I don't get it. 6-0-0 vs 5-1-2

[KnightsRule]

Old time hockey had ties and no overtime. People complained cuz they spent a ton of money to go to a game and it was a tie and were mad that there was no winner.  The rule for OT is 4 on 4 with a team winning an OT game to get two points only and loser getting 1 point. They did this so that teams would not play a neutral game trap in OT and get the 1 point for a tie. Now you have the most excitinghockey being played in OT as teams have nothing to lose but could gain a point.

[TripleB]

New Hockey

A Win is 2 pts

A Tie is 1 pt for each team

A regulation Loss gets you nothing.

An OT loss, you keep the 1 pt you got for the tie

An OT win, you add 1 pt for a total of 2.

[GarySJ]

They did this so that teams would not play a neutral game trap in OT and get the 1 point for a tie. Now you have the most excitinghockey being played in OT as teams have nothing to lose but could gain a point.

By the same token, wouldn't teams be more likely to play a neutral game trap late in regulation? Why risk losing in regulation when both you can get a point for losing in OT?

BTW soccer (worldwide) dealt with the problem by making wins worth 3 points, instead of 2. As a result, there is a lot less settling for ties nowadays.

[S p e n c e]

All this is just try to appeal to new fans, by changing not only the OT rules, but cutting down on fighting, penalties, adding instant replay, I could go on.

But instead of adding an entirely new fan base, they have actually lost some of thier old fan base that misses watching the old style hockey.  

Now with all the new rules and the European invasion, it is more like watching Europeon hockey than the NHL.

[GarySJ]

Adding the 5-minute OT was a good idea. I can even live with the 4-on-4 bit -- non-traditional, but I can understand their reasoning.  I just don't get this won-lost-tied-other thing at all. Simplify it.

[OttawaBull]

Hehe, it's kind of amusing that most of you can understand the intricacies on the offensive and defensive sides of football, not to mention any other number of minutiae regarding recruiting, coaching, etc, yet the win-loss-tie-overtime loss throws you for a loop?  Truly mind boggling.

Btw, the Thrashers are back in first.  

[Jamie]

Michael Farber of Sports Illustrated has been calling this the "Dead Puck Era" for a couple of years now. Teams don't score nearly as many goals because expansion has spread the talent pool out too widely, and because goalies are now allowed to dress up like the Michelin Man, literally obscuring most of the net.

Don't even get me started on the neutral-zone trap. It's like the option in football -- it's boring as hell to watch, it destroys the flow of the game, but teams use it because it works. Jacques Lemaire is the hockey Satan.

[TripleB]

Btw, the Thrashers are back in first.  

Not any more ..............    ;D

[S p e n c e]

Holy crap Jamie, i'm glad i'm not the only one who despises the trap, I think I would rather watch paint dry than watch any team, namely NJ or Montreal, that run the trap.  Veeeery boring.

Not only has the talent pool been spread so thin as mentioned, but the entire game of hockey has changed.  

Anyone who watched the movie "Slatshot" although an exaggeration, will know what hockey up until about 10 years ago was like.  It was extremely physical, high scoring, played with emotion, especially in the playoffs and totally exciting to watch.  I have been a lifelong Flyers fan so I was exposed to one of the most physical teams in the league for many years.  So maybe I got a little bit spoiled there.

But a big part of what happened to hockey is when they started letting the Russians, the Cechs, Swedes, and so on into the league, the NHL looked more like the European leagues, or The Olympics for those of you that don't follow hockey.  Which is not what the NHL was, it was completely differant, which is what made it so great.

Just imagine a league that used to be made up of tough guys like Domi, Brashier, and well the Hanson Brothers (Slapshot reference) who could score and puckhandle as well as kick some ass, and it was suddenly turned into a finesse scoring and fighting free league filled with Wayne Gretzky and Pavel Bure types.  

Don't get me wrong guys like Gretzky, Bure, and Federov are fun to watch, but when the league is made up of cookie cutter players just like them it makes for boring hockey.

Christ, I can't even remember the last bench clearing brawl I saw.  I think the penaly for that now is death, or banishment from hockey forever or something.  Even Gretzky after retiring conceded that Hockey needed to get back to its roots before there is zero fan base and hockey is no more.

Well I think I ranted long enough and let it all out.  Thanks for putting up with me, this is kind of a touchy subject for me

[TripleB]

"Slap Shot" .... One of the five greatest sports movies of all times.....