Darcy Regier comments on NHL

[I like Boobs]

I completely understand where you're coming from, I'm just so philosophically opposed to trap hockey that I'd like it eradicated. Hated it when Lemaire was doing it, hate seeing how it's evolved. Non pursuit, clog the zone, perimeter hockey isn't how the game was visualized or meant to be played.

I'm an ultra tradionalist in most ways though, I'm violently opposed to penalizing or suspending players that weren't given penalties during the game. That stuff creates rivalries.

[cookie monster]

I love how the nhl acts like why scoring down is some big mystery. It's pretty obvious. Look at the goalies from the 80s and compare them today's goalie.There no where to shoot.

[HordiBrusk29]

Originally Posted by I like Boobs

I completely understand where you're coming from, I'm just so philosophically opposed to trap hockey that I'd like it eradicated. Hated it when Lemaire was doing it, hate seeing how it's evolved. Non pursuit, clog the zone, perimeter hockey isn't how the game was visualized or meant to be played.

I'm an ultra tradionalist in most ways though, I'm violently opposed to penalizing or suspending players that weren't given penalties during the game. That stuff creates rivalries.

I hear you. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I am in favor of the trap or I believe that all teams should play that way. I just don't believe that a team playing the trap necessarily translates to boring hockey. It really depends on the players on the team and the coaching philosophy.

I think one misconception many hockey people (including fans) make is the belief that more goal scoring is needed in order for the games to be more enjoyable. I don't think that is true at all. Just because a game finishes with a score of 9-7 doesn't mean it was entertaining. I've seen countless boring high scoring games. What a lot of games do lack though are scoring chances. Goals don't equal entertainment. But many scoring chances and dare I say, mistakes, lead to more entertainment.

[NJDevils17]

I never want to see more penalties.

Hockey is at its best when it's at even strength and there's flow to the game. There doesn't necessarily have to be scoring for it to be great. Sure, high scoring games can be fun (one of my favorite games I attended was an 8-5 game), but just letting the game flow without calling BS penalties is what I want to see.

[straka91]

The NHL is stupid for trying to be like the NBA to gain popularity, dumbasses. The NHL will never, ever be a top 4 sport for one simple reason, poor people cant emulate their favorite stars as easily/cheaply.

Soccer- All you need is a ball and a 4 sticks, which you can get on the very cheap. Anywhere there is level ground can be turned into a field. Buy cheap jerseys and kids can easily be like their favorite player. Its easily accessible for all classes of wealth.

Basketball- Not as accessible as soccer and is dependent on cities building courts, but again all people really need to do is buy a basketball on the cheap. Again, poor people, dont need much money to play.

Football- Depending on how safe a group wants to be, only needs a cheap football to play. (Organized tackle football theyll need to fork out 80-200 for pads and etc.)

Finally there is hockey(ice), an expensive ass sport to play especially when there is rarely any snow fall. Rinks cost an arm in a leg to compete, equipment prices can get high. Heck finding a rink can be difficult at times. There just are not enough options for kids to emulate their idols. (Pretty much talking about the States since Canada has snow/ice longer than 70% of the states.)

The NHL just needs to accept the fact the ice hockey is about as niche as a sport can get. It caters to middle class , rich white people, there alone is a relatively small group. Too make it worse, the only places where hockey is more traditional is in places where they can have ice 6 months out of the year. The NHL is just fighting a losing battle and all its going to do is alienate the hardcore fanbase with rule changes every season.

How big the scoreboard numbers are wont make a significant change to the amount of people coming to the great sport of hockey.

[Phillyfan11]

The problems lie in the corporate American mindset. (I.E. always thinking they know how to market stuff and what the fans want blah blah blah shoving stuff down people's throats). I'm only 24 but to me, it seems like pre 2000 the league wasn't as concerned about this type of stuff the way they are now (along with every other business.) In my mind, you appeal to your fans, the one's who know the game first. You do grassroots stuff to build the game and you let the game itself build itself an appeal to people. If people don't like it, they won't like it. It's simple as that. Bettman and the owners alienate the hardcore/knowledgable fan in an attempt to be the biggest sport in the states. Fact is, they screwed over Canada losing a couple teams and having some of those teams become bottom feeders year in and year out. Before the 05 lockout it was obvious this wouldn't work as NASCAR and the NBA have declined due to oversaturation. Which is what they did.

Anyways, as far as rules, I love the trap. As a player, I understand the toughness to play against it, but I also know that to beat it means you must be playing your best as a team. Also, Idk who all has played the trap as a team, but it's a pretty demanding system to run because you have to skate your butt off and also it invites hitting to ruin plays etc. I loved late 90's hockey more than this stuff. You had to be the toughest, fastest, hardest working team out there to win. Even with the clutching and grabbing, fighting through that stuff and literally earning your goals is better than a gimme you get from a 5 on 3. A "dangle" is not that awesome anymore since if you get touched and fall it's a penalty. The shootout is a gimmick. It's just become a tainted shell of what it once was.

The game lost it's heart and passion sadly. It's not just the NHL though. It's started in the OHL as well. They've left the blue collar nature of the sport and turned it into glamour.

[NJDevils17]

Originally Posted by cookie monster

I love how the nhl acts like why scoring down is some big mystery. It's pretty obvious. Look at the goalies from the 80s and compare them today's goalie.There no where to shoot.

Goalies today are also much better than goalies in the 80s. Way more athletic.

Look at a lot of the goals scored in the 80s. A lot of those would be stopped by AHL goalies today.

[KnucklesNilan]

Boring and dull topic, year after year... The penalty parade will happen during the regular season and for the most part, the whistles will be put away in the playoffs, especially in OT games.

The way I see it is given this lockout garbage, the league wants "more offense" in a short period of time, so the zebras will be calling even the most marginal calls making the parade line to the penalty box longer and longer. They need to "excite" the so called fans quick and easy... this season is going to be frustrating to watch.

[cookie monster]

Originally Posted by NJDevils17

Goalies today are also much better than goalies in the 80s. Way more athletic.

Look at a lot of the goals scored in the 80s. A lot of those would be stopped by AHL goalies today.

True, but the over sized equipment covers up for allot of mistakes.

[mikebflorida]

Yeah, this is what fans want to see......

Flyers mock the 1-3-1 System - YouTube

I realize this is rather extreme but serves as a great example of how the league has devolved. I love the Lightning and they have exciting players to watch in St. Louis, Stamkos, Lecavelier, etc but the system is designed to clog the middle, shut down the opponent and force mistakes and it's very effective when executed properly but to me, is boring as fock to watch.

An illegal defense rule could be implemented and pretty easily, there are 4 officials on the ice for christ sake and it's easy to tell when a team is trapping so give them 2 minutes for illegal defense and make the penalty worse for each offense and you'd see things open up real fast. At the same time, call the penalties as they happen, hooking, holding, tripping, clean the game up and for the love of whatever, let the teams play! I don't think there was anything more frustrating than watching last season's playoff round between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. That was a disgusting display of NHL no fighting mandate as Zac Rinaldo was given a misconduct for not having even thrown a single punch but was "running around" and then other players were sent off but when Crosby starts shyt by acting like a little kid, all hell breaks loose and guys start throwing head shots out of frustration because no one will fight like a man, they turtle. How James Neal didn't get his butt kicked, I'll just never know, it's the playoff culture and the money talking, not the players and it sucks balls, I hate it with every fiber of my body.

Lastly, it's fine to suspend people for questionable hits to the head or from behind but be consistent and be tougher. This 1 game here, 3 games there, 9 games over here, 22 over there is ridiculous. Create a menu and stick to it, it shouldn't matter who the player is, they should have started with a clean slate and first offense 5 games, 2nd offense 15 games, 3rd offense 30 games. You'd see it clean up in a big hurry but right now, players don't know what's going to happen so they are either afraid to hit someone or they don't get punished properly.

Obviously, if they abolish the instigator rule or change its language, it would also clean up in a hurry as guys like James Neal would be less apt to do what he did if he knew he was going to get his face rearranged and no penalty for the other team.

Fock, I'm just dreaming and ranting, these imbeciles in the NHL can only be counted on to do the WRONG thing.

[GOON 21]

Something not mentioned so far is the obvious and thats over-expansion (theres 2 many damn teams)


The talent is diluted and teams dont have the skill level to 'compete' on a nightly basis so they do the trapt and hold, clutch, grab, etc


Fold 6-8 teams have a expansion draft from those teams (a pool of 160 players or so) and every team would get a scoring winger or 2 on the roster and now teams will have more scoring available up and down the 4 lines. Make the goalie equipment smaller and that would be a 'start' not a solution but a BIG BIG step in the right direction imo


It will never happen though lol

[HordiBrusk29]

Originally Posted by GOON 21

Fold 6-8 teams have a expansion draft from those teams (a pool of 160 players or so) and every team would get a scoring winger or 2 on the roster and now teams will have more scoring available up and down the 4 lines. Make the goalie equipment smaller and that would be a 'start' not a solution but a BIG BIG step in the right direction imo

Be careful what you wish for. You lose 6-8 teams, guess which players are the first to lose jobs on the teams left over? So many people say the same exact thing but I don't see that being a good thing for fans like us. It isn't 1970 or 1980 anymore where tough players are valued and considered a priority.

Either way I don't really believe too many teams is the problem. The talent pool today is much more widespread than it's ever been. Sure, some teams are less talented than others, and less teams may help fix that problem but that's never going to happen. One could argue all sports leagues have too many teams. At the end of the day, the game is over coached. At one point in time the goal was to outscore your opponent. Now it's to prevent your opponent from scoring goals. Think about that. That right there should say a lot....