A Simple Solution for the NHL to increase scoring
by Mr. Plank on Jun 18, 2010 3:00 AM PDT
in Coaching From The Couch
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PrintEvery year it seems as if there is a rumbling for ways to make the game more exciting by increasing scoring throughout the course of the game. It's a common thread of discussion within NHL circles, and one that receives a fair amount of discussion during the summer months as fans and league officials are removed from the grueling nine-month season.
We'll have much more later this summer on various ways to change the game for the better-- no touch icing, removing the trapezoid, abolishing the shootout, among others-- but today let's look at a quick change that could accomplish the stated goal of generating more goals.
Coming out of the NHL Lockout, the League changed a lot of rules in order to open up the game. The two-line pass was allowed to occur, opening up the neutral zone and giving defenseman an opportunity to make a pass deep in their own zone up to a streaking forward heading toward the opponent's net. Hooking and holding were set to be enforced with much more zeal, giving skilled players a break from the waterskiiing days of the 1990's when big and slow blueliners were able to essentially bear hug the Joe Sakic's of the League in order to slow them down. The neutral zone was also reduced in size from fifty four feet to an even fifty, increasing the amount of ice available for teams in the offensive zone.
Since then there has been numerous other proposals to increase scoring at an even greater rate. Ideas such as widening the nets, restricting goaltending pads to an even greater degree (post-lockout they were reduced, and will be again next season), and increasing the width of the ice from 85 feet to something approaching the international regulation size of 98 feet are some of the more notable proposals to find their way into the media and blogs across North America.
However, one change that never seems to get much publicity is one which is an extremely simple one to implement.
Switching the benches that each team begins the game on.
Since the NHL Lockout there have been five NHL seasons, providing us a good sample size to see league-wide scoring trends on a period by period basis. And for all years except for one, the scoring totals in the second period have been the highest in respect to their first and third period counterparts:
A quick and dirty look at what could be causing this ultimately leads me to pin it on the long change that occurs during the second period. In other words, the fact that the benches are near the offensive zone instead of the defensive zone makes it much more difficult for teams to get their blueliners off for changes due to the fact they must skate all the way down the ice. This restricts the amount of time they have to change during a loose puck battle in the neutral zone-- while the near-side defenseman could get off quickly with the benches closer to him, allowing a fresh teammate to take his place in the span of a few seconds, the risks associated with leaving your team subject to an odd-man rush are much more pronounced with the benches at least twenty five feet away.
The same goes for forwards attempting to change, as well as the fact that this could be a cause for more icings as teams desperately try to clear the zone. I don't have the data handy to back up this assertion, but I wouldn't be surprised to see a slight increase in minor penalties during the second period either, as players lose the gas in their legs and turn to hooks and holds to keep opposing forwards at bay.
As far as I can see, there are no drawbacks to this proposal—hockey purists will likely find little fault in a mere change of the benches both teams occupy during the game, and those who wish to see an increase in scoring will be thrilled to see a better opportunity for teams to put the puck in the back of the net.
From a business standpoint, there is no drawback either. Season ticket holders who hold seats in front of the net where the home team attacks twice won’t be affected either, as the bench switch will not change that aspect of their own experience. The only drawback I see is one for Bad Boys Bail Bonds— during the 2009-2010 season they had seats behind the Sharks home bench, with individuals who purchased those seats being required to wear the company’s apparel. After this change, Bad Boys would only have one period with Todd McLellan and his team behind them.
Small price to pay, I’d say.
Go Sharks.
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Interesting view
Between that, and the pad sizing being reduced, scoring would be raised. That would both make fans happy and angry at the same time. Durn rock and hard place situation.
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The physical layout underneath the stands, however, presents a huge problem here. The home team’s dressing room generally has a hallway that leads immediately to their bench, and the same goes for the visiting team. You don’t want the two teams having to cross through each other on and off the ice, nor have them swap dressing rooms.
I love the idea, I just see that as a tremendous barrier to making it happen.
More fun than a stick to the face!
On the Forecheck is SB Nation's blog covering the Nashville Predators.
Seems simple enough to me.
Churning and burning, they yearn for the cup.
by sharks in oc on Jun 18, 2010 8:13 AM PDT up reply actions
The problem with that is all of your long time season ticket holders who have seats on the end where the home team shoots twice. Whereas it seems like a simple solution to add a little scoring, I don’t it’s worth either the complications on the benches mentioned above or the potential wrath of your season tickets holders, especially considering they probably don’t care about more scoring anyway.
Douglas Murray, biggest offensive threat.
To solve that problem, couldn’t they just re-issue people’s season tickets to their reversed sections and seat numbers. It would only affect season ticket holders as game day tickets aren’t available yet. You’d just need to mirror the seating layout.
That assumes that buildings are symmetrically designed, but many are not.
More fun than a stick to the face!
On the Forecheck is SB Nation's blog covering the Nashville Predators.
That would be different
I really don’t have a complaint about the scoring though. I wasn’t the biggest Hockey fan before the Lockout because I couldn’t stand the Trap the Devils would used. After the lockout though I increasingly became more interested in hockey because of the rule changes. More scoring is always fine, but right now there is nothing to complain about.
"Even the Swedes are getting mad."-Randy Hahn
"It's very cozy in the sin bin."-Randy Hahn
there is a rumbling for ways to make the game more exciting by increasing scoring
who is making this rumbling sound? I never liked high scoring games, shows something terrible happened.
Ever get the feeling we are on a collision course with reality?
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security" -- Benjamin Franklin
"It's getting harder and harder to differentiate between schizophrenics and people talking on a cell phone. It still brings me up short to walk by somebody who appears to be talking to themselves." -- Bob Newhart
I've always wondered
why there was people with bad boys bail bonds shirts in the front row. One game me and my gf had tickets in the 2nd row right behind a couple of them, and this dude’s wife had the fattest rock on her hand i’ve ever seen. I thought he owned bad boys or something.
My understanding is Bad Boys bail bonds owns season tickets behind the bench and when they give away those tickets they make people wear the T-shirts to promote the company. Probably cheaper than payer for advertising along the boards…
I never got that much
Seems to me Hockey fans in the Bay Area would be the most well behaved and therefore not require bail bonds.
"Skillet, we just spent $64,000 in that bar. So we're gonna have to get jobs to cover up the fact that we rob banks" -Mouse Fitzgerald
I’ve thought about this one too. I don’t know of a league that does it – not even at the junior level. We always stayed at the same bench as kids. I imagine with the size of equipment and Gatorate and the other crap, this might just be too hard logistically. Home benches also tend to be close to locker rooms, which gives advantage to home teams. But why not try the idea?
Excellent point on Bad Boys Bail Bonds. Hated seeing those guys all throughout the season. But if this is how they spend their advertising budget – then it’s a great idea for them.
Fear the Fin - all Evgeni, all the time.
I like ideas like this. Good outside the box thinking.
San Jose Sharks - Hey, at least we didn't finish 11th in the West!
Battle of California
Respectfully Disagree
First, to echo Angy I’ve never really liked high scoring games. For me, there’s much more drama in a 1-0/2-1 game than a 5-4/6-5 game.
Second, I wonder what type of effect this would have on the second period. I could see teams playing way cautiously in the second in order to conserve energy for the third and the long change. I would hate to see scoring drop off to something like this (round figures for my simple mind): 2200/1900/2500.
Third, not that hockey players are prima donnas, but taking into account other major sports, this forces the players to have better conditioning and I question how they would react to more physical demands being imposed. Weak argument, but it is something to think about.
So this would mean
that they then have to get all their sticks, towels, water bottles and who knows what all other crap is sitting there behind the bench moved between the periods? Maybe it’s not that big of a deal, I don’t know, but it seems that would be a bit time consuming. From an equipment standpoint I don’t think it would fly.
But then again what do I know? lol
BERTUZZI: "Getting tired, Nabby? You've got another five and a half minutes of hell coming."
NABOKOV: "You've got another five and a half minutes left in your season."
Nonono, you just switch benches for the whole game, so teams have the long change to make twice (the bench is further away from the defensive zone in 2 periods instead of one).
Esta noche nosotros cenamos Tortugas
Así que bueno, ellos serán
Z!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
by ZeroIndulgence on Jun 18, 2010 2:14 PM PDT up reply actions
I would just
make the golie wear an eye patch like a pirate and that would help with scoring
Every day is just a little worse than the previous, that means every day is the worst day of my life.
Hmm interesting..
Also, I was thinking…if we trade Clowe away, and we need a 2nd line winger…could we get Afinogenov for 800K (at least that’s the price Yahoo puts him up for…)? What do you guys think? :O
Go Sharks!
I agree with TnSD11 and Ang
I like the way the game is now…i.e. low scoring. It’s what makes hockey a more difficult sport is the lack of scoring. All the fight and speed for one goal that can make or break the game. It takes skill, competition, fight and sheer luck sometimes to score. That’s what makes it exciting. When there are more chances to score and the score is higher I’m not sure how much goals will still be coveted. IMO.
High sticking, tripping, slashing, spearing, charging, hooking, fighting, unsportsmanlike conduct, interference, roughing… everything else is just figure skating.
- Anonymous
"My hope is that we put him (Couture) on a line with Seto and CloweThen you get the Coochy-Goochy-Clowe line." - Cerise
Interesting idea
Just switch it so that the long shift is periods 1 and 3, with 2 being the short shift.
Anyone that plays will tell you it would make a difference. It would likely piss off the players though, and would probably increase the number of too many men penalties.
I have a better idea though. Stop focusing on the goalie’s leg pads so much. Let’s reduce the size of the block and trap. Take a look at the size of a trapper from the early 70’s. The giant baskets goalies wear on their hands are just silly looking.
I think more scoring is better
Higher scoring allows the more talented teams to win more often, as defensive schemes that hide lack of talent don’t work as well. It also makes the goaltender position even more valuable, as they will face higher quality shots. Until you get into basketball territory, a sport that makes it easier for the players to score makes talent more essential, which I think is usually a good thing. I think that is why football is so popular. There is enough offense to always believe scoring is possible, but outstanding defenses can still exist.
But an interesting idea, Plank. I think it would probably be easier to switch attacking sides instead of benches, and then allow your season ticket holders to reselect their seats based on seniority, but I don’t know how much of a hassle moving sticks/gatorade would be.
I’ve always felt that allowing icing on powerplays was kind of dumb. Then again, I think a power play success rate at around 18-20% league wide is probably pretty ideal. 5v5 is where you want to increase the action, and this is a creative way to do it.
It’s definately an interesting idea. I wouldn’t mind more scoring (and I wouldn’t mind it staying the way it is…I’m pretty neutral on the subject), and if the logistical issues regarding the arena could be dealt with (the ones Dirk outlined above) it could be doable. Hadn’t even thought of doing this.
Also, has their really been an outcry for even more scoring, even after the rule changes after the lockout? Guess I haven’t been paying much attention…
Esta noche nosotros cenamos Tortugas
Así que bueno, ellos serán
Z!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Interesting solution to a problem (that may not really exist)
I think it is an interesting solution to the stated problem, though as mentioned above, there are a few logistical problems to it. However, unless something rather drastic is changed, any increase in scoring would be very minor. We would see maybe another goal or two per game? Someone could probably run the numbers on the Plank’s proposed plan and see how it comes out, though I think even an extra goal per game is generous. Over the course of a season that can add up, but we’re talking about making each individual game more exciting, dynamic, and highlight worthy, right? In contrast, the other potential changes you mentioned in the article all change a fairly significant aspect of how the game is played, and I feel that’s where priority needs to be placed. Will an extra goal a game really change our experience as fans or, better yet, bring in new fans? I doubt it.
Douglas Murray, biggest offensive threat.
I remember Brian Burke (I think) coming up with a similar idea, except, the benches would be near the red (or offensive) zones for periods 1 and 3.
by Black ice in Alabama on Jun 18, 2010 7:28 PM PDT reply actions
How about?
just have them all on one bench at the face-off dot for a huge clusterfuck of hockey.
by ilooklikeafat16 on Jun 21, 2010 9:45 AM PDT reply actions
copy + paste from Wysh
San Jose Sharks: Fear the Fin believes that one way to increase scoring is to make the teams start on the opposite benches, meaning home teams have a long change twice a game instead of once. This is a colossally stupid idea.
Wysh isn’t as funny or as credible an expert as he thinks he is.
Patty Marleau: An Erotic Life in San Jose... to be continued?
by Will Bulldozer on Jun 21, 2010 11:13 AM PDT reply actions
Article was written by Ryan Lambert
Wysh has his issues, but he’s generally a decent writer.
Ryan Lambert is a waste of oxygen. Plain and simple.
They're not getting this kind of coverage at "Hockey Night In Canada" folks! - Randy Hahn
I think this yahoo comment summed it up nicely:
Lambert might be THE biggest idiot to write on this blog. And that is saying something…..
Here's my twitter losers
I occasionally like Lambert.
I think Bourne is the waste of space on that blog. “My daddy played in the NHL and won the Stanley Cup and I played in the minors so I know everything” is a pretty accurate description of his blog.
Proud member of the "Re-Sign Marleau" club.
Fear the Fin: Where Sharks Fans Aren't Like Other Sharks Fans.
by SharksFanEst.1994 on Jun 21, 2010 4:46 PM PDT up reply actions
good catch. i just assumed it was wysh. sorry wysh, lambert sucks.
Patty Marleau: An Erotic Life in San Jose... to be continued?
by Will Bulldozer on Jun 21, 2010 12:55 PM PDT up reply actions
sorry but I agree with Lambert
This is a colossally stupid idea. yeah, let the home team GIVE UP MORE GOALS AT HOME. That’ll attract fans to the game!
by The Canuck Fan on Jun 21, 2010 2:26 PM PDT up reply actions
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