Maybe the last word ... or not?
Maybe the last word ... or not?
First, my apologies, I edited out some stuff to fit this in a single post ...
I think scoring is more or less fine. I’d rather see a 5-3 or 4-2 game than 8-7. You won’t find 2 more responsible teams defensively than Boston and Ottawa and that series had plenty of excitement.
Goalie pads have gotten bigger, it’s just a fact – that includes pants, jerseys, and chest protectors, not just leg pads and gloves. And they're lighter.
Goalies have gotten bigger, it’s just a fact – and they’re better athletes, not just the youngest/smallest/worst kid anymore. And they're stronger.
Goalie training has gotten much better ...
Shooting training has gotten much better ...
Please don’t change the size of the goal. I think I would hate that.
Please do mandate 200X100 rinks. THERE is the real problem with hockey today – the same space that was there 50 years ago but with guys half again as big and twice as fast, not to mention the “advancements” in coaching that have given us locked down neutral zones.
OK, let's go from the top. IF average scoring was 5-3 or 4-2, point well taken. It isn't. Agree the huge scoring games should be flukes, not the norm. I've seen the NHL All-Star game recently, can't be bothered with that junk on a regular basis. The Boston-Ottawa series was just fine quality and balance-wise, totally agree.
Goalies' pads oversized - agree. Goalies bigger - agree. More athletic? Not sure I agree. I suspect more goalies are more athletic than back in the day, but (as you point out later) you can say the same with the rest of the players too. There are too many "space fillers" out there, and the gap in athleticism between goalies and the other skaters has grown. JMO.
Training has clearly improved across the board. Like you said, with millions of dollars now in play, that was inevitable. If someone isn't chasing a pro career, they're chasing scholarships. It is what it is.
I don't want to attach more rule changes (see NFL) to influence how the game is played by the players. The dimensions of other things - goalie pads, the goal itself, AND the rink are all on the table from my perspective. Adding 15 feet of width to the NHL surface would be a nice step forward ... but with engineering issues with retrofitting the rinks (and loss of revenue from eliminating hundreds of seats), that's not likely to occur in our lifetime. So I'm left with raising the crossbar by a foot, and leaving the goalies' equipment situation as it stands. That one extra crossbar "ping" you get on average (?) per game becomes a goal, some of the scoring fall-off returns, and goalies have to play a little more upright on their skates than all the current swimming around on their pads stuff. I dunno, I just hate the look of that.
But on spacing and rink size ... other than the logistics, I'd be 100% on board. All you need to see is how the game opens up during the NHL's regular season 4 v. 4 overtimes.
In the meantime, raising the crossbar should at least be used experimentally in the AHL or ECHL to see how it works out. To me, it's the simplest fix that allows most of the rest to continue status quo.
Its really simple Chuck - the rule book has 'quadrupled' because goalie pads were inching larger and larger and now that problem has been addressed.
In the same vein, surely you can understand the difference between using the eye test to evaluate whats happening right in front of oneself (in addition to objective statistics) versus comparing what one thinks they see across the entire sport of hockey and compared with ones' minds-eye or varying photographs of different eras when we HAVE objective measures. I can see why you'd fail to see the distinction, when your sole goal is to hang on to beliefs and win an argument...
"Winning an argument". I always thought we were just debating opinions, and sometimes reasonable people can disagree? I know the millennial trend seems to be that everyone's entitled to an opinion - just so long as it's the *correct* opinion - but you seem to be taking this all a little too seriously. God knows, I'm not tabulating a W-L-T record anywhere ... but isn't this a more entertaining place when we have these debates?
Hey - if you want to spike the proverbial football after we finish, be my guest.
Sure goalies themselves are bigger - humans are bigger - but they are also vastly superior skaters and athletes today than they were then. Because they are bigger its harder to spot athleticism and you labeling them as space fillers is just not correct. Because Clark is not an athlete does not mean Oetinger and Woll, etc are not supreme athletic talents. They are. They challenge shooters, they play the butterfly, they skate and recover and they ARE athletic. Are you willing to institute rule changes that limit the size of goaltenders themselves? Are you ready to tell them they are not allowed to innovate and find new ways to be more effective?
You must be under 6-0, stand up and attempt to kick out shots while falling on your rear-end (like the good old days!) and can only go to the ice to swim on your back like the dominator! You can't leave the blue paint to cut down angles if you are good enough to recover!
I hope not, because thats ridiculous. Goalies are better. Now forwards need to get better.
I'll respectfully disagree with your classification of Oettinger as a "supreme athletic talent". I didn't see enough of Woll to fairly opine, but if he is the second coming of Hellebuyck, then ditto for him. I probably saw Oettinger more this season than any other HE goalie, and other than his size (and potential), I'm not sure what all the fuss is about? I'm not saying DT is a better goalie - but the talent that surrounded Oettinger was different level, no? Who's to say that if they swapped teams, DT's save % rises slightly to .920, and Oettinger playing with UNH's defense drops to .920? That's a one-shot-in-a-hundred difference both ways, for the stats geeks out there. Is that really so crazy?
The larger - and real - reason scoring is down is defensive systems are much less passive and much more aggressive, teams are more physical and much more creative at taking away space. Today, traps are being employed by teams with tons of talent and skating ability (UML) and not limited to teams that simply couldn't compete (early UMass). EVERYONE - even high-flying Dick Umile has done a 180 - is focusing on defense first.
Totally agree on the overall impact defensive systems have had on the game. We've had a front row seat over the last two decades with how Coach Umile has transitioned from wide-open hockey to a more defensive style, no doubt after taking a ton of criticism after UNH got drubbed in the '98 FF semis by Michigan, and of course some of the prior "Umiliations". But you really can't overly legislate how the game is played - BTW I agree your proposed rule for goalie mobility earlier was/is ridiculous - and as in soccer, systems come, systems go, and that's all part of the way the game evolves organically (and "organic" does not include oversized goalie protection). Coach Boucher (and some Swedish teams?) are using a 1-3-1 system nowadays, and as he did in Tampa, they're having some limited success with it. Always interesting to see these new wrinkles, and I'm almost never going to advocate against tactical adjustments.
(edited back-and-forth soccer stuff to save space)
You advocate for bigger nets (I'd like to see every rink be an Olympic surface) - that is fine, but you'll be able to make a much better case when you actually understand the problems that are leading to lower goal scoring, as opposed to pushing a false narrative...
But if you prefer to yell at the clouds on a clear skies, sunny afternoon oblivious to the fact that you're sitting under a shady tree...knock yourself out. This time you can have the last word...
Thanks for allowing me the last word this time, Dan - not that you or EJ or anyone else should not feel free to continue, but yeah, we are off on a few non-UNH tangents here. It is the offseason, after all. Anyway ... I addressed the fixed dimension issues earlier with EJ, and touched on the spacing/systems issues earlier as well, which I do recognize as being valid. Again, one of the reasons why I'm gung-ho on the "raise the crossbar" thing is because some of the other potential fixes would either mess with things I don't want to mess with (see prior comments), or they are less practical to change than simply adding a foot of height to the goal, which would also leave the pegs/anchors in the same place.
Now ... if you can only find a way to veer from using trendy labels like "false narratives" to question my sincerity, that would be terrific. I don't doubt for a second you are sincere in your beliefs - even when we disagree. On the other hand, you seem to be under the impression that I'm just here to annoy you, or make up arguments/debates for the sake of it. Considering that I'm posting under my real identity, I can assure you that if I write it, it's because I believe it. And I have other things going on that I can spend my time on, so this is not an all-consuming obsession (and yeah, I realize that long answers like this seem to cut against that
). But if it's contrary to your beliefs, then I'm sure others also disagree, while others may even agree. If we can leave imagined nefarious motives out of it, all the better.
my apologies in advance if the "false narrative" thingie was in jest. you always seem so earnest, so if i've missed a kidding around vibe, my bad
Hey, once we get closer to the start of the season, can someone show me how to work one of those survey thingies? I think we could have a lot of fun with getting everyone's thoughts on why Coach has decided to grace us with his presence for one more season ... 
You don't ask a college kid that question, and I'm not sure even an NHL coach asks that question with a season (at least theoretically) on the line. YOU make the decision - not him - even if it hurts your preferred goalie's feelings. He'll get over it. Coach Souza - take notes, please. 
