Changes Revisited

What few readers I have will (possibly) remember that my first post of any substance was an indictment of today’s National Hockey League. For those of you who follow the game, you will know that this is a very popular topic. Any newspaper article you read or any talking head you see on TV discussing the state of the game will criticize the NHL and offer their changes the game. One such talking head is NHL 2Night’s John Buccigross. Buccigross is a huge fan of the game, which is evident in every broadcast. In addition to hosting NHL 2Night on ESPN, he writes a weekly column on ESPN.com -- usually about a timely topic. This week’s column features his “Top 10 things to enhance the game.” (Astute readers will notice that Buccigross cited one of the things I mentioned in my aforementioned post.) I must agree with all of his offerings, most especially numbers 3, 4, 6, and 9, and admit to being incredibly intrigued by #1. More topics/changes that I would like to see discussed: 1. A way to put the Canadian teams on equal footing monetarily with the American teams 2. The establishment of a permanent Fans Committee that would be able to give the NHL input that would carry some weight 3. Changing the offside rule; it now says the puck must precede all offensive players past the blue line, and that once the puck leaves the zone so must the players; I would like to see it changed to having the puck precede the players over the blue line, but then give the offense the extra territory all the way back to the red line without having to clear the zone again; the defense would have to clear the puck past the red line to have the zone cleared. (I must emphasize that I don’t know if it would work, but I would like to see some college or minor league games played with this rule to see if it’s feasible.) 4. Fixing the delay of game rule; right now, if a goalie -- who has the least control of his stick -- shoots the puck out of the rink without that puck touching anything, his team is assessed a two minute minor for delay of game; I would change this to the complete opposite -- penalize those who have the most control over their stick for the same infraction; 5. Make all major penalties result in an automatic game misconduct; I think players might be a little more cautious with their sticks and elbows -- and fists -- if they knew there existed the possibility of an ejection. Again, these are just some more things I would like to see discussed at the very least. I know all of you don’t agree with me, but perhaps we could talk about it. After all, feedback is welcome.