Grantland Fixes the NHL

Its fine.

No other major pro sport artificially tampers with their product as much as the NHL has over the years to try and reach some desired end.

The only thing I would even come close to support at this stage is to add a little more to the size of the rink.

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Move hockey out of the south to places that care like Canada Seattle etc. your welcome.

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Now that is a good idea. They don't have hockey in Canada yet.

Really good article. I agree with nearly every single one of his points and all of them in part 1. Go to hybrid icing and make delay of game like icing. Completely agree with both of those. The shootout sucks, but unfortunately there's no going back. But making OT longer would help, and making every game worth three points would certainly help, as well.

I also agree with making the goal about an inch wider (most, but not all of the current post shots would become goals, which would probably increase scoring from the current 5.5 goals per game to 6.5. That's the number I'd like to shoot for, a little lower than the 7 per game he wants). The playoff lottery/draft pick position solution is absolutely genius. You still give the worst teams an advantage, but it avoids complete tanking and makes games more interesting for fans of terrible teams. I love it and want it implemented yesterday. I'm not completely in love with his suspension for more than 10 fights rule. Don't hate it, but would probably prefer the status quo.

Like the enforcer, I'm indifferent to the possible intra-conference SC Final (BTW, he mentions "I'm willing to risk the occasional Columbus-Dallas matchup if it means we might someday see Toronto vs. Montreal". Might want to check realignment, dude. And yeah, I'm mad he called out the Cbus market, haha). And agree completely that there should only be one outdoor game a year.

Pretty good article overall. Agree with the vast majority of his proposals.

Not trying to be a jerk but how many people know that Miami has a hockey team? Would it not be more appropriate in areas that traditionally support the sport. I admit I am not particularly knowledgable regarding the sport

I pretty much agree with everything except for the reseed idea. I think that's terrible. Why have conferences then? (And if you get rid of conferences and go Premier League style, sure, looks good to me now).

I particularly like bigger nets and draft position changes. Those are nice additions. Although, getting back to 90's scoring, bigger nets might be a bit of an overshot.

I'm not a huge NHL fan (mostly due to NOLA not having a team), but I do enjoy catching a few games here and there- But I've always thought that NHL could benefit from pushing the season back at least a month or so. If it was going on right now after basketball/ before football, I would definitely be more interested.

I think restricting pad sizes a bit should increase scoring.

They are talking about the restrictions adding an additional 4" to the five hole which is pretty huge as a goalie.

I think the sport is fine, just need some teams in colder climates. Bring on a Portland/Seattle Expansion

How many shots per game hit the post and ring out?

Usually at least a few it seems, sometimes quite a few.

3 inches would definitely change that and up the scoring.

They should have league with only Canadian city teams and a league with only American city Teams. Stanley cup is always Canada vs US

Do you know how many teams would have to move to make that anywhere close to viable?

I think the scoring in the NHL is just fine. An average of 5.5 goals is an average a little more than a 3-2 game and that's plenty, IMO. The goalie is at a big enough disadvantage and would make their job even harder. I'm all for the hybrid icing and some of the other safety improvements though.