Comments on: Bowman on defensive trend: “There’s nothing anybody can do about it”

By: bleed4philly

bleed4philly — Wed, 16 May 2012 03:08:34 +0000

Make the goals bigger! Just an inch makes a huge difference. (That’s what she said)

By: cableguymike

cableguymike — Tue, 15 May 2012 23:52:13 +0000

Get rid of coaches. Problem solved.

By: spavs412

spavs412 — Tue, 15 May 2012 23:06:56 +0000

Big fan of international ice. Geno would kill on the big ice so much room

By: comeonnowguys

comeonnowguys — Tue, 15 May 2012 21:49:27 +0000

Then make the ice bigger. But that won’t happen, either.

Basically, make it easier to enter the offensive zone.

By: hagigun

hagigun — Tue, 15 May 2012 21:33:53 +0000

Start making restrictions on shin pad size. You may see less guys blocking shots if it means they could miss a few weeks with cracked shins and busted ankles. Back in the day the goalies were the only ones who had equipment MADE to stop the puck. Now it seems the shin pads are not there for incidental slashes, deflections and such, but almost a small goalie pad. These guys are tougher for sure, but don’t tell me they are all tougher than guys back in the day. The fact is it’s easier to block shots because the equipment is better and it hurts less (I’m sure it still hurts real bad) but when was the last time a guy missed significant time from a blocked shot? It used to happen, but now unless it’s in the face, it doesn’t happen anymore. When I played, it still hurt to get hit even when it hit your shin pads spot on…now these guys don’t feel a thing. As a coach, you wouldn’t want your top wingers or forwards blocking shots if it meant risking injury and a chance to miss major time.

It’s like we protect the players with equipment so well, now we have created problems where they don’t fear pain or injury (blocking shots) and they certainly don’t fear contact (big body checks and head shots). Take away shin pad size and strength and guys would hardly get in the way….but now you have more injuries…so you know this may work in theory, but it’s just not practical.

By: bcjim

bcjim — Tue, 15 May 2012 20:22:53 +0000

Obstruction, yes. Stop the obstruction.

Bigger ice, too.

By: hockinj25

hockinj25 — Tue, 15 May 2012 20:08:58 +0000

There is no way they go to 4-on-4.

By: thomaspratt

thomaspratt — Tue, 15 May 2012 20:08:45 +0000

I just with the league would be more forthcoming about the fact they changed the officiating standard this year and explain their rationale. The uncertainty is baffling. How would you formulate your team heading into next season if you were a GM? It seems clear to me that the league acquiesced to slow the game down as a way to limit their liability to any future concussion lawsuits, but since they won’t even acknowledge the change, they invite speculation.

My fear is that inertia will cause the new style dead-puck hockey to take hold. If there are 15 teams who have the talent to play uptempo, attacking hockey, there are 15 others who see more interference and a trap in their own zone as their chance to compete with those teams. Why develop and pay top dollar for talent when you can just pay a few beefy $1 million D to fill the area in front of the net like a dump truck?

By: comeonnowguys

comeonnowguys — Tue, 15 May 2012 19:16:03 +0000

Leave the nets alone.

-Olympic-sized ice or play 4 on 4.
-3-2-1 point system to better encourage teams to play to win games, not “not to lose”

By: selldannysell

selldannysell — Tue, 15 May 2012 19:09:32 +0000

Mr. Bowman, can you come to Washington to coach, please?

By: flyeredup

flyeredup — Tue, 15 May 2012 18:33:18 +0000

In the 80s, Tim Kerr would clean house!

By: jimw81

jimw81 — Tue, 15 May 2012 18:31:21 +0000

True, Obstruction has been all over the place since January but does a ref know the definition of obstruction?

By: heyzeus143

heyzeus143 — Tue, 15 May 2012 18:25:14 +0000

obstruction?

By: jimw81

jimw81 — Tue, 15 May 2012 18:22:17 +0000

Bigger nets would to bigger goalie equipment. What u seen last night was dead puck era hockey. I guess only solution is refs calling more power plays to try open the ice.

By: themohel

themohel — Tue, 15 May 2012 18:00:53 +0000

Just thinking out loud here – wouldn’t enlarging the net just continue the trend of bigger goalies? Or would the need to move side-to-side mean smaller, quicker goalies? What about limiting the size of the ironing boards they wear these days? If they could not go so far above the knee the goalie could not simply erase the bottom of the net by going down.

By: miketoasty

miketoasty — Tue, 15 May 2012 17:50:33 +0000

I agree making it wider would be okay, but not taller. Goalies may be able to get side to side easier but I don’t think the average height has gone up enough that I think it would be too hard for the shorter goalies to cover the upstairs.

By: rpiotr01

rpiotr01 — Tue, 15 May 2012 17:41:05 +0000

I actually think making the nets bigger is a good idea. I can’t find any data on the historical size of goal nets, other than that they were standardized in the late 20′s. Players are bigger, faster and more athletic now, and technique-wise they can cover far more net than they used to. A goalie covering a 6 foot wide net in 2012 is simply not the same as a goalie doing it 20 years ago, let alone further back. Increase the size of the nets by 4-6 inches on either side, plus 2-4 inches high. make these guys work as hard to cover the net as they used to.

By: ballistictrajectory

ballistictrajectory — Tue, 15 May 2012 17:27:35 +0000

Make the nets biggger, take away the ice, replace the puck with a ball, and call it full contact arena soccer.

Recall the Flyers refusing to rush the puck because the Lighning were in their 1-3-1 formation? Recall the disdain for the Flyers at that point for not doing what every other team did?

Figure it out and start scoring some goals. You want to force the forwards to pressure the points? Make the points move around instead of firing the puck into someone’s shinpads (or face) and the forwards will have to come out to pressure them.

Improve your team’s passing skills so they can get the puck through to the far side of the rink.

Quit hoping for ping-pong deflections and use the “blocking D” as a screen. Relearn the wrist shot so the D has no time to react.

A lot of people can do plenty. They just don’t want to.