Yes, I am going to thank MSG for pulling their programming off Time-Warner. It has most certainly spared me from seeing some incredibly bad Buffalo Sabre games. That 2-0 loss versus Toronto must have been a honey! MSG has also spared me the sight of Mindy Ruff scratching his balding head behind the bench as he tries to figure out what is wrong with his team. I will tell you that the problem is at the top - Darcy Regier and Mindy Ruff himself. Mindy's system of cycling the puck has to be one of the most boring systems in the NHL to watch. Even the game, which was on Versus, where the Flyers simply stayed in their zone while Tampa played their notorious trap defense and sat back waiting for Philly to try to penetrate it packed more excitement than watching the Sabres try to play offense. What is the use of skating round and round in the corner of the offensive zone with the puck?? The last time I checked the net was pointed towards center ice and not the corners. That usually means that you ain't getting many scoring chances bub.
Unless I am mistaken the Sabres do have some talent but that talent is misused. Only Mindy Ruff can take a forty goal scorer and turn him into a ten goal plumber. Why would any free agent pure goal scorer ever want to sign with Buffalo?? It would be like living in Purgatory for the poor sap. While he may score a few goals Mindy would probably make him a fresh scratch more often than not since that player would not want to skate circles in the corner.
Man, what happened to those free skating days in the 1970's of the French Connection and the 1980's Edmonton Oilers teams?? Hockey in those days was a joy to watch as it was free skating with a lot of entertainment. That is what made me a fan. If I was a kid today I probably would not become an NHL fan because the product is so boring. And why is that?? Let me tell you - Players skating circles in the corners. Goalies that make 'Bib' the Michelin Man look like he works for Jenny Craig. Defensive systems that take the speed out of the game. And coaches that play not to lose instead of trying to win. When the lockout ended a few years ago the game loosened up a bit and looked like it was heading in the right direction but that was just a blip. The game has since returned to the boring, defensive system based game that is just plain terrible to watch. The NFL put in rules that loosened up the passing game and made it more fun to watch but not the NHL.
I have a few ideas that might help but I am sure that nobody in the NHL would care what I would have to say but they should as I am a fan. My first idea would make the goals a tad bigger. With goalies as good as they have ever been and bigger than ever give them more to cover. Find out what the percentage of the goal the goalies covered back in the sixties and make the goals bigger to regain that percentage. If you need to reset the record book to the day that the goal size changed then so be it. My second idea would be to penalize defensive zone systems. The neutral zone trap is like a big leech on the NHL and it just sucks the life out of the entertainment value of the game. It needs to be eliminated along with any other defense first system.
Boston versus Montreal is on the tube tonight but I just can't bear to watch the game in its present form. I want to be entertained. I want value if I decide to plunk some big bucks to go to Buffalo for a game. But that value, for me, is not there. Eventually more and more people are going to disenfranchised by the style of play in the NHL and change the channel or, in the worst case scenario, leave seas of empty seats in the arenas. The fans are still there but for how long? Atlanta could not draw flies to their games in their beautiful new arena so they moved to hockey starved Winnipeg where they pack the house nightly. Maybe if the game had more entertainment value they would have drawn better in Atlanta. The next team to go is Phoenix probably back to Quebec City, where its past team the Nordiques who went to Colorado, should have never left in the first place. A new arena is scheduled to be built there and it would be packed with fans for the Coyotes. Like Atlanta, Phoenix draws more scorpions to their games than fans. It was a mistake to move them south in the first place but then again, if the NHL put out a more entertaining product maybe more people would shell out their hard earned dough to attend the Coyotes' games. But then again maybe Phoenix is just not a hockey city.
The NHL needs to get its moronic act together and figure something out, especially with another player contract to be negotiated before next season, because if they have another lockout the fans may not come back. I love hockey in its pure form. It is a shame that is has deteriorated to the crap that is on the ice now for us to suffer through. It used to be 'forecheck, backcheck, paycheck' but now its 'trap, snore, cycle, snore, trap, snore and cycle some more'. UGH!!!! Time for me to finish as they are now selling vacuums on the shopping network and that is considerably more exciting than watching hockey. Good night my friends.
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