The Flyers have recently emerged out of their early-season scoring slump, showing some life in consecutive victories as they head into Tuesday night’s game in Ottawa, but they remain the poster team for the National Hockey League’s big-picture problem – a lack of offense.
Long gone are the high-flying offenses of the 1980s, with Wayne Gretzky’s Edmonton Oilers leading the way and 100-point scorers expected each season. Last season, no players reached the century mark, and all indications are that there will never be a return to the sort of fire-wagon hockey of the old Montreal Canadiens, a style that continued into the 80s.
The battle cry at this point is to make the nets bigger, and that the real culprits are the goalies who are now wearing gear that basically serves as an eclipse in front of the net.
The view from this side of the blue line is that it is absurd to make the nets any bigger. A move like that is just too drastic, and its hard to believe these goalies wouldn’t be able to cover another inch or so to their right or left.
Equipment? No question, there can be some rules to shrink goalies down a size, but that is hardly the entire problem.
The NHL and much of hockey has become a game controlled defensive systems and coaches who preach blocked shots and quicksand instead of ice. Even the Pittsburgh Penguins have abandoned some of their offensive skills for a defensive system that might prove more successful in the playoffs.
The best way to open up offense is to throw the coaches out of the building, but that’s not going to happen. Heck, there isn’t even any chance that the assistants would be thrown out, although getting them off the benches might help.
It wouldn’t be a bad idea to make a rule against leaving your feet to block shots, and maybe even ban goalies from getting down in their butterfly when the play is behind the net, as proposed by Kevin DuPont in the Boston Globe.
So, in the category of nobody asked me but. . . here are some ideas on how to increase scoring in the NHL.
More 'long changes'
One very simple change would be to change the rules so that the so-called “long change" would be moved from the second period to the first and third periods.
The long change is when it is much more difficult for the defensemen to get back to the bench for a change. It is currently during the second period and overtime, and there are constantly situations that tax the defensive pair from getting off the ice, leading to a scoring opportunity for the opposition.
Although this might cause some confusion in terms of locker room logistics, it is well worth the offensive punch it will add to the game. It’s a very simple change that could have big implications and doesn’t mess with the basic structure of the game.
Icing on the PK
Call icing during penalty killing.
This is simple. The penalty-killing unit would no longer be able to scale the puck the length the ice to kill time. Instead, the icing call would be made with a faceoff back in their defensive zone. This will give the power play team more scoring chances, and avoid the clock running on free icing.
The second part of this is that a team would be further penalized for a second or third icing. This, in addition to no player changes on the ice, would be needed as a failsafe for a team to simply force faceoffs.
Increase PP scoring
Just like a five-minute major, play out the entire two-minute penalty as a power play. In other words, go back to the past and score as many times as you can during a power play.
As a result of the changes to the power play situation, teams will be less likely to take penalties to put themselves at a man disadvantage. What that means is less interference, and more skating room.
No more trapezoid
Get rid of the trapezoid behind the net.
I never liked this idea from the start. The league basically made a rule to stop Marty Brodeur from handling the puck and kick starting the Devils offense -- usually Scott Neidermayer racing up the ice.
However, there was also a chance that a goalie would botch the play, leading to a scoring chance. In fact, Brodeur himself misplayed a puck in a crucial Stanley Cup Final game against Dallas that turned out badly. If a goalie wants to venture out to play a puck -- let him.
Faceoff adjustments
Put some faceoffs directly in front of the goalie. In certain situations, rather than have the faceoffs to the right and left of the goalie put a faceoff dot in the middle of the ice.
This would give the team in the offensive zone the entire width of the rink to set up its scoring chances. The NHL has already addressed this in some manner, as it now demands the defensive zone player to put his stick down first, rather than just a matter of the visiting team.