I never thought I'd put up a picture of a Rangers player on my blog, but that's what it's come to. On Thursday, while watching a Rangers Classics game on MSG, Game 6 of the Patrick Division Finals, Capitals @ Rangers, from April 27, 1986, Rob and I were reminded why we fell in love with hockey. We marveled at the tiny pads on John Vanbiesbrouck and Pete Peeters, which were laughable compared to modern day gargantuan-padded goalies like Luongo or Snow. Plus, it looked like they were only wearing a thin turtleneck under their hockey sweaters! We saw Pierre Larouche score a goal, a young Scott Stevens pushing over Beezer for penalty (very funny), and wondered how they fit Reijo Ruotsalainen's last name on the back of his sweater. But it's what we DIDN'T see that made the difference. We didn't see countless ads all over the ice and the boards (although I can't argue with that, since the NHL needs all the cash it can get). We didn't see any clutching and grabbing. And there was nary a goon to be found (although Tomas Sandstrom was a little chippy). It was just pure, unadulterated hockey, and it was fun to watch (even though we knew who was going to win). This nearly 20 year old game was a great example of what was good about the NHL, and made us realize that we missed professional hockey. Hey, the NHL isn't the same now as it was back then: it is what it is. But it could be better.
So now they're going to meet this week and talk about rule changes in the NHL, which is hilarious considering THERE IS NO LEAGUE RIGHT NOW. But if they actually plan on skating again sometime, this is what I think they should do and what they SHOULDN'T do, to improve the game.
They SHOULD:
1. Make the goalie pads much smaller, both in height and width. They already limited the height to 38" with no ridges on the sides a few years back, which was a good move. But in 1989 the maximum width of the pads was changed from 10" to 12". They should change it back, and limit the height even further, and then the most skilled goalies will stand out, as the wheat is separated from the chaff.
2. Move the goal line back again, from 13 feet to 10 feet from the back boards. This increases the neutral zone by 6 feet giving skaters more room to pass, and creates better shooting angles for scores in their offensive zones. A no brainer.
3. Reinstate the tag-up offside rule. The Olympic/International rule is the best way to go. There's nothing stupider than two guys risking injury by crashing into the end boards, or each other, trying to touch the puck for icing.
4. Have a shootout at the end of OT (in regular season games only). Yeah, I never thought I'd say this, but it's more exciting to watch than two teams who really don't care because they already got a point for a "regulation tie". I'm just sick of paying $75 to see two teams leave the ice without settling a thing, even if it is a little gimmicky.
5. Increase the penalty for fighting. Make it an automatic game misconduct, and a fine. And get rid of the stupid "instigator" rule, and just throw both of them out. Bye bye, goons, and don't let the Zamboni hit your ass on the way out.
6. Stop clutching and grabbing. If you touch an offensive player with the puck who is in front of you to try to slow him down, that's a penalty. Period. So go and sit in the box for 2 minutes and feel shame.
7. No mullets. Just an asthetic thing.
8. Get rid of Bettman. All he's done is hire marketing executives to run the league, which as Bill Hicks suggests, should go kill themselves (for that "glowing puck" alone). Formerly NBA commissioner David Stern's flunkie, he probably got into this because he was a lousy lawyer, and now he's proven he's a lousy NHL commissioner, who also doesn't know a damn thing about the sport. Make Gretzky the Commish.
9. Get rid of all teams south of St. Louis. Or better yet, do a man-on-the-street poll and find out what Southern cities actually miss their teams. I guarantee that very few people in Atlanta, Charlotte, Miami and Nashville are pining for hockey.
10. Reinstate the original division/conference names. This is one of the things that made hockey unique, not just another league with generic, geographic names. Bring back the Wales and Campbell Conferences, and the Patrick, Norris, Adams, and Smythe Divisions, and add two more: the Gretzky and Howe Divisions (or something along those lines).
They should NOT:
1. Make the goal bigger. They're actually rolling out two prototypes this month as they consider this alternative, which, not surprisingly, goalies are not happy about. All I have to say about this is: no, no, NO!!! That's like increasing the basketball hoop diameter, or the width of a soccer goal. Stupid idea.
2. Eliminate the red line. Okay, some say it opens up the game, getting rid of two line passes. I don't think they should tamper with this, but instead move the goals back (see #2 above). I'm on the fence with the "widening the red and blue lines", but that might be an alternative to erasing the red line completely.
3. Disallow goalies from handling the puck outside the goal crease. Another asinine idea. The goalie is part of the defense, and therefore should be allowed to skate and handle the puck whenever it is necessary. Again, the most skilled goalies will rise above the rest.
Yeah, I actually miss the NHL, in THEORY. It could be great again. Let's hope this morons don't screw it up, even worse than it already is.
I'm thinking of moving to Canada, for various reasons, one being that it's the only place you can see the NHL Network (what's that aboot, eh?). And they have a great "Top 10" series, and this particular one features the "Best Playoff Hat Tricks of the 1990s". It may not be officially "old school", but it's a good video anyway (requires WMP) 700K | 300K | 56K