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Sidz

Is Hockey really faster nowadays?

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Hello, I just watched a classic game on TV yesterday between the Oilers and Flames in 86. After a few minutes I was glued to it because of it's high pace. It leads me to wonder why everyone says the game is faster nowadays because it seemed way faster in the 86 game. I know that the two teams at that time were pretty good ones but even still, the pace was non-stop and it seemed like there was more skill involved in certain ways. Lot of dirty shots without penalty calls too.

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I think the players can skate faster, but because of that and because of how big they are now, there's less room on the ice which slows the play itself down. The ice always looks twice the size in those old recordings.

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Hello, I just watched a classic game on TV yesterday between the Oilers and Flames in 86. After a few minutes I was glued to it because of it's high pace. It leads me to wonder why everyone says the game is faster nowadays because it seemed way faster in the 86 game. I know that the two teams at that time were pretty good ones but even still, the pace was non-stop and it seemed like there was more skill involved in certain ways. Lot of dirty shots without penalty calls too.

Keep in mind that it's one game of thousands, and it was probably picked because of what you liked about it.

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Had a similar conversation with some of my employees and customers a couple months ago. A replay of game 4 of the 95 Cup finals was on the NHL network on one of the TV's and after the complaining about how the Wings got swept in that series, the topic came up of how the current team would fare against the 95 team. Was an interesting conversation with varying opinions, but my thought is the speed and skill of today's players is higher, not necessarily with the top players but with the bottom guys on the roster bringing the baseline up, but it doesn't necessarily make for a faster game due to playing styles and as Optimus said above less room on the rink. There is one thing for certain, this topic does make for good bar banter.

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I think the peak speed hasn't changed much, meaning the fastest guys in the 60s, 70s and 80s will still be fast today. But now even the weakest skaters are really, really good. I can't find the article but I read about Gretzky keeping a book of defensemen who had flaws to their skating such as slow to turn to the right and saying that he quit doing it towards the end of his career. He said there wasn't much value any more because everyone could skate well.

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Oilers and Flames were elite teams at that time and had some fantastic skaters. I agree with a lot of the comments above that the biggest difference is in the bottom half of the roster, those guys are better skaters than the guys a generation ago. The game also slowed down drastically into the mid-late 90's and that's what most people are talking about when they say the game is faster now. Also keep in mind that players are skating much harder for much shorter shifts than in the 80s. The average even strength shift back then was well over a minute, where now it is generally in the 40-45 second range. That is a huge change in the way the game is played.

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When you watch a 90's hook and grab game a lot of them look slow compared to todays game. I also think that taking out the red line helped increase the speed of the game through the neutral zone and into the offensive zone.

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Players tend to be more methodical with the puck these days as well as the East-West style offenese. I've recently watched some games from the early-mid 90's (pre trap era) and I can't figure out if the play is faster or quicker or is it the lax defenseive play but there seems to be quite a bit of tempo. However there were moments that the players as individuals looked slower and it did bring me back to realizing just how fast players are today.

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Question about that 86 Flames/Oilers game: regular season or playoffs??? Playoff games in the 80s, especially in the Battle of Alberta, were at a much higher tempo than regular season games. Both of those teams had speed to burn up front as well. I'll always say the Canada Cup 1987, 3 game series, Canada vs CCCP was the best hockey ever played for speed and skill. Just about the best 40 players in the world at that time going shift for shift.

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Question about that 86 Flames/Oilers game: regular season or playoffs??? Playoff games in the 80s, especially in the Battle of Alberta, were at a much higher tempo than regular season games. Both of those teams had speed to burn up front as well. I'll always say the Canada Cup 1987, 3 game series, Canada vs CCCP was the best hockey ever played for speed and skill. Just about the best 40 players in the world at that time going shift for shift.

I 100% agree about the 1987 Canada Cup 3 game finals being the best hockey ever played.

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When you watch a 90's hook and grab game a lot of them look slow compared to todays game. I also think that taking out the red line helped increase the speed of the game through the neutral zone and into the offensive zone.

I think it did for a while, and brief increase attention to calling those penalties helped, but NHL is absolutely experiencing a clutch and grab renaissance right now. Lots of boring hockey.

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I think it did for a while, and brief increase attention to calling those penalties helped, but NHL is absolutely experiencing a clutch and grab renaissance right now. Lots of boring hockey.

That's the way Colin Campbell wants it. He rips referees for "soft calls"

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That's the way Colin Campbell wants it. He rips referees for "soft calls"

That definitely seems to be the case! I'd like to see us go back about 7 or 8 years in terms of the calls. More PPs based on legitimate penalties, 90% of those were obstruction and holding. We need to appreciate skill again.

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What about the thought that they are just bigger, better conditioned, built to preform? I have zero educated opinion, but it seems that athletes now, as opposed to 20-40 years ago, continue to take every advantage. The $$ today makes things like diet, personal trainers, extra coaching through the teams ect. far advanced than what was happening years ago.

The game is always ever changing, but you'd have to believe the athletes are different?

I have no idea if it's faster & admitted that I'm no expert, but blind, I'd take 2015 monster vs 1985 team on a best of 7 bet.

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That definitely seems to be the case! I'd like to see us go back about 7 or 8 years in terms of the calls. More PPs based on legitimate penalties, 90% of those were obstruction and holding. We need to appreciate skill again.

This way brian gionta can score 48 goals again! I really miss the days when the art ross winner had more than 100 pts., let alone back when the top 5-8 scorers had over 100 pts.

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Emphasis on defensive zone systems for 2/3 of the rink and increased skill levels of goalies has changed the game on offense forever IMHO.

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