The NHL made several rule changes that were supposed to increase scoring, speed up the game and make all teams compete on an equal footing. Frankly, i think it’s been pretty hit or miss. Some of the rule changes and suggestions have dramatically changed the game – in my opinion not necessarily for the good.

Here are the changes and my comments -

1. Removing the centre line, no two line passes – great idea opens up long passing lanes in the middle of the ice, much better for transition. let’s go to olympic sized ice in all new arenas to really give players with skills room to move.

2. The new lines to prevent goalies from handling the puck – this is absolutely ridiculous. the goalies help move the puck out of their zone and keep the flow of the game going, why would they want to stop that?

3. Smaller goalie equipment – great idea. it was getting to the point where there was no visible net since most goalies looked like the michelin man.

4. Delay of game penalty for defensive zone clearing attempts shot over the glass – great rule change, a bit annoying if it’s obviously an accident. the zero tolerance nature of the change makes the rule change a bit strange, maybe if it was left to the referee’s discretion it would make more sense

5. Overtime and shootouts – Not sure who Gary Bettman chatted with but real hockey fans don’t like the shoot out. It sucks, it’s a shitty way to end a fantastic game – you tie, play overtime with no decision, then you have a shootout. why not just draw straws or diddle for the middle of the dartboard. stupid. it has no bearing on the game or flow of the game. plus it isn’t really even a win and the goals don’t count towards the players stats. utterly and completely a waste of time. here’s a suggestion – every game is played into overtime until there is a winner – who wouldn’t like that – calgary vs edmonton, or toronto vs montreal for 4 or 5 periods – now that would get fans into the games. A ticket is over $100, so give real value and let the game go on until the teams can decide it, not some ridiculous quick and dirty – “here’s our winner, and they get a special point, for special ties or sorta a win”.

6. zero tolerance on obstruction and stick offences – hey gary, look back at pictures of hockey players for the last hundred years, there’s a reason they are missing teeth. they are tough, rough and tumble athletes afraid of nothing, not even a stick. the little mamby pamby penalties for a light hook or a tug from behind are silly and kill the flow of the game. the refs should call obvious penalties – muggings, holding, interference not a light rap on the bum with a stick. get real, no one wants to watch a game where both teams are short-handed for the entire game – there’s a reason 5 players are supposed to be on the ice. a penalty is just that a penalty, a rarity when someone breaks the rules and these changes are not a rarity as teams rarely play full-strength at all.

Focus on hits to the head, hits from behind, low hits and things that injure players and ruin careers not on penalties where a guy has taken his hand off his stick to play the body on a man.

7. increase scoring through penalties – i don’t know why people want scoring to increase. some of the most exciting games are 1-0 or low scoring games. this means teams are evenly matched and have a tough time scoring rather than having the current power-play shooting gallery to increase scoring for scoring’s sake. the most popular game in the world – soccer has many games that are 1-0 or 0-0 and they are very exciting for fans.

it’s great to get a zillion points in hockey pools but it really doesn’t make the games any more exciting. a win is a win regardless of the score.

Hopefully when they make changes to the game next time they’ll consult real fans that understand and have played the game not a bunch of lawyers and consultants that work with Gary Bettman in New York.

personally i’d rather live vicariously through something interesting – a porn-star for the day (talk about a front row seat on something you’d likely only need to experience for a day – good or bad), that little insect that keeps hovering around your head endlessly for minutes at a time, or your pet (what the hell are they thinking about when they bark at an empty closet).

a piece on how nationally and internationally reknowned artists make a living playing and making music in the hollows of the subway. true love and dedication of a craft; with money enough to survive to return to create more and no less. inspiring because these people have truly found their calling in life and have the passion and intestinal fortitude to stick with it, regardless of the curve-balls life’s pitcher is throwing while they are at bat.

on the flipside, and same broadcast, news that the management of cbc is now threatening a lockout of all unionized employees effective midnight sunday. the capitalism of making money threatens what is referred to as liberal, and also paradoxically, socialist media – public television. how it can be referred to as both liberal and socialist, i’ve never been able to understand.

i do know however that any stoppage in the proliferation of what is canada and our perspective on the world is not a good thing. we are a culture defined by what we are apparently not – brash, arrogant and abrupt, rather welcoming, approachable and warm – or so so our reputation holds.

the management of cbc wants to be able to hire short-term contracts, which can be reassigned or removed as they see fit. which is sad since that is now the culture of work that faces us all – we are but mere numbers, lines on a balance sheet. being treated as, and like, a professional seem like foreign concepts in the modern labour world. once heralded, journalists brought a wealth to us – simply in information, and they were respected as such. this situation reduces them, and yet another profession, to a group at the whims of a vast corporation willing to sacrifice the body that makes them their money, for that very thing – money.

i’ll wait and see what sunday holds. it better not interrupt our saturday night passion – hockey night in canada, since they’ll never hear the end of that, especially after almost a year and a half without our national opiate.

frankly, it’s going to take quite a while to get back to where things were when our beloved calgary flames were battling for the cup with the mighty lightning of tampa bay. the players are going to be out of shape, out of practice, and many of the stars will have a tough time getting back into the swing of things. not to mention many of the biggest players in the league have now retired or will not be able to get back to game form before having to retire.

all in the name of ridiculous priniciples on either side. and it’s not like either side made a lot of progress in the negotiation – neither is really a winner. owners suffered losses as a result of not operating, players didn’t get almost any of the things they were bargaining for and a new salary system will mean that teams can’t buy a “winner” so we’ll have more mediocre talent with the lower payroll structure. doesn’t scream – “we’ve fixed the problems” to me.

but talk to me next spring in the midst of playoff fever and i’ll likely have forgotten all about the lockout.

Read more on the CBC – NHL, NHLPA agree to tentative deal

friday night proved the exception to the rule. after chasing the puck in to the corner mid-way through the second period of our men’s league game – i hit what in hockey is called trolley tracks, where your feet are locked into a rut (or into the path of an oncoming player) and you are unable to pull out of the way, even when it’s too late. well, it was too late. my right leg got pinned between my body, the end boards and a sharp left hand turn. Picture your entire body weight pivoting over your weight-laden ankle, hip and knee simultaneously. insert tune – “under pressure” by david bowie and freddie mercury.

needless to say, that is the end of my iron-man streak of 3 years – 85+ games without injury or missing a game. also will slow me down for the remainder of the summer as i now have a new fashion accessory – a splint, which is really a big strapped silly looking sock. i guess my bid for the 2006 olympic 100m dash is out of the question.

what’s really wierd is i went to a public hospital for x-rays and the doctor (after waiting 3 hours) comes in and says – “hurt your knee in a game vs. the hosers, eh?” turns out the doctor was actually in the crowd watching the game and saw the whole thing. keep in mind this is beer league hockey at best – he was watching a family members boyfriend play on the other team. small world eh? (funny how hockey brings out the canadian “eh”, eh?)

a few cool (morbid) discoveries – my knee actually can bend both ways, and my knee can actually come right of the track as well ie. not stay hinged. and i’m a regular orville redenbacher – since every where i go you can here popping.

While expansion to these markets provided short-term revenue for the league and a few notches in gary bettman’s belt, it ensures nothing in long-term value to the league. Expansion has created a league that has allowed almost the best players to be in the world’s most elite hockey league. The inevitable failures and bankruptcies caused by the lockout will allow for contraction and bring back more parity between teams and reduce the likelihood a tough guy will be signing a million dollar contract.

I think as canadians watching our national sport (next to lacrosse) i think it’s time to take back the reigns of the game. can you believe the audacity of a president of a league that makes his announcement from outside the country with the largest fan base. gary, what are you thinking? fans are going to be pissed off, and your smug looks and barbed replies flung from new york do not rest well with canadians. Hockey is a blue colar game, and it’s now run by lawyers and the hyper-educated – i’m not saying there anything wrong with being smart, but those folks are not part of the common demographic of hockey – how can they know what fans will or won’t do, or how they will react to the season being cancelled.

in my opinion, i’d love nothing more than to see the WHL or a similar league spring up and recreate the energy of a small NHL – like the original six with canadian teams from vancouver, calgary, edmonton, saskatoon, winnipeg, quebec, toronto, montreal, halifax, detroit, chicago, new jersey and new york. these teams and centres are the life blood of the game, the rest be damned. why the necessity to cater to other markets? focus on those that like the game – selling hockey to folks in the tropics is like selling ice to someone living in an igloo – not a lot of chance of it catching on.

bring back the competition, the level of talent, less teams and the fans will return. continue down the path of establishing teams like minnesota with half-assed talent, and the most boring systems of hockey and fans will stay away, in droves. get rid of the mediocre talents and it will open the game up, create speedy hockey that’s interesting to watch.

but what do i know, i’m just a fan. i’m sure gary bettman knows what’s best for hockey – maybe one day it’ll be as “exciting” as basketball. one can only hope.