maxterpiece said:Next hockey needs to penalize more for rough checking and speed up the game. This is what the NBA did this year and now scoring is up like 3 or 4 ppg on average. Let the game be played how it is meant to be played.
I disagree. It is not the hard-hitting that slows down the game. It is the clutching and grabbing and all the "left wing lock" BS. The 1983-84 Oilers scored a record 446 goals (5.5 per game) and I guarantee that Semenko and McSorley threw down at least once every game. The '87-88 Red Wings scored 328 goals (over 4 per game) and they were a thug team. Heck, Probert scored 29 goals that year and spent 398 minutes in the penalty box.
Look at the Bertuzzi and McSorley-Brashear incidents of the past few years. Guys going to the hospital because there is zero accountability on the ice which leads to all the high-sticking, clutching/grabbing, gutlessness, etc.
They need to can the instigator rule and maybe go to an Olympic-width (100 feet instead of 85) or possibly add 18 inches to the end of each rink to create more room behind the net.