[cferneyh]

Speaking of the Wings, the general concensus about the lock-out here in Detroit was that the NHL had over-expanded and rather than admit the folly of their ways the NHL opted for a salary cap to penalize deep-pocket teams...like the Wings...so low revenue expansion cities could "compete".

"Expansion cities" like Calgary, Edmonton, and Buffalo?

The point of the cap is simple: the owners with a clue (who are the majority) wanted to control the idiot owners - you know - like owners who give Mike Milbury a paycheque every week.

I hear your point cfern, but at the same time we could argue for pages about over-expansion and the dilution of talent. However, I honestly think the expansions to Atlanta, Minnesota, Nashville, and Columbus were mistakes. Granted, in the last couple of years we have seen some decent hockey out of a couple of these places, but the economics of the NHL were not such that expansion was warranted. Why create more teams that will lose money? Maybe they saw the salary cap coming...I don't know.

Well, the simple answer to "why create more teams that will lose money" is simple: to put more money in current owners' pockets through expansion fees.

I can certainly agree that Atlanta and Nashville didn't deserve teams, but there is a lot of fan support in Minny and Columbus. But expansion didn't dictate the economics of running a hockey team in Calgary, Edmonton, or Buffalo.

[j-monster]

I still think the refs are being instructed to call everything, to the point that if in doubt, call a penalty (mind you some aren't even good at doing that). I think the plan in doing that is that as the players get used to not using their stick to hook, impede, etc., then the refs will cut back and use their judgement to only call obvious fouls. I hope that works, because some of the penalties being called now are kind of ridiculous.

I hate the concept of a shootout... but I have to admit it is exciting to watch. But it still bothers me that it's being used to decide games... grrr!

In the end, I'm convinced the new NHL will be great. Scoring chances, offensive flow and the display of skill are definitely greater than before. Good, hard, clean physical play has been increasing since the beginning of the season, and will only get better as the players get used to the pace of play. I do think the rules should be tweaked somehow in terms of battling in front of the net... defencemen should be allowed to battle and jostle the player in front of the net (but of course violently cross-checking the guy should still be a penalty). Comebacks are back, which make games more exciting. Holding, interfering, trapping are way down, which is great!!

Anybody hear Yzerman's comments on how the new NHL is no good? I was disappointed he said that... it probably doesn't help him because he's close to the end of his career, but it struck me as a bit whiny, certainly opposite to his usual display of class. I wonder if he talked to Shanahan about this... after all it was Shanny's "summit" that led to a lot of changes in today's "new NHL".

[skippy the wonder dog]

Is it only a dry scrape? I didn't realize that. I understand WHY they do it, I just think that the elapsed time in between end of OT and beginning of SO sucks some of the excitment out of it.

What they need is a way to suck the dumb out of it.