[fansince65]

As an old fart we have to take into account the evolution of the game , over the last 50-60 years the game has changed so much we old timers have a hard time remembering what they call the "good old days".

We remember things like when you got a two minute penalty you had to serve the full two minutes , but the Montreal Canadians were capable of scoring two or three goals in that length of time so they changed the rules .
The Montreal rule..
Teams used to sign players to a playing card , along came Bobby Orr , the Bruins had him all sowed up (under contract) at 14 years old , thus no other team could touch him , they implemented the draft of junior players because they thought this was unfair , changed the way players were scouted and signed forever , the Bobby Orr "rule".

Some teams used to carry two/three tough players (the enforcers) they were their to keep the game "honest".
Along came Bettman with his ideas to clean up fighting in the game , thus the "instigator rule" ..

The game has evolved over the years to what we have today , expansion has watered down the talent pool to the extent that players that could not make the ECHL in the old days are now playing in the NHL .
The evolution of the game that I played and love as an old fart will continue to evolve , in the next 5-6 years we will see a ban on all fighting , the next thing they will do is try to remove body contact from the game ..
The things in this post most have come to pass , If you don't like the evolution of the game as it is going "find another sport" because it is going to become a no body contact game within the next ten years ...

Just the opinion of an "OLD FART" !!!!