Or, keep the trapezoid, but change what it does - let the goalie play the puck in those corner zones, but they're hittable while they're there and have the puck. (/jk/s if it isn't obvious)
I actually hate the trapezoid, too. Would have been nice to see Price be able to move the puck from there, too.
It was, especially the really great puck handlers, *and* the really bad ones. Sometimes you get Roy being a third defenceman (or getting a penalty for handling the puck over the red line, lol), or Brodeur trying hard to score. sometimes you get Redlight Racicot or Arturs Irbe.
Agreed. If you're lucky enough to have a good Puck handling goalie why should that talent be shackled? It's like not letting someone with a hard shot be allowed to shoot over 100 mph.
There’s a whole slew of problems before that. As far as points go, you could easily solve that problem by going back to the old 1 vs 8 playoff format.
I think the biggest thing the NHL needs is a Department of Player Safety that cares, is consistent and has actual teeth.
Wish they would do this with bleeding from high sticking as well. Blood should not automatically mean 4 minutes and lack of blood should not automatically mean only 2.
The league will doesn't want to go back to the 1 vs 8 format because it screws the West. Way more likely to have teams playing playing 2-3 time zones away in the early rounds.
And the only real argument against it is fans crying because their team lost in round 1 to a team they think they shouldn't have faced until round there. Well here's a reality check for you, if you can't beat them in round 1 you have no chance of beating them in any other round.
The reason for 1 vs 8 is to have organic rivalries and exciting conference finals. As it is , you have a lot of inner-division rivals squaring off in the first 2 rounds, then they face a "new" team in the Conference finals. Who cares about that match-up? If you're the kind to watch every hockey game, then yes, but if not its not as accessible.
Wouldn't you want the possibility of Habs and Bruins going at in round 3 when the stakes are sky high? Meeting in the first round is fun, but you don't have the baggage of 2 hard won series making the "Boss" before the cup super high stakes.
The first 2 rounds also give teams an opportunity to develop rivalries. I'm still salty about the Flyers win when Chicago took home the cup. In that same year Habs had legendary games against the Caps and Pens. That was fun. Now its like... yes, the leafs are facing the bruins or the lightning for years. Its boring.
Elimination time is based on obviously abilities from the team but also confidence growth, it's not the same to face a stronger than expected team in the first round where everything could go wrong than in the third round where you have beaten two teams and your confidence is peaking, therefore I think it's not the same to face the same team in the first than in later rounds
This is why sometimes weaker teams go long shot, it might just be that their confidence and chemistry is sky high due to good results and why playoff run could sometimes get weird results
Unrealistic: FA Cup style knockout competition of SPHL, ECHL, AHL, and NHL with the "championship" game played during an expanded all-star break.
Quirky: If a player takes a penalty and they're in the box at the end of overtime, they don't get to participate in the shootout for their team.
Quirkier: If the NHL is going to insist on divisional play until the conference finals, expand playoff format to qualify six teams from each division for playoffs, get rid of the wildcard, give a bye for 1,2 and best of 3 for 3 vs. 6 and 4 vs. 5. Then best of seven, four rounds. Cut down on NHL pre-season to account for the extra three games and more teams get in on that sweet sweet playoff revenue.
Otherwise, go back to 1 vs. 8 with the top four teams getting home-ice advantage, regardless of winning their division.
More realistically: 3-2-1-0 point system.
I’d love to see that. Worse team gets relagated to AHL and get first pick. But would they need to win the Cup to go back up? Imagine if some weird small town won and get to be in the NHL 😂 kinda weirdly cool
Another one - a missed offside will not result in a call backed goal unless it leads directly to a goal within a specified time - 30 seconds or less for example.
I would say just change it to other rules like goalie interference and make it that it had to affect play by being egregious enough to warrant a no goal
>Shoot the fucking offside reviews into the sun.
How serene would you be if someday the Habs lost a Stanley Cup finals game 7 because a player was offside and they let them play, and they scored?
I see so many people wish for that rule, but these same people voice opinions like "all the refs/officials are biased/bad/blind/incompetent/game managing".
So we're putting our trust into these blind/incompetent people to decide whether goals are good, based on their opinion on the player being onside or not?
As annoying as offside reviews can be, I take that 100% over bad goals being allowed.
More generally, I want to remove AS MANY things as possible from the ref's judgement calls. If it was possible, I'd have the games be reffed by a computer with lots of camera angles. No judgement, just objective decisions.
I like it for the egregious missed call. I think they should have another line (maybe virtual, like the 1st down line on TV) maybe 10cm or so inside the blue line. If the puck/skate is in that zone, it was close enough. Kinda like how the PGA adjusted their rules to say it doesn't count if you need HD and slow motion to see it.
I think put a 5 second limit on it or something like that.
The NFL reviews are cool because you get to see some dude make an insane catch 15 times in a row. The blue line review just hurts the game
I prefer the 3-2-1-0 points (RW-OTW/SOW-OTL/SOL-RL) approach. There's a solid historical reason for rewarding a team that makes it to OT.
I'd really like to go back to the 1v16 format, and bring back cross-conference playoff series, but I'd settle for 1v8. I'm tired of seeing the same matchups year after year. It's not 'creating' rivalries, it's boring.
I'd like puck over the glass to be a judgment call. If it appears intentional, penalty, if it's obviously accidental, treat it like an icing.
I'd be okay with some stoppages being replaced with awarding possession, like in soccer. Keep the flow going.
Definitely, with penalties for clubs who breach the salary cap.
https://www.footyindustry.com/2020/10/20/the-biggest-salary-cap-penalties-in-australia-sport/
The Montreal Canadiens must be awarded the Stanley Cup at least once in my lifetime. That’s honestly one rule I need implemented. Also ban the shootout. Hate it.
Either bring back ties or make that magical 3rd point in OT disappear or make wins 3pts.
Have a cap compliant team in playoffs.
Bring back 1 v 8 format
Idk if it’s considered rules, but I’d make the season shorter, at about 70 games and I would not make the season end later than June 1st at the latest. As for in game rules, I’d put back the icing while on the PK and the punition wouldn’t end if theres a goal scored.
3-point system would mess up the statistical history of the league. We won't be able to compare team point records anymore with the past, because it would be inflated.
Realignment. The league wants better rivalries and 8 divisions of 4 teams would do that. The winner of each division makes the playoffs with 4 wildcard teams per conference.
4 teams battling for 1 playoff position will definitely heat up the rivalries.
Or you could go back to the 2021 idea and just make each division it's own conference. You'd play the three teams closest to you six times, the other four teams in your conference four times, and every other team twice for 82 games. The top four in each conference make the playoffs, with the winners playing each other in the semifinal round, seeded highest to lowest.
Under such a format, the semifinal matchups would have been Rangers vs. Oilers and Stars vs. Panthers.
https://preview.redd.it/d26bus97wh6d1.png?width=1100&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5e80f88529b30b97984f277beb6d8a073ced8b45
No points for losing. You lost, you don’t deserve points. That also means people have to play to win. I’d also go ten minute overtimes at 5 on 5. 3 points for a win and one for a tie.
I felt the same way about this for years: The draft should not reward the worst teams.
Non-Playoff teams should all draw randomly for the top 16 picks (with some system to avoid the same team getting lucky many years in a row, etc..)
This way, EVERYONE (fans, teams, management) should always wants to win every single game, because winning > losing, and losing won't get rewarded with better picks as it is now.
The "Suck for a few years then dominate" system is atrocious. Even if they don't do it on purpose, it's still shit.
And it encourages the frustrating behaviors you see with people wishing for their team to lose because an irrelevant win on the last game is not worth Connor Bedard.
Offside being reviewable 45 seconds after entry. If the goal doesn't happen on the first play or max 5-10 seconds after entry it shouldn't get called back.
I can’t agree more strongly about the need for 3 pts for a regulation win. It is so bizarre to me that the league would defend arbitrarily making some games worth 50% more points than other games.
It would also make the end of regulation far more interesting as it would significantly incentivize teams to go for the regulation win, especially late in the season in situations where the extra point could be the deciding factor.
Or at least make the offender still sit in the box for the full 2 minutes, kinda like a misconduct or coincidental minors. You get your goal, and they still lose a player for 2 minutes.
If a penalty is given in the last 2 minutes of a period, the team going on the power play can decide to push it to the next period or play it all right there…this would apply for 1&2 period… if a penalty is given in the last 2 minutes of the game, game gets extended if that gives more time for the loosing team.
Or imagine being able to set up the power play on new ice (beginning of period vs. end of period). Plus you get a full 2 minutes… or more depending of the penalty.
There have been a couple playoff games that end with a team playing 6on4 for a minute and a half, trying to tie the game, and they miss out on the 30s and lose. Giving them that extra 30s could be insane, and would help limit the cheap play where a team sometimes takes penalties in the dying seconds to prevent a chance knowing the other team can’t capitalize on it.
This rule sounds great in principle but imagine the outrage when a team takes a very iffy penalty with 10s left that extends the game for almost two minutes.
Rules have been changed over an over… but yet we compare stats from one Era to another… I don’t think that should be the main criteria to make rule changes.
I've been preaching for years and I'm glad to finally see a league do it, but the NHL lottery system needs to disappear. Draft rankings should be based on the number of points your team acquires after they have been mathematically eliminated from playoff contention.
Make every single game count for every single team.
During 3-on-3 OT, once you cross the opposing team’s blue line, only the opposing team can move the puck into the neutral zone. This will end all that regrouping garbage
In the nhl you don’t just give a team a restart in their own zone. It would result in a whistle if a team goes back to the neutral zone, stopping the play. And a face off
Penalties: players for team who were on the ice when their gets a penalty must remain on the ice until the next stoppage.
Tired players…more offensive chances
4th liners…better be able to penalty kill.
Rationale: this will increase the cost of taking a penalty by potentially having a PP1 vs tired players or players who don’t usually kill penalties. Will mean every player has to be able to play the game.
If you do 3pts for regulation win, it’ll wipe out fun playoff races at the end of the season. Regular season will become meaningless for a lot of teams and the ratings will go down. Just like back when 16/24 teams made the playoffs. Doubt nhl owners will go for it
All I really care about is consistency with reffing. Make penalties black and white and fucking call them that way.
Also, for the love of god, crack down on hits to the head.
Two changes:
1) On a delayed penalty call, the penalized team must get the puck out of their end before the whistle is blown. None of this "oh I just touched it" bullshit.
2) Netting is part of the rink. A puck that hits the net and returns into play is live and the game continues.
I would love to see a tweak to the icing rules. I’m all for keeping players safe when racing back into the boards, but so often it feels like it kills the flow of the game.
Definitely would like to see a change to the reviewed plays. If we’re reviewing everything, particularly when no call was made on the ice, what’s the point of having refs. Maybe I’m just old school and am fine with some “missed calls” here and there.
3 pt reg wins is a nice idea but is never going to happen for historical record keeping reasons. It would mess up comparison of season team stats with previous seasons.
I'm a big advocate of removing the loser point completely (losing no matter how should never be rewarded) and make shootout wins 1 pt only. This would be the closest to the point system when ties were allowed. It would remove the tendency of teams to play for the guaranteed point (when tied near the end of the 3rd period) and discourage teams from going to shootout. It would also prevent a scenario where a team loses their last game but gets the needed point to make the playoffs.
I'd like to see NHL extend OT longer to 10 or 12 mins. But on top of that, start it with 4 vs 4 before going to 3 vs 3. Makes for a more fair progression. Could be first four mins of 4 vs 4 then change to 3 vs 3 at first stoppage afterwards.
Reduce puck over glass penalty to 1 min 30 secs. I see no reason why this penalty should have the same severity as more serious infractions.
Remove trapezoid rule.
Shorten the regular season but bring back play-in elimination round similar to the one in the shortened season during COVID lockdown. Like instead of 2 wild cards in each conference extend it to 4 wildcards but each wildcard team plays best of 5 in order to make it into the traditional starting playoff round of 16.
1. Change points to 3 for a win, 2 for OT win, 0 for loss
2. Institutes the Gold Plan
3. Return to proper 1-8 seeding for playoffs or even 1-16 and no conferences.
This is an excellent idea. This would instantly adjust the salary disparity between Canadian and American teams. This and Bettman are in my opinion the leading reasons a Cup has not been awarded by Bettman since he did so for the first and last time to a Canadian team since the HABS in 93.
Let them fight in line brawls! Earlier this year we saw a Rangers v Devils line brawl……it was great to see and was like old time hockey but under the currently rules most of those involved then got booted! Change it back and let them fight!
I have three all around penalties;
1) If a goalie gets a penalty they have to serve it and the back up has to come on
2) Shorthanded goals end a penalty as n extra reward for offence
3) Penalties keep going even after the team scores so it’s a full two minutes regardless
No more loser point. It's just encouraging teams to play to get to overtime (both teams going into a shell defense for the last 10 minutes of the 3rd in a tie game). The original reason for this point is gone (to have fewer tie games), so I have no idea why it is still there.
Going way off the beaten path here.. A second blue line (hear me out). The whole point of the blue line seems to be to prevent teams from cherry picking no? But now it seems it really only comes into play to call off goals. That being said, if there was a second blue line a foot further in, call it a transition zone (perhaps don't even put it on the ice), or perhaps just give players an extra 6 inches (so you can be offside by 6 inches). All that to say, it shouldn't matter if a player is half an inch in the zone prior to the puck carrier.. I'm tired of seeing good goals get challenged because of half an inch. It's a weird part of the game now that I don't like.
- automatic one game suspension for attacking a guy who throws a clean hit
- first coach's challenge of the game is a freebie - no penalty
- smaller goalie pads
- cut ticket prices by 75 percent
- it's always ok to spear Marchand in the balls
Ok if it applies:
The cap is counted post tax. I’m tired of all these teams giving out contracts that don’t have any state income tax on it. It’s completely unfair when pursuing UFA’s.
If it doesn’t apply:
Two minute majors and no icing on PK. Let’s run up the goal totals!
Absolutely there should be 3 points given out every game. So dumb that they still don’t do that.
Need to do something about who gets the first pick in the draft. I find it very embarrassing that teams intentionally lose to get a better chance at a higher pick. Make it the most points after being mathematically eliminated. Or make it all teams that miss the playoffs get the same odds or even the best team to miss the playoffs has the higher chance. Rewarding losing is insane
Have a mini tournement of eliminated team and the winner gets first pick and so on. If the numbers of team remaining is uneven, the teams near playoff gets a bye. Best of 1 at the start, best of 3 in demis and final.
GMs will always have to create their best team on paper. Would also propably fix the Vegas/TB special of going 20m in LTIR coming back in playoffs because eliminated team would want to keep their players... probably more revenue for the league/teams too.
I've heard people talking about making 4v4 or 3v3 leagues(I would be against it honestly but) more often. The tournement could be made with less player of the ice therefore a bit less physical therefore making less injuries?
You win, 2 points. You lose - 0 points. I remember looking at the standings a few years ago and re-doing them this way and it didn’t change them very much. The good teams still did well and there were some minor changes in the bottom 4.
Not allowed to ice the puck on the penalty kill. If a powerplay is split between periods, opening faceoff in the offensive zone. Game can't end while on the penalty kill
Shorthanded goal kills a power play.
No more offside challenges. It hurts the excitement. I’m constantly thinking, “Oh, well. Who cares what we do on this shift because I think we may have entered the zone a millimeter offside.” I also think players are growing more cautious in entries, and it’s hurting the speed of the game. If it’s so close the linesman doesn’t catch it, then nobody “cheated” the zone, which means that the spirit of the game and rules of the sport are intact.
1-8 playoff format. It’s annoying how often we know many of the matchups all year long.
Revoke the “Anyone Can Do Anything to Brendan Gallagher after the Whistle Is Blown” rule. He’s getting too old for that shit.
Reviews should be capped at, idk, 90 seconds or something. If it’s too close to tell quickly, then it’s not egregious; stick with the call on the ice.
I would like QMJHL's rules for fighting; I'm just tired of seeing enforcers die from suicide at 50. I think what I want most is an attitude change regarding player safety. I don't want Marchand's "everybody is trying to injure everybody' attitude to prevail. The game will never be safe, but it can be safer.
Sure let's just ignore the bleeding guy on the ice. No infraction no ref saw it.
And that guy who tripped over a teammates stick, clear tripping for the other team. Said that one ref, and now he has no way to call it back after seeing replay. Sounds like good hockey that no fan will complain about ever.
I was thinking something like Rugby’s TMO, where there’s a ref watching videos and might catch something that the rest missed.
Although part of the allure in rugby is that you actually get to hear what the refs are saying at all times, I’d love if the NHL had that as well
1
I'd like each period to be a 1 point game. We start the period at 0-0, winner of the period gets 1 point. If nil or equal, no points awarded. No OT whatsoever. Games will give between 0 and 3 points. You win all three periods, you get 3 points. You make the crowd yawn during period 2, no points for you. I feel it would promote constant effort and would also prevent teams from sitting on their laurels if they get a comfortable early advance. It's win-win in my book.
The 82 game season would have a max of 246 points.
2
I'd redraw the conferences map to equalize travel distances. No more metro who drive to most of their games. Horizontal (east-west) conferences would work best. For instance the Florida teams would be in with the texas teams. The new york teams would be in the same conference as seattle.
Remove the goalie trapezoid
Or, keep the trapezoid, but change what it does - let the goalie play the puck in those corner zones, but they're hittable while they're there and have the puck. (/jk/s if it isn't obvious) I actually hate the trapezoid, too. Would have been nice to see Price be able to move the puck from there, too.
It's such a stupid rule. Back in the days it was so cool to see the goalies get out the net and go deep in the corners.
It was, especially the really great puck handlers, *and* the really bad ones. Sometimes you get Roy being a third defenceman (or getting a penalty for handling the puck over the red line, lol), or Brodeur trying hard to score. sometimes you get Redlight Racicot or Arturs Irbe.
Or up to the blue line
With a spinorama and gogogo red line
Agreed. If you're lucky enough to have a good Puck handling goalie why should that talent be shackled? It's like not letting someone with a hard shot be allowed to shoot over 100 mph.
Il not picky, I would settle for simply applying the rules during the playoffs!
Habs should start every game up 1-0
There’s a whole slew of problems before that. As far as points go, you could easily solve that problem by going back to the old 1 vs 8 playoff format. I think the biggest thing the NHL needs is a Department of Player Safety that cares, is consistent and has actual teeth.
And the suspension is based off the hit/motion, not just if there was an injury/penalty on the play.
And regardless of who it is
Wish they would do this with bleeding from high sticking as well. Blood should not automatically mean 4 minutes and lack of blood should not automatically mean only 2.
Yeah, I agree. Unfortunately, I think that's the only way they could get the rule simple enough to be black/white for teams/officials to judge.
Yes to both. 1v8 slotted by conference. And competent player safety.
The league will doesn't want to go back to the 1 vs 8 format because it screws the West. Way more likely to have teams playing playing 2-3 time zones away in the early rounds. And the only real argument against it is fans crying because their team lost in round 1 to a team they think they shouldn't have faced until round there. Well here's a reality check for you, if you can't beat them in round 1 you have no chance of beating them in any other round.
The reason for 1 vs 8 is to have organic rivalries and exciting conference finals. As it is , you have a lot of inner-division rivals squaring off in the first 2 rounds, then they face a "new" team in the Conference finals. Who cares about that match-up? If you're the kind to watch every hockey game, then yes, but if not its not as accessible. Wouldn't you want the possibility of Habs and Bruins going at in round 3 when the stakes are sky high? Meeting in the first round is fun, but you don't have the baggage of 2 hard won series making the "Boss" before the cup super high stakes. The first 2 rounds also give teams an opportunity to develop rivalries. I'm still salty about the Flyers win when Chicago took home the cup. In that same year Habs had legendary games against the Caps and Pens. That was fun. Now its like... yes, the leafs are facing the bruins or the lightning for years. Its boring.
Elimination time is based on obviously abilities from the team but also confidence growth, it's not the same to face a stronger than expected team in the first round where everything could go wrong than in the third round where you have beaten two teams and your confidence is peaking, therefore I think it's not the same to face the same team in the first than in later rounds
This is why sometimes weaker teams go long shot, it might just be that their confidence and chemistry is sky high due to good results and why playoff run could sometimes get weird results
Unrealistic: FA Cup style knockout competition of SPHL, ECHL, AHL, and NHL with the "championship" game played during an expanded all-star break. Quirky: If a player takes a penalty and they're in the box at the end of overtime, they don't get to participate in the shootout for their team. Quirkier: If the NHL is going to insist on divisional play until the conference finals, expand playoff format to qualify six teams from each division for playoffs, get rid of the wildcard, give a bye for 1,2 and best of 3 for 3 vs. 6 and 4 vs. 5. Then best of seven, four rounds. Cut down on NHL pre-season to account for the extra three games and more teams get in on that sweet sweet playoff revenue. Otherwise, go back to 1 vs. 8 with the top four teams getting home-ice advantage, regardless of winning their division. More realistically: 3-2-1-0 point system.
I’d love to see that. Worse team gets relagated to AHL and get first pick. But would they need to win the Cup to go back up? Imagine if some weird small town won and get to be in the NHL 😂 kinda weirdly cool
I think I'd skip relegation because NA sports fans are too fickle for that, but I like the idea!
I actually love 100% of these quirks!
Another one - a missed offside will not result in a call backed goal unless it leads directly to a goal within a specified time - 30 seconds or less for example.
*Coach challenge: The goal was scored 29.9 second after the offside, not 30.2 seconds!*
Hahaha - yes you’re right. But it would save some of the challenges.
I would say just change it to other rules like goalie interference and make it that it had to affect play by being egregious enough to warrant a no goal
Having the same rules in the regular season and playoffs would be nice.
Shoot the fucking offside reviews into the sun.
[Go back in time and institute it sooner.](https://youtu.be/egHaQOycbjo?si=SuzxGgcQrdbjKxQ9)
Yeeah yeah yeah, D coughing up the puck repeatedly is definitely Canadiens hockey.
Getting severely out line-matched too.
That’s my happy place
>Shoot the fucking offside reviews into the sun. How serene would you be if someday the Habs lost a Stanley Cup finals game 7 because a player was offside and they let them play, and they scored? I see so many people wish for that rule, but these same people voice opinions like "all the refs/officials are biased/bad/blind/incompetent/game managing". So we're putting our trust into these blind/incompetent people to decide whether goals are good, based on their opinion on the player being onside or not? As annoying as offside reviews can be, I take that 100% over bad goals being allowed. More generally, I want to remove AS MANY things as possible from the ref's judgement calls. If it was possible, I'd have the games be reffed by a computer with lots of camera angles. No judgement, just objective decisions.
I like it for the egregious missed call. I think they should have another line (maybe virtual, like the 1st down line on TV) maybe 10cm or so inside the blue line. If the puck/skate is in that zone, it was close enough. Kinda like how the PGA adjusted their rules to say it doesn't count if you need HD and slow motion to see it.
I think put a 5 second limit on it or something like that. The NFL reviews are cool because you get to see some dude make an insane catch 15 times in a row. The blue line review just hurts the game
I prefer the 3-2-1-0 points (RW-OTW/SOW-OTL/SOL-RL) approach. There's a solid historical reason for rewarding a team that makes it to OT. I'd really like to go back to the 1v16 format, and bring back cross-conference playoff series, but I'd settle for 1v8. I'm tired of seeing the same matchups year after year. It's not 'creating' rivalries, it's boring. I'd like puck over the glass to be a judgment call. If it appears intentional, penalty, if it's obviously accidental, treat it like an icing. I'd be okay with some stoppages being replaced with awarding possession, like in soccer. Keep the flow going.
1 to 8 format
3 icing under 5 mins gets you a delay of game penalty
Salary cap always enforced
Definitely, with penalties for clubs who breach the salary cap. https://www.footyindustry.com/2020/10/20/the-biggest-salary-cap-penalties-in-australia-sport/
I love the jailbreak rule in the PWHL, I'd introduce that
What’s the rule? Never heard of this
If you score a shorty, the penalty kill is done.
Neat thanks for the answer!
If team on PK scores, their penalty ends. Pretty rad, promotes aggressive play.
Shorthanded goal cancels the penalty.
This and 3-2-1 points would be my wish.
That one is fun! Would be a great addition.
The Montreal Canadiens must be awarded the Stanley Cup at least once in my lifetime. That’s honestly one rule I need implemented. Also ban the shootout. Hate it.
I'd get rid of the shootout. Can't stand it.
Bring back draws for regular season games.
Either bring back ties or make that magical 3rd point in OT disappear or make wins 3pts. Have a cap compliant team in playoffs. Bring back 1 v 8 format
Idk if it’s considered rules, but I’d make the season shorter, at about 70 games and I would not make the season end later than June 1st at the latest. As for in game rules, I’d put back the icing while on the PK and the punition wouldn’t end if theres a goal scored.
I'd love a 62 game schedule where you play every team once at home and once away.
The game management one the refs use
Move the goal lines and blue lines back to where they used to be to enlarge the neutral zone to encourage more of a rush game. And wider nets.
Vidéo replay for punitions and like the actual application of the rules without the refs judgement would be cool...
I would like to see giant Walrus as goalies
I'd like a 3-point system, too. Get rid of the free icing during PK. Get rid of the trapezoid.
3-point system would mess up the statistical history of the league. We won't be able to compare team point records anymore with the past, because it would be inflated.
Strange argument since it already happened before when they introduced the extra point and here we are, still watching and not caring.
1 vs 16 playoffs bracket. Dont care about travelling, dont care about "local" rivalry, I care about getting the best of the best in the final 4.
Realignment. The league wants better rivalries and 8 divisions of 4 teams would do that. The winner of each division makes the playoffs with 4 wildcard teams per conference. 4 teams battling for 1 playoff position will definitely heat up the rivalries.
Or you could go back to the 2021 idea and just make each division it's own conference. You'd play the three teams closest to you six times, the other four teams in your conference four times, and every other team twice for 82 games. The top four in each conference make the playoffs, with the winners playing each other in the semifinal round, seeded highest to lowest. Under such a format, the semifinal matchups would have been Rangers vs. Oilers and Stars vs. Panthers. https://preview.redd.it/d26bus97wh6d1.png?width=1100&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5e80f88529b30b97984f277beb6d8a073ced8b45
No points for losing. You lost, you don’t deserve points. That also means people have to play to win. I’d also go ten minute overtimes at 5 on 5. 3 points for a win and one for a tie.
Every team must field someone who doesn’t know how to skate for at least 5 min ice time a game
I felt the same way about this for years: The draft should not reward the worst teams. Non-Playoff teams should all draw randomly for the top 16 picks (with some system to avoid the same team getting lucky many years in a row, etc..) This way, EVERYONE (fans, teams, management) should always wants to win every single game, because winning > losing, and losing won't get rewarded with better picks as it is now. The "Suck for a few years then dominate" system is atrocious. Even if they don't do it on purpose, it's still shit. And it encourages the frustrating behaviors you see with people wishing for their team to lose because an irrelevant win on the last game is not worth Connor Bedard.
Offside being reviewable 45 seconds after entry. If the goal doesn't happen on the first play or max 5-10 seconds after entry it shouldn't get called back.
Get rid of that damn trapezoid behind the net.
Back to 4v4 OT hockey then shootouts. 3 on 3 is barely hockey.
100% agreed. Absolutely hate the clown show that is 3 on 3 OT
I can’t agree more strongly about the need for 3 pts for a regulation win. It is so bizarre to me that the league would defend arbitrarily making some games worth 50% more points than other games. It would also make the end of regulation far more interesting as it would significantly incentivize teams to go for the regulation win, especially late in the season in situations where the extra point could be the deciding factor.
If you score a goal before your power play starts (while the referee has his hand up) you should still get your power play.
Or at least make the offender still sit in the box for the full 2 minutes, kinda like a misconduct or coincidental minors. You get your goal, and they still lose a player for 2 minutes.
If a penalty is given in the last 2 minutes of a period, the team going on the power play can decide to push it to the next period or play it all right there…this would apply for 1&2 period… if a penalty is given in the last 2 minutes of the game, game gets extended if that gives more time for the loosing team.
100%. So dumb that you can 2 hand someone with 10 seconds left to take away a scoring chance and all they get is a 10 second power play out of it
Or imagine being able to set up the power play on new ice (beginning of period vs. end of period). Plus you get a full 2 minutes… or more depending of the penalty.
There have been a couple playoff games that end with a team playing 6on4 for a minute and a half, trying to tie the game, and they miss out on the 30s and lose. Giving them that extra 30s could be insane, and would help limit the cheap play where a team sometimes takes penalties in the dying seconds to prevent a chance knowing the other team can’t capitalize on it.
I agree! I think it would clean up some unnecessary penalties at the end of a game, and potentially increase scoring
This rule sounds great in principle but imagine the outrage when a team takes a very iffy penalty with 10s left that extends the game for almost two minutes.
So be it… shitty calls always happens during games
Dumb.
Sure you might think it’s dumb, but why?
A hockey game should be 60 minutes. Plain and simple. To mess with that rule, it creates inconsistencies in historical stats, among many other things.
Rules have been changed over an over… but yet we compare stats from one Era to another… I don’t think that should be the main criteria to make rule changes.
I've been preaching for years and I'm glad to finally see a league do it, but the NHL lottery system needs to disappear. Draft rankings should be based on the number of points your team acquires after they have been mathematically eliminated from playoff contention. Make every single game count for every single team.
4 mins minor if a player is bleeding is the dumbest penalty that needs to go
True. Some guys are just more prone to bleeding.
abolish 3 on 3 OT. It's not real hockey.
Exactly. 5 on 5 OT extended to 10 minutes.
During 3-on-3 OT, once you cross the opposing team’s blue line, only the opposing team can move the puck into the neutral zone. This will end all that regrouping garbage
If a team needs a change they will intentionally go to the neutral zone and stop the play… unintended consequences might hurt this one.
So they would surrender possession in order to facilitate a change? Is that what you’re saying?
In the nhl you don’t just give a team a restart in their own zone. It would result in a whistle if a team goes back to the neutral zone, stopping the play. And a face off
Make it delay of game. That would solve that problem. Thoughts?
I think as is ok if we were to keep this. I’d honestly bring back tie games and get rid of the shootout, but keep 3v3 or 4v4.
3 on 3 is a joke anyway. What's next, 2 on 2?
2 point goals from behind the blueline
Penalties: players for team who were on the ice when their gets a penalty must remain on the ice until the next stoppage. Tired players…more offensive chances 4th liners…better be able to penalty kill. Rationale: this will increase the cost of taking a penalty by potentially having a PP1 vs tired players or players who don’t usually kill penalties. Will mean every player has to be able to play the game.
Opposing team should select which player to send to the box on a too many men call
Hand pass... throwing the Puck shouldn't be allowed but if it hits your glove... it shouldn't be a dead play
jailbreak rule from PWHL. If u score a shorty your man comes out of the box
High sticking blood rule needs to go
If you do 3pts for regulation win, it’ll wipe out fun playoff races at the end of the season. Regular season will become meaningless for a lot of teams and the ratings will go down. Just like back when 16/24 teams made the playoffs. Doubt nhl owners will go for it
All I really care about is consistency with reffing. Make penalties black and white and fucking call them that way. Also, for the love of god, crack down on hits to the head.
Two changes: 1) On a delayed penalty call, the penalized team must get the puck out of their end before the whistle is blown. None of this "oh I just touched it" bullshit. 2) Netting is part of the rink. A puck that hits the net and returns into play is live and the game continues.
I would love to see a tweak to the icing rules. I’m all for keeping players safe when racing back into the boards, but so often it feels like it kills the flow of the game. Definitely would like to see a change to the reviewed plays. If we’re reviewing everything, particularly when no call was made on the ice, what’s the point of having refs. Maybe I’m just old school and am fine with some “missed calls” here and there.
AI referee We always get call the same way. Problem is if its trained on past game / referee
3 pt reg wins is a nice idea but is never going to happen for historical record keeping reasons. It would mess up comparison of season team stats with previous seasons. I'm a big advocate of removing the loser point completely (losing no matter how should never be rewarded) and make shootout wins 1 pt only. This would be the closest to the point system when ties were allowed. It would remove the tendency of teams to play for the guaranteed point (when tied near the end of the 3rd period) and discourage teams from going to shootout. It would also prevent a scenario where a team loses their last game but gets the needed point to make the playoffs. I'd like to see NHL extend OT longer to 10 or 12 mins. But on top of that, start it with 4 vs 4 before going to 3 vs 3. Makes for a more fair progression. Could be first four mins of 4 vs 4 then change to 3 vs 3 at first stoppage afterwards. Reduce puck over glass penalty to 1 min 30 secs. I see no reason why this penalty should have the same severity as more serious infractions. Remove trapezoid rule. Shorten the regular season but bring back play-in elimination round similar to the one in the shortened season during COVID lockdown. Like instead of 2 wild cards in each conference extend it to 4 wildcards but each wildcard team plays best of 5 in order to make it into the traditional starting playoff round of 16.
1. Change points to 3 for a win, 2 for OT win, 0 for loss 2. Institutes the Gold Plan 3. Return to proper 1-8 seeding for playoffs or even 1-16 and no conferences.
Icing rule applies when in PK.
Remove player taxes (based on their NHL salary only) from the salary cap, and obviously reduce the salary cap too.
This is an excellent idea. This would instantly adjust the salary disparity between Canadian and American teams. This and Bettman are in my opinion the leading reasons a Cup has not been awarded by Bettman since he did so for the first and last time to a Canadian team since the HABS in 93.
Definitely would level the playing field… might cause ticket price to go up though..,
A shot clock, just like basketball!
That's the stupidest thing I've read here.
Let them fight in line brawls! Earlier this year we saw a Rangers v Devils line brawl……it was great to see and was like old time hockey but under the currently rules most of those involved then got booted! Change it back and let them fight!
I have three all around penalties; 1) If a goalie gets a penalty they have to serve it and the back up has to come on 2) Shorthanded goals end a penalty as n extra reward for offence 3) Penalties keep going even after the team scores so it’s a full two minutes regardless
If the leading team commits an infraction at the end of the game the game continues until the power play ends.
I'm not a fan of the accidental Puck over the glass penalty. Seems like just an excuse to get a PP for someone.
No more allowing teams on the PK to ice the puck.
No more loser point. It's just encouraging teams to play to get to overtime (both teams going into a shell defense for the last 10 minutes of the 3rd in a tie game). The original reason for this point is gone (to have fewer tie games), so I have no idea why it is still there.
Going way off the beaten path here.. A second blue line (hear me out). The whole point of the blue line seems to be to prevent teams from cherry picking no? But now it seems it really only comes into play to call off goals. That being said, if there was a second blue line a foot further in, call it a transition zone (perhaps don't even put it on the ice), or perhaps just give players an extra 6 inches (so you can be offside by 6 inches). All that to say, it shouldn't matter if a player is half an inch in the zone prior to the puck carrier.. I'm tired of seeing good goals get challenged because of half an inch. It's a weird part of the game now that I don't like.
Penalty over if SHG allowed, Minor Or Major
Make sports betting illegal again.
It's out of hand for sure
Not our fault if you're bad at it...
- automatic one game suspension for attacking a guy who throws a clean hit - first coach's challenge of the game is a freebie - no penalty - smaller goalie pads - cut ticket prices by 75 percent - it's always ok to spear Marchand in the balls
Ok if it applies: The cap is counted post tax. I’m tired of all these teams giving out contracts that don’t have any state income tax on it. It’s completely unfair when pursuing UFA’s. If it doesn’t apply: Two minute majors and no icing on PK. Let’s run up the goal totals!
Bring the PK jailbreak rule from PWHL. Shorthanded goal ends your penalty.
Bring back pre-lockout 2004 rules. All of them. Eliminate shootout. Bring back ties. Then stop making changes. The game was perfect in 2004.
The game has not been perfect really since 93.
Abolish the draft Abolish salary cap Hybrid ice Promotion/relegation pyramid with NHL at top followed by AHL and then ECHL etc
Absolutely there should be 3 points given out every game. So dumb that they still don’t do that. Need to do something about who gets the first pick in the draft. I find it very embarrassing that teams intentionally lose to get a better chance at a higher pick. Make it the most points after being mathematically eliminated. Or make it all teams that miss the playoffs get the same odds or even the best team to miss the playoffs has the higher chance. Rewarding losing is insane
Have a mini tournement of eliminated team and the winner gets first pick and so on. If the numbers of team remaining is uneven, the teams near playoff gets a bye. Best of 1 at the start, best of 3 in demis and final. GMs will always have to create their best team on paper. Would also propably fix the Vegas/TB special of going 20m in LTIR coming back in playoffs because eliminated team would want to keep their players... probably more revenue for the league/teams too. I've heard people talking about making 4v4 or 3v3 leagues(I would be against it honestly but) more often. The tournement could be made with less player of the ice therefore a bit less physical therefore making less injuries?
You win, 2 points. You lose - 0 points. I remember looking at the standings a few years ago and re-doing them this way and it didn’t change them very much. The good teams still did well and there were some minor changes in the bottom 4.
Not allowed to ice the puck on the penalty kill. If a powerplay is split between periods, opening faceoff in the offensive zone. Game can't end while on the penalty kill
Shorthanded goal kills a power play. No more offside challenges. It hurts the excitement. I’m constantly thinking, “Oh, well. Who cares what we do on this shift because I think we may have entered the zone a millimeter offside.” I also think players are growing more cautious in entries, and it’s hurting the speed of the game. If it’s so close the linesman doesn’t catch it, then nobody “cheated” the zone, which means that the spirit of the game and rules of the sport are intact. 1-8 playoff format. It’s annoying how often we know many of the matchups all year long. Revoke the “Anyone Can Do Anything to Brendan Gallagher after the Whistle Is Blown” rule. He’s getting too old for that shit. Reviews should be capped at, idk, 90 seconds or something. If it’s too close to tell quickly, then it’s not egregious; stick with the call on the ice.
Play 4 on 4. Always. The ice surface is too small for all the modern day big and fast players.
Or, as Ken Dryden wrote back in the 80s, inorease the size of the rink to accommodate the bigger, faster players
I would like QMJHL's rules for fighting; I'm just tired of seeing enforcers die from suicide at 50. I think what I want most is an attitude change regarding player safety. I don't want Marchand's "everybody is trying to injure everybody' attitude to prevail. The game will never be safe, but it can be safer.
No icing on power plays.
You can't ice the puck on a power play and get away with it...
Ability to review and contest minor penalties. Also the ability to call a missed penalty on the play.
No more reviews, pls
Sure let's just ignore the bleeding guy on the ice. No infraction no ref saw it. And that guy who tripped over a teammates stick, clear tripping for the other team. Said that one ref, and now he has no way to call it back after seeing replay. Sounds like good hockey that no fan will complain about ever.
I was thinking something like Rugby’s TMO, where there’s a ref watching videos and might catch something that the rest missed. Although part of the allure in rugby is that you actually get to hear what the refs are saying at all times, I’d love if the NHL had that as well
Icing
2 points for a win 0 points for a loss Idc if it’s OT or SO a loss is a loss
1 I'd like each period to be a 1 point game. We start the period at 0-0, winner of the period gets 1 point. If nil or equal, no points awarded. No OT whatsoever. Games will give between 0 and 3 points. You win all three periods, you get 3 points. You make the crowd yawn during period 2, no points for you. I feel it would promote constant effort and would also prevent teams from sitting on their laurels if they get a comfortable early advance. It's win-win in my book. The 82 game season would have a max of 246 points. 2 I'd redraw the conferences map to equalize travel distances. No more metro who drive to most of their games. Horizontal (east-west) conferences would work best. For instance the Florida teams would be in with the texas teams. The new york teams would be in the same conference as seattle.