The discussion around scoring rages on in the NHL. Lots of ideas have been thrown around including larger nets, smaller pads for goalies and even tweaks to the crease and posts. Though the league hasn’t formally announced any plans or any changes, the battle lines have been drawn and some prominent figures around the NHL have stated their opinion on what should happen.
Patrick Roy, the head coach of the Avs who is never shy when it comes to sharing his opinion, wants the league to make the nets larger and goalie pads smaller.
Roy’s comments on increasing the net size and reducing equipment size, via ESPN:
“I think it’s a good idea. I think it will help the scoring. I would think about getting the goal posts a little bit smaller [which] will make a huge difference, and if every time it hit the post or crossbar it goes in, it’s already a lot of goals.”
Meanwhile, Bruins coach Claude Julien has a different opinion:
“I don’t like the size of the net changing at all,” said Julien, who suggested possibly making the crease smaller to keep goaltenders deeper in the net.
Does a scoring problem even exist in the NHL? That might be the better debate as a lot of fans, myself included, would argue that a 1-0 game is plenty exciting and could best any 6-3 game or a similar scoreline. Hopefully the league considers this point carefully and doesn’t make a change simply to make a drastic adjustment.
Should the NHL push forward and make changes, they’re going to have to do so with caution. Making a major change such as increasing the size of the nets will alter how every goaltender plays the position. Every hockey league, scaling all the way down the pipeline, would have to increase the size of their nets so that goalies could adjust to the new positioning and movement required to man a larger net. The butterfly would probably disappear.
Tread carefully, NHL. Many believe the game has been improved with the addition of 3-on-3 overtime. However, tinkering with nets and equipment could have drastic consequences to the game.
