Viewpoint

I hope the league allows each team to play each other twice,meaning an eastern team will have to, at least do one visit in each western teams rink.Having 4 games against a division rival is plenty enough,its boring the game down to much to have more than that.

is it possible to revert ahead as well as revert back?

Instead of trying to change our game with gimmicks, and recognizing the players are bigger, faster etc- JUST make the rinks bigger- 200x100 In most NHL cities where fans are at a premuim-no- one would notice- In my Canadian opinion this would help the game ?

Paul

Lynn - Ottawa has a "better than tho" attitude? hahahaha. Me thinks you are confusing Toronto with that attitude. Which city in the entire country refused to support the only Canadian team left in the playoffs last year..... Toronto. Think about that before you post comments.

A comment on the agenda for Day 2:

The size of goaltender equipment was not reduced nearly enough in 2005. Goalies still have a huge unjustified advantage over shooters by virtue of their size.

I suggest that the NHL openly look at goalie gear and streamline any piece of equipment which unduly covers the net. There is no need to sacrifice protection. Shins, knees and palms can be perfectly protected with smaller gear.

Is it just me or are there many more meaningful games in the late season now? I think its because we end with so many division games. while i certainly support a schedule change that allows us to see Crosby in Vancouver again before 2011, I hope the meaningful end-of-season games will remain

I love NHL hockey, but going back to the old schedule means more trips across North America meaning more fuel spent travelling. Not good. [and, Toronto fans should boycott going to Leafs' games. The whole organization needs a shakedown to the core. Very, very disappointed in anything to do with the Maple Leafs since 1968.]

This is an excellent article, however, they (the Western teams) and the coaches kept on “Crabbing and complaining about the “distance, time and how tired they where when coming into the East to play a few games.

I love to see the “Original 6 teams”. Please leave it alone.

Mr. Dan Cahill

Of course it should be changed to allow all teams to play against each other. The fans deserve it regardles of what some teams GM's think of it.

I'm a Habs fan, but I don't need to see them play Toronto eight times a year. I know it's just my preference, but I actually liked it better when Toronto was in the other conference. The two times they played each other were special, and I made sure I caught those games. Now? They see them every second Tuesday. I don't thionk I caught a game yet this year.

Plus? Under the current format, Montreal and Toronto can't meet in a cup final (if they were both good enough!).

Even Christmas loses its wonder if you have it every month.

This is to Lynne who states that everyone in Ottawa thinks they are better then everone else.
What an ignorant, stereotypical juvenile comment. Do you realize that Ottawa raised more money for charity on a % per person basis than anywhere else in Canada? Sure many of us have great government jobs, but we give back as well. I am sure I could throw out some typical garbage come-back about Toronto, but toronto is made up of Canadians just as Ottawa is, so through my experiences I have realized its about the City, its about the individual. Maybe you should learn that clumping a group together as you have, make you personally a bigot, not other Torontonians, but you.

Kudo's to the NHL for tweaking the schedule. Increasing the number of games is well and good, how about increasing the rink size?

It's too small for twelve players, four officials and a puck. The players seem to be afraid of getting corked and rightfully so.

I suggest removing the first row of seats all around the rink. It will give the players more elbow room and should result in a safer and more creative game.

Come on NHL, just do it!

Two comments: 1) Why was there no discussion of the point system? I don't care if they get rid of the bonus point for losing in OT or if they add a third point for winning in regulation, but do one or the other. The system makes no sense, and if we want to increase scoring, then why do we have a point format that encourages ties?
2)How on earth would increasing the nets have a greater "impact on the record book" than other changes in the rules? I'm afraid I don't understand this comment. In any case, hasn't there already been an "impact on the record book" as a result of the improvement in goaltending equipment? Today's pads are MUCH lighter than the pads of old, and they're bigger as a result. What would be so sacrilegious about increasing the size of the goals slightly to compensate?

The schedule re-evolving into a more inclusive
balanced schedule, is a step in the right direction,but it absolutley has to include each team visiting each team EVERY year.
Every team has bona fide stars that we fans want to see, but I do not have $250.00 to spend on a pair of tickets and getting to the game,to see any team more than 2 times a year.
If the governors want more scoring, get rid of the trap/wedge which makes for very boring hockey!

Its a start. The NHL should now eliminate the divisions and balance the schedule so that each team plays at least one home & home with every other team in the league. The remainder of the schedule should be balanced across the team's conference. This would allow fans in every city a chance to see the league's superstars.

I would be one to say I cold care less if hockey went away, but for my husband a HUGE TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS FAN!! He would not want to see that happen. But I have heard him complain since the lockout stopped and this new schedule occured and he was very upset about it, and kept saying they should revert back to the old, so I am very happy that fans like him were heard and they are reverting to the best schedule instead of the one they have now. The NHL thinking that rivals are cities that are located close to one another is ridiculous! Even I can see that just because Ottawa Montreal and Toronto are close to one another does not mean they should play each other over and over again!! Why should that make them rivals, I can see Toronto and Montreal since they are part of the original six but to throw Ottawa in the mix is plain dumb! Ottawa is a very large government city with a large population of "better than you" attitudes and it shows in the fans, but Toronto is a "stick by your side through everything" fans and that shows heart! I think that it is not the teams that are rivals but more the fans that hate each other!
Anyhow that is just my opinion and I could be wrong!

It's about time. Owe it to the fans . A shorter
exhibition schedule also makes sense . A longer
season though is dumb , but the players want
more coin as do owners.I'm sure Leave/Hab fans
will be ticked, as less games for the "Rivalry".

More Rivals for teams. Teams will face each other who are in the different conference as your team is , and the schedule is well balanced on teams you face in both conferences.

More Challenges for a good team

I am pleased that the NHL owners have seen fit to chnage the schedule so that we in the west can see more of the eastern teams. Next, they just need to do something about the brutal, silly image that hockey has in order to make it more saleable than roller derby. The senseless fighting, the very dangerous hits to the head and hits from behind need to stop if hockey is ever to be taken seriously as a major sport in North America.

Poor, poor pitiful John Ferguson Jr.?

Possibly only in Toronto where the press there is similar to the hounds who stalk Hellyweird and Royalty! Elsewhere in the NHL he is seen as a team builder! Just check and see where the Stanley Cup and other hardware is douled out. Our better yet do some personal R&D Leaf (Laughable) fans and see where your "gifted" players in limbo are headed or are now! Clue: They are not in a TML uniform for years to come.

The only reason that this organization (TML) EXSISTS is too make other teams shine, raise the Stanley Cup, etc.

I agree with Mr. Nestransky. Why should the Eastern Conference teams dictate to the rest of the league to THEIR advantage. Presently there are two teams who suffer the most: Detroit and Columbus, being the only two teams in the Western Conference that are located in the Eastern time zone. This season the league has bent over backwards for them by giving them more days off following west coast trips. However, this does nothing for them when the playoffs start. Solutions can't be made to benefit just a select number of teams but it is also unfair to tip the scales to benefit the East over the West.

teri springer
chester, NS

Then bring back the old Division names as well! Bring back some tradition to this game and go back to Smythe, Patrick, Adams, Norris Division and also add some names if they have to.
If I was part of the NHL marketing team, I'd be all over this.
NHL needs to show they're different then all the other pro leagues.

I love seeing all of the teams in the league come into Toronto or even Buffalo. I look forward to seeing Chicago with the new young players, the Ducks as the Stanley Cup winners, also Wayne Gretzky as coach of the Coyotes. I would love to see each team play each other at least once during the season. There are some teams that I just get tired of seeing as they just play each other too often with the current schedule.

I agree with Mr. Nestransky. Why should the Eastern Conference teams dictate to the rest of the league to THEIR advantage. Presently there are two teams who suffer the most: Detroit and Columbus, being the only two teams in the Western Conference that are located in the Eastern time zone. This season the league has bent over backwards for them by giving them more days off following west coast trips. However, this does nothing for them when the playoffs start. Solutions can't be made to benefit just a select number of teams but it is also unfair to tip the scales to benefit the East over the West.

teri springer
chester, NS

Get it right. The NHL needs to understand the bottom line is only for the owners. The game belongs to the players and the fans. Hockey Day in Canada was created for a reason and Bettman and the rest of the US owners ignored the bithplace of hockey and the pillars of the league. Last time I checked, Detroit is not a Canadian city. Make the full change back at least 2 games against each team.

Hoorah! Divisional rivalries are fine but meeting 8 times a season was overkill, especially if that meant you had to play Ottawa or Detroit eight times.

Will the Wings be moved into the Eastern Conference too?

I Love the fact that the NHL has finally decided to have every team play each other once.

About time they made this smart move.

The season gets pretty boring when you see the same teams over and over and over again. Plus the current system builds division conflicts and hype, but does nothing for conference build-ups, let alone for teams in the other conference. A great example is last year's Stanley Cup Final - Ottawa vs Anaheim. The last time those two teams played was 1.5 years ago. What kind of history or build-up can you make with that? The answer is none. I understand building division match-ups. But doing only that is very short sighted.

The current system builds good playoff hype for the first two rounds only. Beyond that its Team A vs Team B with little or no history or drive between the two.

The new (pre lockout) system will solve this and put the game history back to where is belongs.

I would not want to be responsible for creating the scheduling for the NHL. I'm sure that there will be opposition from either side once any type of decision has been made. With that stated, it would be nice for every NHL fan to experience the outstanding skill level that some players have and are eager to display (enter your own examples here).

The issue for me is that the league has far too many teams (and outstanding players) to accomodate everyone. Reduce the league back to 20 teams, bring back the Smythe, Norris, Adams, and Patrick divisions - each team plays each other 4 times - ohhh thos were the days!!

Habs over Vancouver in 6 :)

Who cares? The world is coming apart at the seams and we are supposed to be worried about a bunch of pampered and overpaid athletes and owners who could care less about the game and the fans. Come on. Professional sports died years ago when everyone became so greedy. I wouldn't walk across the street to see these guys play. Waste of time and money. Golf is where it's at. Individual talents where there are no guarantees. Look at the events right now in Florida! Q-school. You do or die. No contracts guaranteeing that lousy golfers get paid millions for years on end.

Still not good enough. Fans own the game not the owners of teams. Without us, there would be no league PERIOD!! Try to get a ticket to the Penguin's game in Calgary, you might as well mortgage the house, there are no seats left. The Sens, Habs and Leafs sell out when the come west. We want to see the stars!! As far as TV and Saturday night, I'm sick and tired of the Leafs and Habs or Leafs and Sens every weekend, TSN picked up a weekday game on Tuesday, Leafs and Habs.

How about expanding the rink to international level to give more room for the skilled players to have better scoring chances?

Oh look! the NHL schedule debate! What a surprise to see Morrison talking about this.....again. Please do NHL fans a favour and find some new material. The schedule is changing and it's going back to the old format...this certainly isn't anything we haven't heard a million times already.

Poor, poor pitiful John Ferguson Jr.?

Possibly only in Toronto where the press there is similar to the hounds who stalk Hellyweird and Royalty! Elsewhere in the NHL he is seen as a team builder! Just check and see where the Stanley Cup and other hardware is douled out. Our better yet do some personal R&D Leaf (Laughable) fans and see where your "gifted" players in limbo are headed or are now! Clue: They are not in a TML uniform for years to come.

The only reason that this organization (TML) EXSISTS is too make other teams shine, raise the Stanley Cup, etc.

Well its a step in the right direction, now the have to get rid of the saturday afternoon playoff games. Keep up the tradition of hockey NIGHT in Canada. My reasoning is, its spring/almost summer in Canada and people like to be outdoors. Leave the games to nights.

maybe this will help the leafs win a few more games. hahaha. All kidding aside, I think this is a fantastic idea. This will give the fans of other teams a chance to see them play. I would not mind if they also put the devisions back to what they were a few years ago, and maybe ease up on the penalty calls. And i do not like the restrictions placed on the goalies in regards to that stupid little line on the sides of the nets. Free the goalies.

Who cares? The world is coming apart at the seams and we are supposed to be worried about a bunch of pampered and overpaid athletes and owners who could care less about the game and the fans. Come on. Professional sports died years ago when everyone became so greedy. I wouldn't walk across the street to see these guys play. Waste of time and money. Golf is where it's at. Individual talents where there are no guarantees. Look at the events right now in Florida! Q-school. You do or die. No contracts guaranteeing that lousy golfers get paid millions for years on end.

The NHL is National... meaning coast to coast. The East should not benefit in terms of schedule. If the issue is financial, then say so up front. Then the new proposed schedule becomes a compromise that the west is forced to live with.