From the Pressbox

These people who enjoy these penalty filled, no hit snorefests were never hockey fans in the first place.

Because real CAnadian hockey fans like real Canadian hockey. With hitting, intensity, and dislike between the two teams.

These new Bettman rules are a disgrace to the CAnadian game. I don't care if they call the holding tighter, but make sure its a hook in the first place!

Thing is though they're calling everything tight. Even a clean hit now is called roughing! Like, hockey is a bloody contact game. Contact is what makes our game great.

Bettman wants to eventually turn our game into four on four with 15-14 games being then norm. With of course no hitting allowed. We in Canada better speak up before we lose our game forever.

Not sure how anyone can knock Bob Cole. How many, hockey fans of course and not people looking to get a charge out of someone, look forward to saturday nights to hear that voice. Obviously none of you have the NHL center ice package. Listen to a nashville/carolina/columbus/st. louis etc.. game on any given night and it doesn't matter what team is playing, naturally the announcers are going to favor the home team they are calling for. If they didn't they'd be fired.

Bob Cole certainly doesn't favor any team. Furthermore, every saturday you see either Montreal, Toronto, or Ottawa in our atlantic region. So is it fair to say he cheers for all of those teams when the games are on. He's more familiar with those teams than any other. Hey, I'm an Oilers fan, when he called the stanley cup finals last year, I certainly didn't think he was cheering or rooting for the Oilers. Obviously there are not many fans of the game writing on this blog. Worrying or complaining about an announcer calling the games is childish. The man is an ambassador to the game.

And to whomever made the comment about Dick Irving and the Habs. Nobody in north america could hold a candle to him, he was the biggest habs fan on the planet. Don Cherry likes his Bruins, but not half as much as Dick liked the habs.

I believe it will take the NHL a few years to tweak how the refs are calling obstruction and during this time, it will be somewhat confusing for both players and the fans. But the league is on the right path since I don't believe that anyone really wants to see skilled players get neutralized by hooking and stick word that detracts from their skills. However, I would like to see more of the traditional battles in front of the net that I think are part of the game, not crosschecks from behind and that but allow the guys some more freedom there to push forwards out of the way.

Yes, Romo looks good, heck watching the Boys some games I thought I was watching a good 'ol CFL game to be honest. But put pressure on the young qb like what the Saints did last week and he looked very, very ordinary as did the entire Cowboy team. Their o-line has to step up otherwise they are in trouble.

To Adri B and Victor,

Don't quite know what you have been smoking but EVERYONE at HNIC favors the Leafs. From Ron and Don always talking about how great they are, to Bob and Harry only knowing the Leaf names. The Leaf goalie makes a routine save and Bob screams at the top of his lungs of what a great save it was. My friends and I have played the Bob Cole drinking game so often over the last few years because of his Leaf love. Anyone not familiar with this game it revolves around taking a shot everytime Cole makes a mistake on a players name who is not a leaf. Why do you think all non Leaf fans call it Hockey night in Toronto

Back to the topic at hand I heard an interesting suggestion on tv about diving and that is to give the diver a 4 min penalty. The "New NHL" is much better that the garbage of the last 10 years and can only get better once everyone adjusts completly

I miss the Jets.

I never felt that Bob Cole hated the Leafs. It might be interesting to ask why. If you want to see or hear "homers" just be around here when Ohio State or Michigan are playing football. And the entire Detroit media "hates Notre Dame."
Anyway HNIC is the best hockey coverage anywhere. Many times copied but never duplicated. (I think you guys should sue NBC for their "Football Night in America" act.) Keep up the good work. Late night Saturdays are very enjoyable.

I like the game of hockey now but even I think it is coming a little to sassy. It appears you can't even stare at a player hard or you get a penalty. Why don't the league Inpose a basketball rule and add a time clock to the game....Thats a joke by the way!!!!! With the rules now I wonder what would have happened in the Gretzky era if the same rules were imposed. My guess is that Wayner would have had several 300 point seasons because of his dominance of the game. A second thought is the equipment of the players. Cherry is so correct in saying that the gear has to change and most of the injuries is a product of the harder equipment. Furthermore, with regards to the touch icing, the dudes who run this game will wait until someone either gets seriously hurt or killed before they say....MAYBE WE SHOULD OF REMOVED THAT FROM THE GAME! The games in the eighties were so exciting, when you watched Detroit play and you knew that entertainment was going to be present. For example Yzerman would surely score a BEAUTY and Probert would definitly have a jawdropping, 60 second tussell with some poor unfortunite individual. In the eighties the league had all the ingredients of a complete hockey game, injuries were down, stick infractions were down, goals were beauties and it appeared that the players played with more heart and desire. Yes, we want to see the skills of the player but we want to see the other fun aspects of the game as well. Cherry, when do you think you will be commissioner of the game and make all the right decisions and make the game complete.

Cherry your the MAn

Female Fan

Kudos for an interesting article.

I couldn't possibly agree more that at times it seems like obstruction and hooking calls get out of hand. The players are getting to be savvy about this stuff - on several occasions I've seen players pin a stick to their side the second that a stick comes up around waste level. Oops, HOOKING! Its baloney.

Having said that, and after reading the responses from a few other fans here... I don't miss the 'old' game at all. There are no aspects of the 'old' NHL that I particularly enjoyed and perhaps the best thing about the current situation is that competitively there is more parity than ever.

The day of the goon has come and gone and the NHL is better off for it. Now if you want to put a hit on somebody you *must* be clever and skillful about it if you want to avoid a penalty. However, on the flip side, I've seen penalties awarded to my club and others that have left me wondering what exactly constitutes a hook or obstruction in these officials' collective minds.

In the end, if this is how things are called, I just want consistency.

I think there is a perfectly legitimate way to use your stick to ride an attacker out of the play. Any stick-on-stick contact is legal, and I believe that stick-on-body or hand-on-body contact should not be expressly illegal, unless actual obstruction/restraint/interference (whatever you want to call it) is occurring. That is, if you go for the stick-lift, and tap a guy on the waist along the way, that should not be a penalty. It is now.

I think the root of the problem is the league encouraging franchises to establish themselves in places they don't belong. Now you have multimillion dollar investments which aren't paying off and the league has to do something. So they change the game and take into account the opinions of ppl who don't even like the game to start with and I end up with glowing pucks on my TV screen (you all remember that nonsense).

The number of teams is increasing to quickly. It doesn't just need to slow down, it needs to roll back. Watch a home game from every team where the attendance is reasonable. If the crowd does not applaud after the home team kills off a penalty it's because they don't even know what they're watching. Shut it down, that city doesn't know hockey, doesn't like hockey, shouldn't have a teams and the rules should not be changed to accommodate what they don't like about the game.

Which of course isn't going to happen.

My biggest problem with the new penalties is the inconsistency between games, something I'm afraid only time can fix. As for stick on the body; if the stick isn't slowing the opponent down then why is it there in the first place? Get with it, or come sit with the rest of us in the stands. There are plenty of players who have adapted.

Elliotte, you are starting to sound like those two iddiottes Maclean & Cherry on HNIC.
Those two dinosaurs are trying to destroy all the progress that the NHL has made since the lockout. I would rather watch a high scoring, end to end, fast paced game ( including power plays ) than all the clutching and grabbing that we were used to before the lockout. Most teams cannot dress their goons because of all the power plays and penalty killing time during the game. What a concept,
by calling all the restriction penalties, teams are forced to dress their skilled players ie: those that can skate, shoot and pass. Elliotte that was the whole idea behind all the changes!! And don't tell me the game isn't physical, ask the players with concussion injuries this year. OUT!

Wanted, ballerina's on ice

This is just a quick note about possible schedule changes. This is my idea, the first two parts of the current schedule stays the same, 8 games versus each division rival, and 4 games against each conference rival. Then, rank the teams in each division based on the previous year, 1 through 15. Teams 1-5 in the east, would play a home and home with teams 1-5 in the west. Teams 6-10 play 6-10, and 11-15etc. I think this would mix up the match ups,add more parity, and still limit travel costs. What do you think?

In response to Jamie from Montreal's comment, I'm not sure what CBC he's watching, but as a life-long Leaf fan, I have been forever frustrated on Sat. nights when it's Leafs vs. Montreal and my nerves are shot because the Leafs can never put it out of reach, by how much Bob Cole roots for the Habs. To paraphrase a "Bob" call, "Harry, you know the Leafs are just barely hanging on and it's only a matter of time before the Canadiens put one in!" or something along those lines. And then, when Montreal inevitably ties it/wins it in OT/shootout, etc, you can HEAR the satisfaction in Bob's resulant call, "SCORES! Oh Baby! Harry, you had to know it was only a matter of time before (from subsequent eras) Naslund/Richer/Brunet/Koivu/Souray put one behind Bester/Potvin/Joseph/Belfour/Raycroft!!" Only Dick Irvin and Danny Gallivan were more blatant with their love of the Habs!

Some idiot just posted a comment about Bob Cole being pro-Toronto, and what a welcome relief it was to have Jim Hugson call the Habs/Leafs game on Sat nite. Anyone who knows, and has been watching, hockey for the past 30 years knows that Bob Cole hates the Leafs and loves Montreal, but especially loves Detroit. It has been extremely difficult for Leaf fans to watch games being called by Colie, as he will do everything he can to "will" whatever team the Leafs happen to be playing to score/break a shutout/win. It is not uncommon, for example, when the Leafs have the puck for Cole to refer to the Leaf player by the generic term "Toronto", but to know and use every single name on the Detroit roster if they happen to be at the ACC. So, for that Hab-Lover who thinks he's getting shafted, go home and watch your tapes of old Dick Irvin interviews why don't you, and leave the rest of us alone.

I think most people would agree that there are aspects of the "new" NHL that are tremendously exciting. Watching some of the skilled players out there is nothing short of amazing. Things were being called much too strictly last year, but the refs are doing better this year on that score. The only real problem I have with the game these days is the destruction of physical play. The fact is, there are far fewer strong hits taking place...it seems as though touching another player is now a penalty! Loosen up on the contact calls, and stick to what's important...no hitting from behind, boarding, charging...get rid of the dangerous stuff.

A little food for thought...it will be interesting to see if on-ice injuries go up with the reduction of solid contact play. All players know that you have to keep your head up and watch out, but with less contact coming all the time, I think the guys are going to get lazy. Of course, the reaction will likely be to remove contact from the game, making this an expensive version of the rec hockey being played down the street...

C'mon, guys...lets get back to the gritty, tough, in your face game that we grew up loving! I don't know any true hockey fan that wants to watch figure skating with nets!

chad

I too am no expert on the NHL rule book, but would like to know where it is written that the stick can be used to ride players out of the play.
I thought the idea was to keep skating catch up and use your body to ride them out of the play.

Jim Mulchinock
Re: ". . . there are cases when checkers use their sticks to legitimately ride attackers out of the play."

Huh? I am not an expert on NHL rules. Could you explain where that is in the rulebook? And what is the difference between that and hooking?

Jim, your comment has made it clear to all of the other readers here that you have never played organized hockey. There are a number of ways to take an attacker out of the play with your stick and not have it be a hooking call. I played and was not a big guy, but I could effectively take a guy's abillity to score away from him when he was twice my size and standing in front of the net just by taking his top hand off of his stick. you try and unload a good shot with only your bottom hand on the stick

I'm with Jim Mulchinock on this one:
". . . there are cases when checkers use their sticks to legitimately ride attackers out of the play."
I'm not convinced that this is the case at all. The reason there are so many obstruction-hooking penalties is that players refuse to get their sticks off the body of the other player. Frankly, if a player has position on you to the point where you cant use your body to stop him or your stick to poke-check the PUCK, then that player has outplayed you. In the old NHL this was not the case, but what we're seeing is players and coaches refusing to part with that.
Imagine a hockey game where no one puts their stick up on another player for the entire game. Is that so bad? Is it so revolutionary? Would that ruin hockey? I don't think so.

The best definition of obstruction that i have found in the dictionary is: to hinder from passage, action, or operation.

In the "New NHL", I regularly see obstruction penalties called when no "hinderage of action" has occured.

If the NHL wants to create a new penalty called "Stick on opponent", they are free to do so. Although that would be rather counter-productive.

Some would say that the New NHL still has kinks to work out, such as some of the penalty calls. If that's the case, they better work those kinks out ASAP because the quality of entertainment is lessened by it.

Funny how this "New NHL" which is supposed to increase scoring and improve entertainment value is still nowehere near the hockey we had in the 1980s.

Gregoire Savoie,
Vancouver, BC.

Nothing can change the momentum of a game like strong aggressive play filled with big hits. Whats wrong with grit?!

I'm tired of pandering to people who can't enjoy a 1-0 hockey game.

The list of players who made the NHL what it is today, did it through the traditional format of the league...why can't others do the same now? Any time that the Sedin Sisters are top point scorers (even though they practically faint any time another skater comes near them), the style of play in this league should be re-evaluated.

Most of the hockey matches that I've watched this season resemble too much the pre-lockout hockey. Even though referees are cracking down hard on obstruction and the like, it appears that the trap is making a comeback and most of the game is still taking place in the corners, or with endless cycling around the net.

Boring!

Up and down hockey, please. Ban the trap. Twenty teams maximum. Stop spreading mediocrity throughout the league. Better still, ten to twelve teams in Canada and ten to twelve teams in the United States. An NAHL, with each country represented in the Stanley Cup Final.

I love our Canadian game of hockey. It is however unfortunite when you watch the new NHL and all the game involves are power plays and more power plays. If this remains then each team will only require at the most 3 lines and maybe allowed to dress 3 goaltenders because of the high shot and shoot out ratio. I do however dislike the shootout. I feel that the game should be finished by the way of last goal wins, ie sudden death overtime. It is the most exciting piece of the game that is lacking. I also do miss the odd tussell because I think that it brought forth the excitement of the game and knowing that a player would pick up and defend another made it feel more personal and valuable to the individual and the team. It appeasr we are trying to remove the CANADIAN game of hockey and replace it with a more europeon style. A combination of the 2 would be ideal but I guess we are going to have to work out the glitches and maybe someday, if the fans dont become frustrated, we will have our old game back once again. In closing I have been watching hockey for 30 plus years and I do miss the old rivalaries of DET, TOR, Chic, Tor, Bos........Please bring it back.

Craig

Re: ". . . there are cases when checkers use their sticks to legitimately ride attackers out of the play."

Huh? I am not an expert on NHL rules. Could you explain where that is in the rulebook? And what is the difference between that and hooking?

I love the new NHL rules and how these changes have trickled down to the minor leagues too. The game is now hugely exciting. Slashing, hooking, and interfering are way, way down. Goons are disappearing. And the skating and play? FAST. And surprise! Despite what Don Cherry claims, body checking is spectacular and skillful. Not a mugging.

NHL? Don't evey submit to the backsliding pundits.

Jim

I myself is getting totally upset with the obstruction rule. They changed alot of the rules to speed up the game. With the obstruction rule, it has happered the game. I find that alot of the calls are just outrageous!!! Unless the player is being really impeaded from moving then it shouldn't be a penilty. A player just hacking at him, does not to me to be a penilty, a hand on the shoulder or arm that is not being pulled at is not impeading his progress. Hockey is hockey, and they should just let them play the game the way it was meant to.
One other thing, I would like to thank CBC for the game on saturday/Montreal-Toronto. Having Jim Hughson call the game was a great releif. When you use Bob Cole and Harry Neill, they are so pro toronto that it makes the game so onesided that I just want to turn off the game all together. It does not matter who Toronto are playing, it is just so one sided. Jim Hughson calls the game like it is suppose to be called. He makes it exciting to watch. The tones in his voice make you excited even for the team you are not routing for. My opinion, Jim hughson should stay as the play by play for saturday all the time, not just Vancouver games.
Thanks Elliott for a great story.
Jamie BC native in Montreal