena would have to be renovated and seats would be eliminated so owners would never approve of it.

 

[nj_cup]

yeah i agree with that! they def need a bigger rink...maybe find a common ground and eliminate two rows of seating? thats gotta be a good what 10ft?

 

[Indian Chief]

I agree with Olympic sized rinks cutting down on head injuries. I've always been an advocate of going to a bigger ice surface as well as no touch icing.

Regarding the elimination of seats, how many teams in the league really sell out every game? I know a few come consistently close like Detroit and Chicago. You are right though, owners would probably fight it.

 

[nj_cup]

better product though would equal more fans in the seats? two rows wont make or break them

 

[kellmit]

I watched that PHX vs Chi.... while watching it I couldn't help but think they looked a lot like we used to... they blocked shots all night long Smith came up huge when they did get pucks thu and scored on every chance they got.

 

[TiLoBrown]

Regarding the elimination of seats, how many teams in the league really sell out every game? I know a few come consistently close like Detroit and Chicago. You are right though, owners would probably fight it.

I actually just had this argument with someone because they knocked the NHL being on NBCSG instead of a "bigger" network. NHL games sell out more than NBA games. According to ESPN 16 teams were at 100% capacity or over for this season, and every team except 1, PHX, were at 75% or higher.

better product though would equal more fans in the seats? two rows wont make or break them

May not break them, but any money loss is money loss and that's not good.

 

[MCDevils]

I actually just had this argument with someone because they knocked the NHL being on NBCSG instead of a "bigger" network. NHL games sell out more than NBA games. According to ESPN 16 teams were at 100% capacity or over for this season, and every team except 1, PHX, were at 75% or higher.



May not break them, but any money loss is money loss and that's not good.

Phil Esposito actually said something very interesting about the bigger rinks on XM about a year ago. Everyone says you don't want to lose those expensive seats, BUT in actuality you're losing the cheapest two rows the farthest away, because every row essentially moves two rows closer to the ice. So the teams would increase the prices accordingly, or at least that was his theory as a former owner.

 

[nj_cup]

You know your right mc I didn't even think of it that way.

Besides too the owners with the remove of the goal judge added a few extra seats.

Sometimes you have to do it for the betterment of the whole.