NHL Off-Topic thread

[Money99]

Colin Campbell spoke with Sporstnet about how there will be slimmer goalie gear for the 2016 season:

Quote:

He confirmed that the NHL is looking to reduce the size of goaltender equipment. “We are making an attempt this year, usually we make that attempt every year, and the manufacturers tell us they can’t do it in time after our March/June meetings,” he said. “So this year we did it faster and said, ‘OK you got a year and a half to do it.’” He was then asked if that means there will be a noticeable decrease in the size of upper-body pads for goalies by 2016-2017. His answer was yes. “There are a number of items on the board, and as you know it’s the pads, the blocker, the catcher, the upper-body, the pants and the sweater,” he said.” And the sweater will go in unison with the upper body.”

I don't have much confidence in Campbell.
When asked if the slimmer gear meant tighter jersey's, Campbell's response was "well if the gear is tighter, the players will probably wear a tighter jersey with it".
Bob Mccown laughed and asked him why he would think that.
As he described, goalies could jump out of a plane and parachute to the ground with the huge sweaters they wear now.
The NHL needs to regulate and force slimmer jersey's on the them.
I think the issue becomes moot if the league says "You're a mens Medium. Here's your size 50 jersey".

The fact that Campbell couldn't recognize that makes me think the old dinosaurs of the NHL need to be cast off into retirement.

I'm also not going to hold my breath when he says there'll be a noticeable difference.
Unless the goalies come skating out looking like Ken Dryden, circa 1976, a half-inch here or there won't do anything.

The entire upper-body padding these guys wear today is ridiculous.
Ryan Miller has 4" wrists and a 165 lb upperbody, yet his arms are 24" in circumference and his chest is 83" around.
Not to mention the padding goes up to their ears. I was unaware that human beings had bone and muscle grow perpendicular to one's earlobes.

I'm hoping and praying the new stuff is going to be very noticeable.
But the last alterations they forced on goalies had almost no impact at all.

Dave Dryden, Ken's brother, brought in his old blocker and trapper from the 70's and was able to place both inside the a new modern trapper.

Concerning increasing goal scoring, I think the issue of over-inflated goalie equipment is something that needs to be addressed regardless of where you stand on the issue.
It's turned into the equivalent to the steroid era of MLB.

I really hope the NHL can get this right. But hearing Clueless Campbell speak, I don't have a lot of confidence.

[Majingir]

Just wanted to hear opinions of "outsiders" on this, it's not a rumor or suggestion from anyone, but do people think the Leafs would/should change their logo? Or has it gotten to the point where their current logo is so iconic with the franchise(despite it being the most unsuccessful logo in the history of sports,even worse than Cubs,who've only had their current logo for 35 or so years),that they just couldn't change it?

With their 100th year coming up next year,I think it'd be nice to see some sort of mini rebrand. Similar to what the Jays did in MLB(which I think many would agree,is one of the prime examples of how to properly do a rebrand which modernizes your old school look), and what teams like Sabres/Caps/Pens have done recently in a modernization of their old logo.



The biggest "cash cow" in hockey, what better way to drive up revenue than bringing in a new primary logo to the franchise? New merchandise=new revenue stream for the team. Even Red Sox did this in MLB recently. Changed their circular Boston Red Sox logo for 30+ years, into an alternate,and brought back their old school pair of socks logo they had used up until the 60s).

[Money99]

Quote: Originally Posted by Majingir

Just wanted to hear opinions of "outsiders" on this, it's not a rumor or suggestion from anyone, but do people think the Leafs would/should change their logo? Or has it gotten to the point where their current logo is so iconic with the franchise(despite it being the most unsuccessful logo in the history of sports,even worse than Cubs,who've only had their current logo for 35 or so years),that they just couldn't change it? With their 100th year coming up next year,I think it'd be nice to see some sort of mini rebrand. Similar to what the Jays did in MLB(which I think many would agree,is one of the prime examples of how to properly do a rebrand which modernizes your old school look), and what teams like Sabres/Caps/Pens have done recently in a modernization of their old logo. The biggest "cash cow" in hockey, what better way to drive up revenue than bringing in a new primary logo to the franchise? New merchandise=new revenue stream for the team. Even Red Sox did this in MLB recently. Changed their circular Boston Red Sox logo for 30+ years, into an alternate,and brought back their old school pair of socks logo they had used up until the 60s).

I'd be fine with them altering their logo a bit.
I think it's easier with the Leafs since they've already altered it a couple of times in the past.
It's not like the Blackhawks or Wings logo which has gone relatively untouched since their inception.

But with the Leafs, why not?

[slickdtc]

I don't know. The logo and jerseys are so classic and basic (a good thing in these times) that I don't know how they could (or don't trust them) alter them without screwing up.

[Majingir]

Quote: Originally Posted by slickdtc

I don't know. The logo and jerseys are so classic and basic (a good thing in these times) that I don't know how they could (or don't trust them) alter them without screwing up.

The jerseys can be kept the same,it's just a change of logo.

Quote: Originally Posted by Money99

I'd be fine with them altering their logo a bit. I think it's easier with the Leafs since they've already altered it a couple of times in the past. It's not like the Blackhawks or Wings logo which has gone relatively untouched since their inception. But with the Leafs, why not?

The logo they use now is the most "maple leaf" like logo they had,but it's actually not entirely like a maple leaf.The 2 examples below,are much more closer to an actual maple leaf. One on the left is maple leaf from Canadian flag. One on right is maple leaf the Jays use. It's not too much of a change from their current, but looks more "modern"(at least to me),and it's enough of a change to lead to all new merchandise from them. Not like a color change or something like that,it's a tweaked logo,which you know many fans will go out and buy new gear,just cause it looks slightly different.

[DrJones]

Quote: Originally Posted by Money99

Concerning increasing goal scoring, I think the issue of over-inflated goalie equipment is something that needs to be addressed regardless of where you stand on the issue. It's turned into the equivalent to the steroid era of MLB.

I'm firmly in the "bigger nets" camp.

In the 92/93 season, there were 52 players with 80+ points.
In the 14/15 season, there were 5 players with 80+ points.

The game is broken. Spending years wrangling with the NHLPA for slightly smaller goalie equipment isn't going to accomplish much. Since my first suggestion (kill all the coaches) is unlikely to be followed, making the nets bigger is my preferred second option.

[redsox4evur]

Huge changes coming to the ASG this year.

http://www.tsn.ca/all-star-game-chan...rning-1.395711

Thoughts?

[Money99]

Quote: Originally Posted by redsox4evur

Huge changes coming to the ASG this year. http://www.tsn.ca/all-star-game-chan...rning-1.395711 Thoughts?

I love it. Mackenzie's right, the ASG is horrible.
It's gotten to be nearly as bad as the NFL Pro Bowl. Nobody’s even trying out there.
Might as well spruce it up.

And hey, for someone who thinks 4-on-4 is the way of the future, maybe this is just a small, tiny step towards making that a reality.

Quote: Originally Posted by DrJones

I'm firmly in the "bigger nets" camp. In the 92/93 season, there were 52 players with 80+ points. In the 14/15 season, there were 5 players with 80+ points. The game is broken. Spending years wrangling with the NHLPA for slightly smaller goalie equipment isn't going to accomplish much. Since my first suggestion (kill all the coaches) is unlikely to be followed, making the nets bigger is my preferred second option.

Agreed.
I might feel differently if the NHL introduced the new goalie equipment and it looked like Ken Dryden’s gear, but I think everyone knows that won’t be the case.
They’ll take a half-inch off here or there and it won’t amount to much.

Bill Watters was on XM this afternoon and he said something that I think most people can agree with.
There aren’t enough goals scored off a rush. And those are the most exciting goals in hockey.
You can count on one hand how many odd-man rush or breakaway goals you’ll see in a weeks worth of games. And that might be a generous estimate.

I guess that’s why the quantity of goals isn’t what the NHL needs to be looking at improving, but rather the quality.
If the league gets to 8 GPG but all the goals are rebound/deflection/screen goals built from a blast off the point, then I’m not sure they’ve really fixed what’s wrong with today’s game - which is a massive loss of creativity and excitement.
It’s just way too easy to stifle talent and offense in today’s game.
It’s unbalanced and changes such as bigger nets, 4-on-4, not leaving feet to block shots…, need to be implemented in order to rectify that imbalance.