All-purpose hockey thread...

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

Shootouts suck. Nothing like taking out passing, defensemen and unpredictability from the game's most important moments.

As for the rest of the "new" NHL, you gotta love the flow of 5-on-5 hockey (when there is 5-on-5 hockey), but there just isn't enough physical play right now. Maybe that changes in the postseason.

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

They're also not counted against the goalie.

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

shootout victories are lame as shit. i don't care what anyone says: it's equivalent to kicking field goals to determine a football game, home runs for a baseball game, and free throws for a basketball game. end of story.

that being said, shootouts were inevitable because of the fringe american demographic the league is trying to attract. if i'm correct, the new nhl standings are wins -- losses -- shootout losses. although i'm happy for the preds being 8-1-1, in reality, they are 5-1-4 (old standings style) if you don't include OT W/L. we'll see how well that fares for them in the postseason.

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

I feel mostly the same way about Shootouts, S7, but I was talking to my boss tonight after work about the game, and he brought up a very good point. It's not the idea of winning a shootout that makes shootouts good for the game, it's what happens in overtime. Coaches seem to get very very wary of letting the game go to the shootout, mostly for the reasons you mentioned, so they seem to take a lot more risks, and be willing to take an OT loss over letting it go to a shootout. I think that's a very good thing for the game, even if it means the circus has to end a few games every week.

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

I'm on the fence with this theory.

Either shootouts are scaring the bejeeburs out of teams, who are then playing extra hard in the 4-on-4 to win the game and avoid the S.O.

Or...the new rules have opened up the 4-on-4 to the point where the majority of games are being decided there instead of in a S.O.

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

The fans are votiing thumbs up with their wallets. Attendance for the first month is over 90% capacity. The challenge for the league is, and always has been, transferring the in-person excitement and speed to television and broadening the audience.

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

We'll see about TV when NBC starts broadcasting games.

Also, on the attendance increase, I'm curious if that's paid attendance. Are teams giving out free/discounted tickets?

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL


Can't say I'm crazy about watching so many 5-on-3s, I mean, where's the excitement in that? I know this won't play well here, but we're also seeing more goalies injured from being run by forwards who don't have to worry about being crushed in the slot. Also more goalies with knee injuries since the league banned thigh boards, which I'm sure has helped pushed goals through the roof...</sarcasm>

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

Bullshit thing No. 2 (and this is five years old, but since I've been venting anyway ...): When teams say they're undefeated in their last 8 games but they're 5-0-3.

Assholes, just because you lost in OT doesn't mean you're undefeated.

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

I'll be honest, I'm totally swallowing the NHL jello right now, because I so desperately want the league to stabilize, but I really think that the penalties will slow down eventually, and that you'll see fewer forwards crashing the net - literally - because defenses will improve a little, and start punishing them for driving the slot with big hits. We'll see.

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

Sirs, Madames,

It's too early to judge. October hockey in a normal season sucks. When you've got sweeping changes in line-ups league-wide and a lot of guys who haven't played in 18 months, what is usually hockey's weakest month becomes even more dilute--would be true if they had stuck to the old rules. Intensity and conditioning (and meaning of games) rises in December and January. At that point we'll know a helluva lot more about the impact of the rules.

That said, 10 to 15 percent of veterans can't play anymore (Luke Richardson, Exhibit 1, Wade Belak, Exhibit 2). They'll be out of the NHL next year.

YHS, etc

 

Re: New NHL vs. the old NHL

So far a lot of games have been pond hockey. Whether that's a good thing or not I'll leave to the deep thinkers but I do know that I've seen more entertaining games in a month than in most of the regular season last year.

Over the past few years, once a team had a lead going into the third, I turned the game off. The outcome was clearly decided.

I'm solidly opposed to the shootout. Given the entertainment level so far, I have no problem with tied games.