I can save you some time this week if you are a frequent reader who prefers when I don’t write about sports. You may want to stop reading.
The National Hockey League lost me as a fan during the lockout, but I have come back as a Winnipeg Jets supporter this season, simply based on the fact I attended a couple of games and fell in love with the team’s work ethic and the atmosphere in the arena.
In the past, I was an NHL fan and would watch any game on television, but now if it’s not the Jets, I have zero interest. I was listening to a radio program last week where the hosts interviewed former goaltender Kay Whitmore, who works in the NHL main office and is charged with trying to get goalie equipment to a standard that is satisfactory for all. Based on what I heard, I don’t think that’s ever going to happen; but it really is an easy fix.
There seems to be unanimous agreement that there is unprecedented skill in the National Hockey League; however save percentages continue to go up and goals against averages continue to come down for netminders. Skaters continue to ask for sleeker, thinner protective equipment so they can be faster. Goalies want bigger, bulkier pieces so they can cover more of the net. All you have to do is refer to a video from 1993 and look at Patrick Roy, who was wearing more gear than the average netminder at that time, and see the difference between what he wore then and what any goalie wears now. NHL shooters, simply, don’t have as much of the net to shoot at compared to 20-years ago. Goaltenders may be better today, but not exponentially. Apparently, pads now will rotate when you go into the butterfly so that when a goalie goes down, the front of the pad flips up to face the shooter. To me, this isn’t fair.
Fans want to see great plays. This, usually, means goals. But, it can also mean acrobatic saves. It definitely means creativity. The game has changed to the point where shots are no longer intended to score, but rather the intent is for rebounds or to redirect into the net off a body standing in front of the net. This isn’t entertainment.
It’s possible the NHL scoring title will be won by a player averaging less than a point per game. It will, certainly, be won by someone with less than 90. In 1993, the Pittsburgh Penguins had 6 on their roster who were over a point per game and Joe Mullen had 70 in 72 games. I know with lower offensive numbers, my enjoyment to play fantasy hockey has been reduced to nothing as well. The bottom line is that the NHL needs to sell hockey as entertainment and that conflicts with the coaches who are selling defense because that’s the easiest way to win.
The bottom line is that while hockey can talk about tweaking rules to try and get an extra goal here and there, the reality is that shooters just don’t have nearly the net to shoot at that they used to. So, either make the net bigger, or scale back the gear. To me, great goalies shouldn’t be afraid of this change. Why let a lesser athlete do as well as you do just because he’s packing on equipment to fill the net? Wouldn’t you want to be judged and paid based on ability? I look at Ray Emery Saturday night in Edmonton. There is no way he should be an NHL goalie. His 3.15-GAA and .892-SPCT are some of the worst numbers you will see today. Yet, Patrick Roy posted 3.20 and .894 numbers in 1993. For those that say goalies are just better today than they were twenty years ago, I will say you can’t tell me Emery and Roy should be even in the same conversation. Emery, in 1993, would have an average approaching 4.50 and a SPCT of .850 and be, simply, out of the league.
Here’s how much the league has changed: Wayne Gretzky is considered the greatest ever, but the heaviest he ever played at was 185 pounds. Mike Bossy and Guy Lafleur also played at 185. Rocket Richard played at 180. I would argue none of them would even make an NHL roster today. Sidney Crosby and John Tavares are over 200 each and Alex Ovechkin is 230. Any player who does play at a weight under 200 can skate like the wind and skating was never a forte of Gretzky or Bossy. I’m too young to remember Lafleur and Richard.
The NHL was most popular when Gretzky and Lemieux were waging scoring title wars at 160 points or more. It’s not the same watching Crosby, Ovechkin, and Tavares do the same at 75. Next season, Connor McDavid is coming in and with the inflated totals he’s putting up in the OHL in an era where defense rules, I’d love to see if he could make a run at some of Gretzky’s records. That, to me, is entertainment.
