Bigger nets?

[Quintin 16]

I knew the NHL wanted more scoring but bigger nets?? When was this decided? I personally don't like this. And I'm not a goalie! :P

TSN.ca

[KYHockey3 0]

when there were rumors of rule changes ther was a thread about this, the goal was like rounded on the sides and looked really goofy.

[RadioGaGa 162]

Uhm...did anyone see 7-6 Col-Cal the other night...?

Toronto put up 9, then had 7 put on them....Montreal has 6 & 5 in the last couple games.

Pittsburgh had the scoring fest on Philly...

That's just a few off the top of my head.

Scoring in the NHL is JUST FINE. Leave the nets alone.

[Monty22 832]

This has been talked about for a number of years. I don't see it ever actually happening. Like Iggy said- it would affect stats and records. There are many more minor tweaks that could be experimented with before something that drastic would be attempted.

[kosydar 0]

If they're doing this to try to get new fans, they're too late. When you talk to anyone who doesn't know anything about hockey, what do they always mention? Is it scoring? No. Its how tough hockey players are, fighting, etc. If the goal is to generate new interest in the NHL, more scoring won't work. Casual sports fans who want to see scoring can watch the NBA. You've got to give what the people want, and thats toughness. Draw fans in with fighting, and soon enough they'll appreciate the game for what it is. I know this sounds very Meathead-esque, but its true.

[Monty22 832]

Latley, if fans want fighting they can watch the NBA too........

I agree with the post above- nothing gets a building on it's feet and cheering like a good toe to toe bout.

[blueliner27 12]

leave it as is. I've seen NHL standard net and thought they are still too big.

[Chadd 916]

If they're doing this to try to get new fans, they're too late. When you talk to anyone who doesn't know anything about hockey, what do they always mention? Is it scoring? No. Its how tough hockey players are, fighting, etc. If the goal is to generate new interest in the NHL, more scoring won't work. Casual sports fans who want to see scoring can watch the NBA. You've got to give what the people want, and thats toughness. Draw fans in with fighting, and soon enough they'll appreciate the game for what it is. I know this sounds very Meathead-esque, but its true.

I couldn't disagree more on the fighting. The vast majority of people who like fighting never learn to appreciate the skill it takes to play the game. I'd say about half the people in this area would take Bobby Clarke over Wayne Gretzky without a second thought. I don't want to see a sport like hockey that requires skill and toughness devolve into ultimate fighting on ice.

I also think that making the nets larger is a mistake. They have fixed a lot of the problems in terms of pace and I'd rather watch a 2-1 game from this season to a 3-2 game from before the lockout. The pace of the game is much better, now they need to address the problem with the schedule.

Playing the same team 8 times a year now means that if you don't see the game against (insert team here) this week, you can see them next week. It makes each game against that team a little less special and you have to give fans a reason to plunk down $100 41 times a year, plus pre-season and playoffs.

[TBLfan 25]

i think the new rules are just fine, I only have two issues with them.

1) The trapazoid is stupid. I think they should keep it there but instead of the outer sides being a "no play" zone for the goaltenders, the center section would be a "no icing" zone. If the puck goes through that zone before touching the boards, icing would be waived off. Basically, instead of keeping goalies from playing the puck it would force them to play it, it would add a cool new element to the game or at least I think it would.

2) Get the refs to be consistent!!! It's never going to happen in any sport but it would be nice.

There's really no need to change any more rules or the way the playing surface is designed. What's next for goalies if the bigger nets don't get enough scoring? The goalie has to be tied to a boulder so he can't move? Blidfolded? Hog-tied?

[Neal 41]

How wide is the tubing that the current nets are made of? About an 1" I'd say, maybe a little more. Is there a standard measurement? I wonder how much difference it would make if the outside of the tubing was at the same distance, but the tubing was half as wide. Might be enough to change some pings into goals.

Also, I read an article a while back that said with the red posts and white netting the nets are set up perfectly to attract the shooter's attention away from open spots in the net towards the posts and crossbar. By reversing it and having white posts and red netting your eye would be naturally attracted to spots where you could score. It would look weird, but I'd be interested to see what effect it might have.

[KYHockey3 0]

i tried searching for the old thread, but it was a while ago. this thread had a picture of the prototype new goals and also had random talks about other rules. i think one of them was colored ice. it is a very interesting thread. mack, chadd, could you help me find it please?

[DP_57 1]

Agree with Chad completly.

Bullshit, they better not do that, it's gonna be terrible.

[G60 0]

i think one of them was colored ice.

jesus were they really considering colored ice? most americans don't like hockey because they can't see the puck, changing the ice to anything other than white will make it even harder to see.

[handsomedevil 0]

Some video from the NHL's 2005 R&D camp:

http://www.nhl.com/intheslot/read/features...video_day1.html

http://www.nhl.com/intheslot/read/features...video_day2.html

http://www.nhl.com/intheslot/read/features...video_day3.html

[nick_123 0]

Last year there was also some talk of having triangular shaped posts.

[TBLfan 25]

that wouldn't be dangerous at all.

[rogue 0]

I think one thing that needs to be considered when talking about increasing scoring is the importance of each individual goal.

If teams are scoring 8 or 10 goals a game it starts to get to the point where the specific goals themselves have little effect on the game, only the sum of the goals. The most drastic example of this is the NBA. When a basket is made, the players don't celebrate, the crowd doesn't really celebrate. It's only in the last minutes of the game that an individual basket matters.

If that happens, it would actually be counter productive. The idea now is to make it more exciting but increasing the scoring too much will turn goals into mundane occurrences.

[G60 0]

diminishing returns is a moot point, and the comparison to the NBA is absurd.

bettman just wants the scoring to return to 80's-early 90's levels. there is nothing that will generate more publicity for the NHL than the possibility of some scoring records being broken. just like baseball and the home run races.

nobody worried about diminishing returns when gretz was shattering all the old records, and there's no reason to even bring it up now.

[Cavs019 708]

The issue is scoring chances, not scoring. To be honest when most skilled NHL players have a golden opportunity to bury the biscuit (excluding the penalty shot) more often then not they put it home. To think of how easy it will be for a guy like Kovalchuk to put one timers in from the point on the PP into a damn soccer net is enough to make me never want to watch an NHL game again.

[Fury of One 6]

bettman just wants the scoring to return to 80's-early 90's levels.

Yeah, the pre-Bettman NHL.

[Chadd 916]

Expansion = more goals

[cammerz12 0]

if tchange anything in the NHL its should be getting rid of the instagator rule. if that was gone the bertuzzi incedint would have never happened

[Cavs019 708]

I think San Jose has had either 2 or 3 7+ goal efforts either for or against this past week alone

[OhMyGodImOnFire 0]

I know in this one junior national (or a big) tournament they used nets that were 4" wider horizontally and vertically.

the one problem I think with bigger nets is that the previous records are are meaningless with bigger nets.

also, the record for most wins is probably going to be broken because now with the shootout, there are no more ties. if patrick roy had, say, half of his ties turn into wins (and the other half turn into losses) because of the shootout, his record would be a lot harder to catch.

newer goalies who have been in the "new" nhl also have an advantage, because they get the shootout right off the get go.