What Would Hockey Look Like WITHOUT On-The-Fly Line Changes?

[WordsOfWisdom]

I forget if I posted this already or not... My apologies if I did...   

 

There's a big part of me that wants to see what the NHL would look like if teams were NOT allowed to change lines on the fly. 

 

It's like this weird bug in my head that won't go away. I think it would go a long way toward making the game into what fans really want to see. 

 

Getting rid of on-the-fly line changes would reduce the speed of the game a bit (trust me this is a GOOD thing), and it would allow for lines to accomplish something during their shift (something truly lacking in the game today). There's no reason why the same line can't play 2-3 minutes of hockey at a reduced pace and then "sprint" when an opportunity presents itself. Shift changes would occur on a play stoppage. 

 

This also allows teams to use the area of the neutral zone along the boards for passing and skating, something they currently cannot do because it's chaos with players hopping over the boards constantly.

 

Changing lines on the fly was never originally part of the game. This is something that became a thing when Scotty Bowman tried it with Montreal (I believe) and it stuck. 

 

Before the camera can tell who is on the ice, the players have changed already. I think the NHL has lost a lot of its offence through the lack of teams being able to sustain any pressure, and having 30 second line changes contributes greatly to that.