The Wild and possible rule changes
By Tom Grout
February 18, 2008
The Wild won a big game last night against the Nashville team and continue to be on top of their division and I believe third in the Conference.
This could be the year for the Wild to advance deep into the playoffs as they have been able to stay relatively healthy recently. Staying healthy really is the big thing in all sports if a team is going to compete. Many good teams over the years who looked like sure winners on paper went belly up as the old injury bug would take over.
I have read recently that hockey is again looking for ways to draw more fans to the game especially in areas like Florida and California and other places that the sport isn’t widely known. So of course one of the first things they are looking at is changing the rules again. They changed some rules a couple of years ago to try to make scoring a little easier but the good coaches go out and figure out a defense for them and the bad coaches copy them so scoring hasn’t changed all that much.
Wild coach Jacques Lemaire had one good suggestion for a new rule. When the offensive team establishes themselves at the blue line and then the puck goes past the blue line in the other direction the offense has to go behind the line again to reset. Lemaire says once the team is established at the blue line the puck would have to go past the red line before the offense had to regroup. It would let the offense stay on offense if the puck was slightly miss played.
I would hate to see the NHL fiddle around anymore with the game. Most people don’t need a lot of goals scored to enjoy the game as long as the two teams are playing up to their abilities. I also read recently that one writer thought that the bad thing about hockey is that there is no dramatic moment in it. Baseball can have a dramatic at bat in the game where this moment might be the turning point and we go through that moment pitch by pitch. In football there may be an important third down play or fourth down play that is a key moment and in basketball there is the shot clock that creates a moment in the game. Hockey really doesn’t have anything other than the penalty shot, which doesn’t happen very often, or the overtime shoot out. So changing hockey to please everyone isn’t an easy task.
It’s funny I was listening to a radio sport talk show today and the topic that sports has really become the entertainment industry just like we commented about in my last blog. So how about that, guys, we are topical. Today the radio host mentioned the topic of changing the rules in games to try and please everyone. The reason for the change of course was money as money seems to rule everything we do these days. He mentioned the sacrifice the game itself has made just to make it more of a money maker and we will have to be careful not to change them too much.
As mentioned with all the changes it is very hard or next to impossible to compare different eras to each other. What would signify a Hall of Famer in one era may not signify one in another era.
I’m not sure what it will take to bring sports back to where it was before and then what before would we be talking about. My favorite era in baseball was the one I grew up in, the 60’s and 70’s. But the game was different in every decade, so which decade do we bring it to.
So you see sports have been changing all along so how far is just too far. Let me know what you think.
I have come to admire Lemaire and if he thinks it'd be a good rule change, I'd go with his suggestion. I don't know if hockey needs much tinkering though. I think hockey's biggest obstacle is that to truly love it, you have to understand it. It's like wrestling, I thought it was just two guys in tights flopping around a mat until I watched my son for 12 years and got to understand it. It's a fascinating sport that requires a great work ethic. Hockey is alot the same. Both are like a religion to those that understand it. And both are a passion. I doubt if hockey needs much tinkering and I doubt the tinkering will draw more fans.
I don't know what radio show that was but it would've been fun to hear. I never thought I'd write much here on your blog Tom. I mainly started just to support your blog as you are a good friend. I really do enjoy it though. You really have to think before you write your ideas down because after you submit it, it's there for everyone to see. So far I'm leaning towards "Chocolate" as one word to describe pro sports. You know, a pleasure that really isn't that good for me, makes me fat, tastes really good for a while but in the overall scheme of things, isn't too important. It does make me happy for a short period of time though and adds a little something special to my life. And it's something that's been part of me since I was a kid. And everytime I try on new clothes, I hate it. A love/hate relationship. It might be the right word. I'll think on it some more.
Hockey needs very little for the purists of the game. Maybe increase the bench for additional players to allow for line changes every 30 seconds.
This really is a great space for "bloggers" to vent, rail, comment and just discuss how we view or feel about sports!
Personally, I appreciate the banter that the contributors have in this venue.
I have learned, much to my surprise, that there _are_ fans out there that aren't the mindless saps that you see posting the garbled, misspelled, incongruous drivel on the "major" blog sites of the net.
Chocolate seems like a better adjective than some that I've come up with, but it seems to me that we are in agreement about the despair of "The state of the game."
All those who have consistently contributed to this blog should continue to do so, as it should be quite the compliment to Tom, but it also helps to keep the rest of us thinking about where our own thoughts may be at fault!
Thanks bloggers!
Chocolate! I have to admit I like that one Randy. I am addicted to chocolate and I am addicted to baseball and probobly for all the same reasons.
One of my favorite topics.....HOCKEY! I've been playing in a Sunday night men's league for 14 years now in St. Louis Park. It's a great league where anything goes, except for checking. Growing up in EL and not having any hockey except for pick-up games down at the athetic field, I had a lot to learn. Luckily, I could skate pretty well to begin with. This is a semi-serious league, and the majority of the players have played college hockey. Our goalie played for the Gophers, as did another teammate (Larry Olimb), another played at RPI, and another at Notre Dame. We also have a varsity Bloomington Jefferson hockey alumnus on our team, who just-so-happens to be classmates with my wife.
Tommy Younghans plays on a different team, and we just happened to play that team last week. Tom has lost several steps, but is as strong as an ox and is a really nice guy. Lots of other players have D3 experience. So, I feel good about competing with and against these fellas. I even score a goal every once in a while.
I'm addicted to hockey. I felt like God shed his light on me when he gave me the NHL network on DirecTV. It's about the only thing I watch other than FSN North, and there again, it's mainly for hockey (until the Twins start).
Lemaire has an interesting idea, however with the speed of these pros, they'd be all over the place inside the red line and the refs wouldn't know where to look. The best thing they could do for pro hockey is to mandate the rink to be Olympic size. If you remember watching these guys during the Olympics, you should remember the sheer speed that these guys possess, and that with the wide open ice, it made checking, holding, hooking, etc. almost non-existent. It showcased their skating, puck handling, passing, and shooting abilities. To see these guys on the big ice is just awesome.
Another thing mentioned a while back was to skate 4 on 4 all the time. This also is interesting, but all it's doing is making more room on the ice. You get the same thing by skating on an Olympic sized sheet.
I like OT and the shoot-out in pro hockey, although I think the OT period should be 10 minutes instead of 5. The game should be won with everyone on the ice, in my opinion.
Okay, to switch gears totally here. One of my biggest pet peeves is when spring training starts, and every year (yes every year) some guys don't make it on time due to Visa or other type of problems getting out of their home country. Good gravy! These guys have all winter to get their stuff together and get to spring training. Do they wake up one day and say "Oh, spring training starts next week, I better see if my work visa is up-to-date!" This really irks me.
Parker on skates!!!!! What a scary thought!
Just call me twinkle-toes, Tommy.
I remember watching Larry Olimb play in college. He was smooth from what I remember. You're doing well if you're skating with those guys. It must be a blast. I never had skates when I grew up except for some cheap 4th-hand skates that didn't fit so well so I never got to play any hockey at all. I think I missed something.
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