I HATE the new NHL rules.

Scale of hatred = -2 to +2, the most hated being the negatives.

No two-line pass = +2
This is something I've been waiting for. Now the red line is useless so just get it out of the way and call the blue lines "lines."

Smaller goalie padding = +1
Should be 10 inches, not 11. 10 inches, and fewer of the new rules described below.

Goalie action restrictions = -2
The goalie should be fair play anywhere outside the crease, but should still be able to work anywhere he wants. Those diagonal lines are going to look ugly.

New rink dimensions = -1
The regional leagues are going to have to repaint everything. I don't mind the 50 foot neutral zone, but I'd rather see bigger behind the net zones instead of smalled (170 between the goals, 60 foot off/def zones, 15 feet behind the net). The smaller behind the net action will be very weird.

Overtime shootout = -1
The game should not be finished on a shootout, but at least they're keeping the OT-loss point and a 5 minute overtime. I'd rather see an empty net 5-min overtime, no sudden death, 5 on 5 (no goalies).

Icing = no line change = 0
I'll have to see the consequences, I'm undecided on this.

The New Schedule = -5
Ugh. 8 games against divisionals, 4 games against other conference rivals, and only 10 interconference games? You're not even GOING to 10 NHL venues, and not even playing against 5 NHL teams. Lame. Needs a 72-game schedule, 3 games vs. conference rivals, 2 games vs. nonconference. Maybe add games vs. divisionals to make it 76 or 80, but play in every arena at least once :X. Asshats.

Some rules are good, others suck horribly, and I still have a feeling of stealing Lord Stanley and awarding it to the winner of the Canada-US College World Series (7 game series between each nation's college champ).

Jerks.

Sorry you seem to have gotten lost. In case you didn't notice this is a FOOTBALL forum. Maybe some one can chime in here and let you know where you can find one for hockey.

Relax.

The vast majority of the talk here is football, but there has been about one hockey thread started per day here. Once in a while it's nice to throw in a comment about something else besides another Greene vs. Burris, expansion, or referee threads. It's not that big of a deal.

That said, I am done with the NHL. They really blew it and it'll probably take at least five years for a new crop of players to come in and re-energize the league for me to watch. I can't wait to see those tools like Hull, Roenick, Belfour, Jagr, Forsberg, Linden, and all these other clowns out.

I also don't think we'll see less trap this year either. Coaches will still be ultra-conservative. I bet taking away two-line passes will just force teams to keep the defensemen back and dump-in the puck once they hit center ice more than ever.

i hate pretty much all the rules. no red line?! how can you not have a red line?! smaller pads and bigger nets...c'mon thats just nonsense, i agree with one of them , but not both together

No red line just means Olympic rules - basically no two-line pass restrictions. I like the idea - opens up the game more. Overall, I don't mind the changes at all.

I like everything except the schedule and the nets being bigger just because its going to be a pain in the ass for the goalies to learn all their angles again. BUT! It's about time their equipment got smaller, it's gotten brutal. The size of their glove is almost the size of my chest. No wonder goalies today look so good...

Notice how the sport was fine until 1990s when they started changing rules in the first place?

Maybe the NHL rules committee should watch some old tapes of the 1980s and get a clue as to how to fix it back to the way it should be - reduce goalie pad sizes (which they did, thank god), get rid of the instigator rule, and call interference when one of those idiot pylons on Minnesota or Calgary throws a block when good players like Gaborik or Iginla has the puck.

For your information the nets are not getting bigger. But let my rant begin:

No center line (this is obviously just means the two line pass rule is out, there's still going to be a red line)- I don't really like this change, but whatever I guess we'll see how it works in the NHL as we've never seen it being played on an NHL ice surface with NHL calibre players.

Rink Dimensions- This is where you are a complete moron. The point of this was to increase the size of the offensive zone. There are now way more places to score from as the angles from the half-boards are now a lot bigger so you have a way better look at the net. This will help PPs a lot too as they will have a lot more room to work. And why do you need space behind the net? To cycle the puck? They changed this rule in like 93 to make more room for players behind the net cause they thought it would increase scoring but scoring has diminished drastically since then so I'm not quite sure on your point here? Great change and much needed.

Shootout- Completely retarted that they are trying to gain new fans by putting a shootout into the game. I'd much rather see my team tie than win or lose in a skills competition that takes away the team aspect of the game. Don't think it will last long personally.

No line changes on icing- Great new rule. Will make sure teams are changing quicker which will cause more odd man rushes and keep the players fresher meaning more flow to the game and scoring chances.

Schedule Changes- Also great because it will allow for more rivalry play and also a lot more inter-conference games which will be very crucial down the stretch in the playoff race.

Other changes you never mentioned:
Tag-Up offsides- About time they re-implemented this.

Minor Penalty for shooting the puck over the glass in your defensive zone- goes hand in hand with no line change on icing because if they couldn't change on icing they would have just firred the puck over the glass to get a line change.

No Tolerance for Obstruction- Will be great if they continue to call it all the way through games, the season and the playoffs. Should help take away the trap and force players to skate more.

Smaller Goalie Equipment- Great, but they're still too big but thats cause goalies cry of protection and it's true with the new sticks that shots are harder than ever and they do need protection.

Goalie Puck Playing Restrictions- Who cares about the lines, the point is that there are only a few good stickhandling goalies in the league and they should be able to play the puck wherever they want as it is a huge advantage to have a goalie like Turco.

Suspension for Instigating a fight in last 5 minutes- Will just lead to more cheapshots because guys like Avery will feel they can go out there and take cheapshots at superstars. For a league desperate for star players, putting them at risk like this is stupid.

Changes I'd still like to see:
Full penalty time served- They changed this a long time ago because the Montreal Dynasties would score numerous goals on the PP, but in a league desperate to find a way to increase scoring this would be a good way.

Get rid of instigator- Stupidest rule, let the players police themselves and less cheapshots will happen and black eyes to the sport will be reduced (see Bertuzzi)

Changes I don't want to see:
20 team playoffs- Completely stupid and an attempt to gain more revenue, makes the regular season more pointless and just wears down 8th seed players even more and they already have a tough enough time getting anywhere in the playoffs.

Bigger nets- Just a stupid topic, hockey goals should remain for always the same size.

all these new rule changes mean is coaches will tell there teams to trap deeper and then its a footrace if the puck is iced!

Trap deeper but the offensize zones are bigger and with no obstruction players will win races to the puck more.

No reply Steve after you post that garbage?

No reply if you're going to be a tool about it.

Touch-up offsides: +5
It's about time this happened, yes.

I'd rather see much smaller pads, to replace the new goalie restrictions.

20-team playoffs = -3
The playoff system sucks anyways, I don't know exactly how to repair it.

I really don't like the schedule change. I'm tired of seeing leagues polarize between East and West over and over. There are now two distinctive leagues in the NHL, where it is likely that two different brands of hockey will be played, and you only get to see this one out of every 8 games or so. Three games against everyone.


I never post garbage. The only garbage posted here is you trying to start a fight. It won't happen.

Well I'd like you to explain your theory on moving the nets back and making the blue line in bigger being a bad thing.

20 playoff teams now? this makes my hockey season longer...all i ever watch is the playoffs

It’s an issue of space behind the net, and tradition in regards to the blue line. The zone has been 60 x 85 for years and should remain that way. I’d just like to see some room behind the nets (I thought that 13 feet was pretty measly). 15 feet is the standard for international and >200ft rinks, so why not make it the NHL distance? 15|60|50|60|15
I’d also like 100ft wide rinks, but we know that’s not gonna happen.

Yea I'm a traditionalist as well, I don't really like the neutral zone being smaller but like the offensive zone being bigger. And who cares about international ice surfaces until out ice surfaces are as big as theirs (which I wish they were). The we wouldn't have to worry about 2 line passes, we wouldn't have to worry about making the neutral zone smaller and moving the nets.

yeah...

Something I've actually thought about is replacing the defensive face-off (face-offs next to your net)...

The defending team would not be allowed out of their zone until the offense put the puck into their zone. This would be for icing and goalie freezes. Offsides and other mid-rink situations would be more along the lines of no advancement until the puck crosses the offense's own blue line.

Don’t follow at all :?

Actually we have seen it. When Canada took the gold in the last olympics it was with no red-line rules

What 20 teams will now make the playoff?? Thats just nuts The season will now end in July and IMO make the season worthless

First off...I HATE the NHL for what they did to us last winter...and therefore I throw an offsides flag on this topic...get rid of it...they don't deserve the attention...