Happy Festivus! Here’s hoping your aluminum pole is in place and you’re ready for the annual Feats of Strength. For now, I’m electing to partake in the Airing of Grievances. Seeing as this is a hockey blog, it’s only appropriate there’s an NHL twist. I’ve got a lot of problems with you, NHL, and now you’re going to hear about it!
On to the grievances!
The Topic of Boosting Scoring
I’m sick of the constant discussion on ways the NHL can boost scoring. Not to sound like a traditionalist, but what’s wrong with how the game is currently structured? Why is there this need to change an average hockey score from 2-1 or 3-1 to 6-2 or higher? A close, defensive game is just as exciting – if not more exciting – than a big blowout.
The NHL believes causal fans or even non-fans will flock to the game if the red light behind the net keeps going off. I don’t think this is the case and I fear the NHL will sabotage the game if they make a drastic change which would cause a ripple effect, altering hockey all the way down through the minors to the youth levels.
Focus on bigger issues, such as …
The Instant Reply / Challenge Debacle
On paper and in theory, the coach’s challenge is a great idea. In practice, it needs a lot of work. The number of instances where goaltender interference has overruled a goal when there was no major interference shows that the system needs to be adjusted.
The league should have done more testing before rolling the new system out for games that matter.
There’s a lot of room to improve here.
Expansion
You knew this was going to be an item here.
I’m not against expansion. I have said many times that the NHL needs to make sure the current 30 teams are in a good spot before bringing in new organizations. That point aside, I’m ready to yell at the NHL in advance over the simmering debate which will occur over expansion draft rules.
The NHL and NHLPA will need to come together on a variety of terms regarding an expansion draft. Considering their awful track record of agreeing on anything in a timely fashion, consider this a grievance aired in advance.
Department of Player Safety
I could spend a lot of time on this one, but I’ll boil it down to one word. Consistency. That’s all fans and players want. Why is that so hard?
It’s OK Fighting is Down
A lot of media outlets and fans continually point out that fighting is down in the NHL. OK – so what? Why is this continually being brought up by the same folks who wanted to see the staged fights removed from the game? Some people are never happy.
Fighting is still in the league, but it’s probably for the best that the nonsensical scraps which would occur within the first minute and for no reason aren’t as abundant.
Winter Classic
Are people still as excited for the Winter Classic as they used to be? Hell no and that’s the NHL’s fault. The event was a rare spectacle that even non-fans would make sure to follow. Now, the idea of an outdoor game isn’t exactly a special event as the league introduced the Stadium Series and other outdoor games.
The Winter Classic was supposed to be the NHL’s big holiday event that rivaled even the playoffs. They watered down their prized activity and now, while still a draw, it’s far from what it could have been had the league played their cards right.
Greed rules the day.
And…
Add your own grievances in the comments below!
