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Should scoring be increased? if so, how?


JagerMeister

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Just now, AJgoal said:

Nope. Let it be, the game is fine as it is. Stop trying to tweak it.

I share the same sentiment. The notion that high scoring games equate to entertainment is a very false one... But I suppose some are not satisfied with today's game

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Well, I think the desire to increase scoring is seen by the NHL as a means to get new fans, not necessarily keep old ones. And they very well may be correct. A lot of people can't get into soccer because it is so low scoring and can seem very slow at times. Hockey is faster paced, but I imagine if someone is jumping out of their seat 5,6,10 times during their first game to celebrate a goal, it might stick with them longer.

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1 hour ago, AJgoal said:

Nope. Let it be, the game is fine as it is. Stop trying to tweak it.

 

1 hour ago, AJgoal said:

Well, I think the desire to increase scoring is seen by the NHL as a means to get new fans, not necessarily keep old ones. And they very well may be correct. A lot of people can't get into soccer because it is so low scoring and can seem very slow at times. Hockey is faster paced, but I imagine if someone is jumping out of their seat 5,6,10 times during their first game to celebrate a goal, it might stick with them longer.

 

This and this^^^

 

Frankly, I am tired of the NHL trying to find ways to "make the game more entertaining" by trying to turn it into a video game version of it where scores of 6-5 are commonplace.

The funny thing about all that is, no matter how they try to make things so that more goals are scored, coaches and players are so good at what they do, that they simply ADAPT their defenses and nullify the scoring anyways.

 

Then the NHL starts all over again trying to re-tweak the game to break through the new defenses, and so on and so forth....it's a vicious cycle!

 

Fact is, the game HAS been changed in many ways.....mostly for the good, but some areas, perhaps should have been left well enough alone.

 

If the NHL wants to have a standardized ruleset for goalie equipment size (I hear rumors they DO have one, but seems like it isn't enforced), then fine. But just pick a damned standard and stick to it!!

 

Also, speaking of standards and enforcing, to me, the NHL's single biggest problem is consistent officiating.

Clearly define rules, penalties, etc, and freakin ENFORCE THEM!!

 

None of that nonsense of "what time of the year it is", "who is playing", or "what the situation is".

If something is against the rules, call it...if not, then don't.........and make it the same across the board, no matter what players, teams, whether it's Game 1 of the regular season, or Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals.

 

How does this help scoring? Well, for one thing, you won't have a bunch of irritated players and coaches looking to dole out their own brand of justice or trying to find ways to "game the system", and instead they'd likely be more focused on the actual game (you know, the scoring part), and just let the officials do their jobs.

 

Secondly, removal of bogus penalty calls because it is against certain players (or to make up for a previous bogus call), keeps the flow of the game moving, less stoppages, and more chances for offenses to zero in on the opposing goal.

 

The NHL is what it is and trying to pander to a fan group who really don't understand the nuances of a solid 1-1 game is not the way to go.

I've often told people who see me enjoying a low scoring game, that it's not always about what is on the scoreboard, but rather the story that is being told on the ice by the interactions of the players and those near misses that COULD HAVE, but didn't raise the score to more than what it is.

 

One of the reasons goals are so exciting is because they aren't as easy to come by as say, a run in baseball, a FG or even a touchdown in football, and CERTAINLY not as easy as a lowest common denominator basket in the NBA.

So when those boys on the ice work and work, and get a goal, it IS cause for celebration (or dejection if you are a fan of the team that got scored on).

 

So if the NHL wants to tweak equipment rules, rules with the lines on the ice, things of that nature, to help increase 'offense', then fine....but I sure wish they'd quit trying to change things around yearly (or so it seems) simply because players and coaches are good enough to find ways around them.

Chances are, if people are finding ways around your rules so easily, then the rule in question sucks... :shifty:

 

Increasing net sizes, removing offsides...things like that...that is just garbage, and will lead to a dilution of the game.

Why stop there?

Why not require goalies to be physically chained to one post or the other, and they can't reach far enough on the other side or do the splits, then too bad, that goal is going in.

Or put magnets in the pucks so that when shot they get attracted to a metal homing device set dead center behind the goalie...

 

Yes, those last two were ridiculous examples, but then again, would anyone put those kinds of ideas past the Gnome and his administration?

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There's different sorts of boring out there for different people. For me, I find watching the last few minutes of basketball to be so tedious that it's pretty unbearable, but others are on the edge of their seats. I love watching snooker, a game that I can only admit that many would find a proper sleep aid. It's all relative. Millions worldwide adore soccer, but I personally find it to be slow (and again, that's from a snooker nut). The yearly tweaking of hockey in the name of excitement in the form of offense isn't needed or wanted by me.

 

Where I amend that stance is with goalie equipment, because it crossed the line between player protection and performance enhancement a very long time ago.

 

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/hirsch-explains-how-to-fix-the-problem-with-goalie-equipment-2/

 

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8 minutes ago, JR Ewing said:

There's different sorts of boring out there for different people.

 

Amen brother.

 

I tried to watch the World Hockey Championship Gold Medal game b/w Canada and the Finn, and I couldn't be bothered. I saw on Twitter people saying what a great game it was - it was a well-played effort by Canada, almost perfect really - I just kept yawning. The big ice = soccer on ice. There's no real hitting. Scoring chances are few and far between, the reffing is, well, reffing. etc etc

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The idea that higher scoring makes for a better game has made cricket more balanced towards favouring the batsmen, ruining the balance of the game. Things are fine when it comes to scoring in hockey, leave it alone.

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3 hours ago, JagerMeister said:

Should scoring be increased? If so, share your ideas as to how the league should increase scoring. Or why we shouldn't increase it...

 

 

 

 

 

I'm probably going to be the only person that complains...... but for a slightly different reason:

 

Yes scoring needs to increased.... specifically for Toronto Maple Leafs viewers because our team can't score!  :P

 

The main problem I see with the NHL today is very difficult to put into words, and not easy to fix. The way in which goals are being scored is the problem. Too much of the game is now based on luck and not skill. Example: Point shots that get deflected three times on the way into the net. If the only way you can score in the NHL today is by way of blind point shots that rely on several deflections, you've got a serious problem with the game. 

 

In a "perfect" NHL (the one I remember), players should be able to beat the goalie on clean, unobstructed shots from almost anywhere in the zone except along the boards where the angle is too steep or at the blue-line where the goalie has enough time to react. It shouldn't be an "easy save" to stop a perfectly placed shot. The goalie shouldn't be covering the entire net without having to move. 

 

Almost every goal I see today relies on point shots with screens (shoot and pray strategy) whereas that was unheard of previously. You used to score by skating into the zone down the wing, cutting into the middle, and shooting the puck. And it went in without any assistance. 

 

The only favour that goalies do for skaters today is that they frequently over-commit on saves, sliding 10 feet off to the side of the net, so they're way out of position on rebounds (or when unexpected shot blocks or deflections occur). By positioning themselves 20 feet out of the net on the white ice to cut down the angle, goalies are just begging to be burned by a one-timer, although it rarely happens because the ice is too clogged up to get a pass through and shooters today don't get rid of it quickly enough.

 

:no:

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Interesting thoughts so far. Really great points being made!

 

From my perspective, one of the reasons for 'boring' games is that the season is too long - there are simply too many meaningless games where players are going through the motions. 

 

Cut the season down to, say, 50 or 60 games, and I feel like fans would have a much better product to watch. Even if scoring doesn't go up, players will be giving a much more consistent effort. Games will mean something. I turned off more Flyers games this year than I watched simply because there was no entertainment to be had. 

 

Right now, players are treated like commodities even before they are drafted. Some play well over 100 games in a nine or ten month period. Add to that the World Cup gimmick coming up this fall, and it's so clear to me that the players really are just commodities - vehicles for more revenue. The NHL has become a caricature of itself. 

 

All that to say that, IMO, scoring per se isn't the real issue. It's the lack of meaningful and passionate games that would give me a reason to keep watching.

 

 

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2 hours ago, brelic said:

From my perspective, one of the reasons for 'boring' games is that the season is too long - there are simply too many meaningless games where players are going through the motions.

 

Agreed.  Especially near the end of the season when 14 of the 16 playoff spots have been determined by March and the final month of the schedule is focused on two things:

  1. Who will get top spot in the draft lottery?
  2. Who will finish 8th?

 

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