Here are the NHL Stories from Prime Time Sports last night (National Hour):Host: Bob McCown
Guests: Gord Kirke, a sports lawyer and Jim Kelley from Roger Sportsnet
Main NHL Story: Kelley brought up, after talking about how boring Baseball is, that this years playoffs are dead boring. Kelley was shocked that even the Sabres are playing "bore yourself to win." McCown interjected by saying the NHL did its best to attempt to change the game for the better, however the GMs refuse to change and are finding ways to keep the game as boring as it was pre-lockout. Kirke brought up that since this game is built around money, the teams want to find ways to win because winning brings in the cash. Everyone from the President to the Players want more money and the only way to get it is to win. Playing entertaining hockey will not fill the vault and it will not get you the wins you need. McCown then traced the rule changes back to when they were introduced and moved forward to prove that the new rules have been negated and it is now time again for the NHL to look at making further changes to its league. McCown's suggestion is to move to 4-on-4. Kelley didn't respond well to that comment, but felt that major changes are needed. He feels opening the nets will make a difference and making 2 minute penalties permanent - i.e. the player serves the full 2 minutes regardless if a goal is scored or not. The roundtable then discussed the levels of scoring in the league - which are up, however the ice seems crowded. McCown then moved to comparing the OHL and the NHL to the past - where in the past the OHL had high scoring games and then they made rule changes, but still are experiencing low scoring games, like the NHL. So the problem is not only with the NHL, but seems to be with hockey in general. Kelley said the league went back to the "old school" when mid-season (this year) the defencemen became more aggressive and got away with some big hits and with clearing guys out from in front of the net. This lead to coaches all around the league telling their teams to be more aggressive, as it seems some of the "new" rules are being laxed. McCown felt Kelley was wrong and he blamed the problem on the size of the player. Under the new NHL system the smaller player was to get a chance to shine and not be a liability on the ice. This would hopefully filter down to the OHL and lower and we should expect to see a new wave of hockey players both big and small, but all with strong talents. Kirke talked about how, when he was agent, the only thing that mattered was size. Kelley said that if Sean Avery is the face of the NHL, the NHL is not doing their job. Another example was Gary Roberts going to the Penguins - they got him because they needed grit. It seems that last year that grit wasn't needed - look at the Hurricanes of last year. This year it seems that that "grit" factor is something that every team needs to survive in the playoffs. The roundtable discussed the fact the grit is drawing in people to watch and can help bring more people to the arena - the reason why Avery went to NY. McCown then brought up the tender statistics in the OHL - where goalies, on average, have a GAA under 3. The NHL has basically become soccer on ice. Kirke had one last comment on the NHL and "entertainment value." Kirke felt that those who judge what "entertainment" is, think that the rough stuff is more entertaining than high scoring, wide open games. McCown agreed saying that the media is mainly built with "tough guys" preaching how such and such a team has to get tougher or find more grit in order to compete - guys like Cherry, Kypreos, Domi, etc. All around the roundtable felt that losing the red line has only lead to "dump and chase" hockey, which then becomes a small vs. big battle in the corners. Kelley talked about the American view on hockey - they want to see scoring, if they don't, they are simply watching pong on ice. The league has to make some changes for the future.
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