If you were NHL commish with ultimate power for a week, what would you do?

Question

First, I would drop the instigator rule. Any team who sent out goons at the end of the game to injure someone/cause problems when they were losing would get a $100,000 fine and the players on the ice would all be suspended 3 games.

Second, grandfather in visors. Players already in the NHL wouldn't have to switch, but anyone coming into the league or the AHL would have to wear them. People who argue against visors are parroting the same arguments against helmets when they were phased in.

Third, eliminate Atlanta and Columbus, Move Carolina to Hartford, TB to Quebec, and Phoenix to Winnipeg, give Chicago and Boston new owners, and tell Minnesota that they are the Northstars now.

Finally, if a goalie leaves the crease to play the puck, he is fair game to get hit. the same rules about hitting other players would apply to hitting goalies. e.g. no spearing, has to be playing the puck, no charging, etc.

Answer 1

If I were NHL commish that would mean I would be Gary Bettman, therefore, I'd hang myself and wouldn't last the whole week.

Answer 2

First off, I agree with your dropping of the instigator rule, although I think it should be a 5-game suspension for anyone who goes out and "goons it up" on purpose at the ends of blowouts.
Second, the visor rule sounds good. They did that with helmets and the game has been much safer.
Third, I would rather combine Tampa and Florida into one team, and combine Nashville and Carolina into one team (and move it back to Hartford). Hartford still wants hockey (no matter what Peter Karmanos says), and Carolina is still all about college basketball and NASCAR. Move Columbus up to Quebec City, and move Phoenix back to Winnipeg. I wouldn't make the Wild into the NorthStars because then you have the Stars and NorthStars.
Fourth, I would allow the goalie to go anywhere on the ice (like a goalie in soccer). It's not like his stick is useful to shoot the puck. However, he should be under the same rules as any other skater if he decides to leave his crease.
Fifth, I would make an 84-game schedule, where each team plays their division rivals 6 times each (24 games), each non-division conference opponent 3 teams each (30 games), and each team in the other conference twice (30 games).
Sixth, institute no-touch icing. While serious accidents involving icing are rare, this is another safety feature, and this one will also speed up the game.
Seventh, only change your salary cap every five years. That way, the number doesn't fluctuate so much, and you get to see if the rise in league revenue is for real and not just a trend.
Eighth, create a system like the British Parliament, meaning if there's a labor stoppage that can't be resolved without cancelling games, then both the head of the players union and the league commissioner should be replaced.
Ninth, make the All-Star Game back to East against West, and make the game EVERY year, even years that have Olympic breaks.
Tenth, and MOST IMPORTANTLY, GET A NATIONAL TELEVISION DEAL. Versus Network just isn't cutting it in the U. S. You need a network like USA or Fox Sports to cover hockey on a regular basis. You also need NBC to have games on BOTH weekend days all season, not just after the All-Star Break.
There you go, those are my ways to fix the NHL.

Answer 3

1. Get rid of the trapezoid area, fighting instigator penalty, the current scheduling format, and the point for an OT or shootout loss (just go with a straight win-loss record).

2. Put in an NBA-style soft salary cap instead of the current hard one. This way, Pittsburgh will have little problem retaining Crosby, Malkin, Staal, Whitney, and Fleury for the rest of their careers while at the same time, keeping a lid on salaries.

3. Eliminate the Thrashers, Panthers, Ducks, and Blue Jackets. Move the Predators to Hamilton, the Hurricanes to Hartford, the Lightning to Seattle, the Coyotes to Winnipeg, and the Devils to Quebec City (if Quebec City wants a team). This will leave the league with 26 teams.

4. Re-align the divisions to:
Smythe (LA, SJ, Van, Seattle, Edm, Cal)
Norris (Col, Dal, Winnipeg, StL, Min, Chi)
Patrick (Pit, Buf, Ott, Hamilton, Det, Was, Tor)
Adams (Mtl, Quebec, NYI, NYR, Phi, Bos, Hartford)

5. Playoff format reverted back to 1993 style, where teams are bracketed and seeded by division

6. Chicago and Boston gets new owners.

7. If goalie leaves the crease to play the puck, he is fair game to get hit (unless he is trying to get back to his crease).

8. Minor penalties to be served in full. Icing not allowed in short-handed situations. High-sticking the puck measured on player's shoulder, not the crossbar (this cuts down on video reviews). Finally, if a defensive player knocks the net off without being shoved into, intentional or accidental, this results in a penalty shot.

9. Home teams wear white jerseys and road teams wear the dark-colored jerseys

10. 2-3-2 format for the Stanley Cup Finals. This will cut down the travel costs for the media, thus giving them more incentive to cover the Finals rather than skipping it.

11. Most importantly, make sure that Gary Bettman can no longer serve as NHL commissioner!

Answer 4

I would ban any teams that have won the cup in history from ever moving or being moved.

I agree with getting rid of the insigator and grandfathering visors in though, but goalies... How about this: the goalie can play the puck anywhere he wants behind the net, but if they go outside of the trapezoid behind the goal line and are behind the goal line, they can get hit.

moving teams back to places that couldn't support them- GREAT idea. Also, if you're moving teams around, shouldn't every team go back to heir original home? The devils going Back to Kansas City, the Stars going back to Minnesota and giving that state two teams, and so on? Why has nobody suggested that? and while we're at it, lets go back to 6 teams too... would that work in this day and age? Get real. fans like you are why the NHL is a joke.

Oh, I just realized I forgot a few things in my rant. No touch icing. that's a biggie. Touch up can really hurt players, it essentially sanctioned boarding. I like a big hit as much as the next guy, but that's not hitting for strategy, that's just hitting to injure, even though not on purpose.

Shootouts: Forget it. No more. nada. never again.

Get rid of the geography. We can look at a map, thank you. No more east west, you can keep the same teams for all I care, but the names was one of the things that made hockey unique.

I would also force Wayne Gretzky to say that Both Mario and Bobby Orr had more true talent then he did...

Answer 5

First, as a Minnesota fan I have to say I love number three and I am making it my #1.

1. MN Wild are now the Minnesota Northstars (Get your own name Dallas and, while you're at it, a 3rd jersey that doesn't look like a woman's reproductive system!)

2. Eliminate at least Carolina and Phoenix then move Atlanta, Florida, Las Angeles, San Jose, and Tampa Bay teams to Canada...one to Winnipeg and I don't care where the rest go, but I know the US doesn't deserve them. Anaheim gets 3 years to maintain a successful team and fill the seats, if they can't, BAM!, to Canada they go! Nashville gets 3 years to get some corporate support and fill the seats because those fans are as nuts about hockey as you and I!

3. Ban Gary Bettman from entering any state or providence with an NHL team.

4. Eliminate the trapizoid.

5. Eliminate the instigator rule.

In case anyone is wondering I was born and raised in Minnesota, but I know while Detroit is Hockey Town, and Minnesota is the State of Hockey, Hockey is Canada's sport and they deserve a heck of a lot more teams than they have.

6. Fine Kevin Lowe 10% of each of his over-inflated offers to RFAs for trying to run the league into it's next lockout in a desperate attempt to save his job.

7. Lifetime ban for anyone caught using steroids.

Answer 6

1. Fix the schedule. Have every team play each other twice, once on home ice, once on the opponent's ice.

2. I would not move any teams. I know many people hate the Southern teams, but if your team was threatened to be relocated, you wouldn't want it to happen.

3. If expansion is to happen again, let cities that have lost their teams in the past get a first crack at landing a new franchise. I also wouldn't scoff at the possibility of small market teams in Canada.

4. Introduce no-touch icings, and let players police themselves on the ice.

5. Create a rule that states only a Canadian can hold the position of NHL commish. We don't need a second Gary ruining the game.

6. Move the Leafs to the Western Conference in hopes that one day, they can play the Canadiens for the Cup once more.

7. Bring back the old Conference/Division names and the playoff tree. I hate the constant playoff reseeding.

8. Arbitration is a joke. I would fix it so that average players don't get ridiculous salaries.

Answer 7

1) Keep the Avalanche in Colorado: they have great fans, as good as anybody in the league. They have an impressive ratio of sellouts since they moved from Quebec City. Nothing wrong with Quebec City or their hockey fans, but I think because of the incredible success in Colorado (two Stanley Cups and many division titles), why would anyone rock that boat?

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news?slug=avalanchesellouts&prov=st&type=lgns

2) Put Carolina back in Hartford. Southern American cities don't have the fan base or fan knowledge that Northern cities have (Montreal, Toronto, Detroit, Boston for instance).

3) Definitely put Phoenix back in Winnipeg. Those long suffering fans deserve their team back. Again, Canadian fans are most knowledgable and appreciative of hockey.

4) Eliminate the two-line pass. Although its less and less noticeable--team's defence corps have gotten used to it--whenever there is a bad line change, it almost always turns into an easy breakaway for the other team.

5) Keep the goaltending rules, that would keep Brodeur pinned down. Hockey is supposed to be played 5-on-5 , not 6-on-5. Brodeur pre-lockout was essentially an extra defenseman in a lot of situations--an unfair advantage in power play situations.

6) Enforce NHL rules and penalty system unconditionally--whether it be regular season or game seven of the Stanley Cup Final. A good referee calls what needs to be called, irrespective of location, time, or date during a season. The referee-in-chief should be more vigilant about this since missing an obvious call can lead a team to victory in some cases. I think the penalty calling was effective in the 2006-07 regular season, but far from it in the playoffs, especially in the Sharks-Red Wings series.

7) Make goalie equipment smaller. The goalie's pads were supposed to go from 12 inches to 11 since post-lockout. Some goalies look like they have a mattress for pads. Plus some goalie's shoulder pads are way too big--J.S. Giguere looked like a monster in last year's final. Giguere is a great goalie--but it's obvious his equipment is overly excessive. Remember Garth Snow and those football shoulder pads? That was another strange sight.

8) Bring the Stars back to Minnesota--and have two teams playing in the U.S. hockey capital. Why not? Minnesota has the fan base and they deserve two teams, just like Montreal does. Nothing against Dallas fans in particular, but there's just something weird about going to a hockey game dressed in shorts, flip flops, fancy hat and nibbling away on chips-and-salsa.

9) Eliminate NHL player participation in the Winter Olympics. Most people hate hockey in June or for that matter--late June. But by eliminating NHL participation in the Olympics, the season would be shorter, players would be more energetic and all that travelling would cause less jet-lag overall.

10) Increase the NHL rookie salary. Crosby was by far underpaid in his rookie season. He had over 100 points. I don't know how much these guys make after taxes or if they even pay taxes, but whatever the case may be, the best future rookies will be vastly underpaid, no question about it.

Answer 8

1) Allow goalies free movement again. They should not be penalized for their own talents. That would be like saying a player is too fast so he needs to fasten 5lb weights to each skate.

2) I agree with most of the reversions mentioned already. Phoenix to Winnipeg; Carolina to Hatford; Put Dallas or Tampa in Quebec or Hamilton; etc.

3) Fix the RFA negotiations so that we dont see the kind of idiocy with salaries we saw this year (ie/Penner and Vanek). Perhaps limit all offers to RFAs to a certain percentage of their salary the previous year. I mean, just for the sake of not potentially destroying the cap that kept hockey from us in 04/05.

4) I agree with keeping NHLers out of the Olympics. It's a competition between amateur athletes, not professionals. I understand most countries feel they have a better shot of winning with their players in the NHL in the roster, but things have changed since the early 90's. Now, most of the talent from around the world play in the NHL. Its not like the Cold War years where the majority of the best European prospects were playing in amateur leagues in their home countries. (On a side note, I blame Basketball and the "Dream Team" for bringing pro sports to the Olympics)

5) Bring back the crease rule... lol

Answer 9

1.Making pink jersey would be illegal
2. Round up all pink jerseys for a burning
3.. Ban the Hiltons, Anna Kornhokova and Tara Reid from all ice rinks. we want std free players..lmao
4. Get rid of the Kings, Altanta & Columbus.
5. Order the Great One to step down as coach he was a great player but as a coach it gives me a migraine.
6. No instigator rule
7. Fire all refs and train new ones
8. No NHL players in the Olymics.
9. and I'd do the same as the 'asker' would do w/the visors and rules about the goalie
10 ban players wh ouse steroids
11 Make sure players like Bertuzzi pay for their mishaps and pay Moore or w/o a % of their paycheck
12. Lock up a cable.tv/internet deal for full coverage of all games and make sure the sport gets promoted!!!!

Answer 10

i agree with changing the teams like phoenix back to there original cities. But i would also eliminate the no playing the puck outside the trapezoid for goalies, goalies should be allowed to play the puck wherever, also with regards to penalties its getting sad in the nhl now. You touch someone with your stick and bang your in for 2 as a hooking call when all you did was touch a guy or breath on him. The original rules where hooking occurred when you stoped or pulled the person to the ice. SLASHING OH CRAP MY STICK TOUCHED THAT GUYS SKATE WITH A FORCE CREATING A FIBRE TO MOVE. what the hell is wrong with that. Slashing was once when you actually swung and hit a guy not graze his shirt and get called, so i would change the penalty system to th way it was 4 years ago befor the stupid lock out.

Answer 11

Change ALL of the rules back to the pre-lock out rules, with 2 line pass, shootout and goalie pads as exceptions. Get rid of teams like Nashville, Carolina etc. - All the teams that make the NHL look bad.. Turn the Coyotes back into the Winnipeg Jets. Give Portland, Milwaukee and Hamilton teams.