"New" NHL and the Big 3

[Zorro]

BLOCKING SHOTS is a huge reason scoring is down..

Back in the day the stars never blocked shots.. You had you 3rd and 4th line grinders out there killing penalties and blocking shots left and right.. You had your 5th and 6th d-men blocking whatever they could that was directed at the net..

For example.. 1996.. You didn't see Sakic, Forsberg, Hedjuk, Tanguay, Ozolinsh, etc. blocking shots.. You had Adam Foote, Mike Keane, Adam Deadmarsh, etc. blocking shots..

Nowadays EVERYONE blocks shots.. You have Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Toews blocking shots.. I feel that because more players are sacrificing their bodies too win, less pucks are actually making it to the goalie, and less go a ls are scored..

I could also go on forever about goalie equipment being way too big..

[fungchen3]

BLOCKING SHOTS is a huge reason scoring is down..

Back in the day the stars never blocked shots.. You had you 3rd and 4th line grinders out there killing penalties and blocking shots left and right.. You had your 5th and 6th d-men blocking whatever they could that was directed at the net..

For example.. 1996.. You didn't see Sakic, Forsberg, Hedjuk, Tanguay, Ozolinsh, etc. blocking shots.. You had Adam Foote, Mike Keane, Adam Deadmarsh, etc. blocking shots..

Nowadays EVERYONE blocks shots.. You have Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Toews blocking shots.. I feel that because more players are sacrificing their bodies too win, less pucks are actually making it to the goalie, and less go a ls are scored..

I could also go on forever about goalie equipment being way too big..

Good point. And this also goes back to coaching "defensive" philosophies. Mandating your forwards to back check feverishly, clog lanes and block shots.

[STONE.]

For example.. 1996.. You didn't see Sakic, Forsberg, Hedjuk, Tanguay, Ozolinsh, etc. blocking shots.. You had Adam Foote, Mike Keane, Adam Deadmarsh, etc. blocking shots..

Nowadays EVERYONE blocks shots.. You have Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Toews blocking shots.. I feel that because more players are sacrificing their bodies too win, less pucks are actually making it to the goalie, and less go a ls are scored..

I could also go on forever about goalie equipment being way too big..

The equipment is so much better now as well -- everyone CAN block shots with much less risk of injury.
Goalie equipment could easily be smaller -- the argument for goalie safety is a heck of a lot less convincing when Fs and Ds are blocking slap shots from the point with their shin pads.

It doesn't help that goalies are getting closer and closer to 7 feet tall as well. They cover so much of the net, it's insane.

[roenick27]

The equipment is so much better now as well -- everyone CAN block shots with much less risk of injury.
Goalie equipment could easily be smaller -- the argument for goalie safety is a heck of a lot less convincing when Fs and Ds are blocking slap shots from the point with their shin pads.

It doesn't help that goalies are getting closer and closer to 7 feet tall as well. They cover so much of the net, it's insane.

This is the one of the underlying reasons IMO. Goalies can drop down to easily now because so many are 6'3-6'7 etc.

I think they need to increase the width of the nets slightly, maybe an inch on each side and maybe make it a few inches taller(assuming goalie equipment doesn't change). I don't want the net too big to where a 4th liner is scoring too much, but I want the skilled guys to have better angles and let their skill separate them a little more.
Increasing the size of the rink I like as well, but again I don't think they should go crazy. Maybe a bit wider and slightly longer? I think the internation am size may be too big, but maybe half of the difference?