NHL Sets Oct. Attendance Record

[Cornuck]

LINK

Who would have thought? Everyone expected the Canadains to at least hold their attendance levels, but Carolina up 21%? Nashville 14%?

TV viewing is up. Goals are up. Shots are up. Fighting is down.


Of course statistic can only tell half the story.

Are you happy with the product the NHL is putting out this year compared to the 04-05 season?

[Jovorock]

I like the game, but fighting and hitting are down. I think both will increase in time when the players get use to the new rules. It is important that the American viewership is up in the stands and on TV.

[Madcombinepilot]

I wonder if injuries to goalies are up?

[tantalum]

The gae is definitely going in the proper direction. I think for most of the year if not the whole year we are going to see the same as what we are currently seeing. Most of the players in the NHL are too set in their clutching and grabbing ways. Sure they can change to the new no clutch NHL but it is going to take a good amount of time for them to get good at playing that way.

Very few D-men have picked up on the fact taht you can indeed battle in front of the net but you have to do it with the body and not the stick....once refs figure that out as well the game will get better. But right now the players are just trying to elimnate the hooking and what not from their game...when they have figured that out they will start to add the physical dimension.

I for one am happy to see quickness, skill and proper positioning back in the game.

[puckhead]

faster = more gooder.

/me fail english?

[WCE]

faster = more gooder.

/me fail english?

Thats unpossible

[Cornuck]

LINK

Article on how the coaches are dealing with the 'new' game.

It's good for the game, good for the fans, but it takes a lot of control away from the coach.

[Grizzly]

I think the game is better overall although I do like to see a little more of the physical play ... good clean hits/open ice hits are great ... not sure we are seeing as much of that.

Grizz

[JonnyLaRue]

I am just glad that they are doing something about the clutching, grabbing, and hooking. I just wish they would let up on the penalties for incidental contact, and clean hits. They could also can Kerry Fraser, or at least stuff a sock in his whistle.

[mindbender]

I think the NHL numbers are a total joke and a blatant lie. If the numbers were true then they sure as hell would not be holding 12% of players salaries in escrow. The numbers are incredibly bloated. We need to shut down several franchises or at least move them. Florida, Atlanta, Carolina, Washington for sure. How sad when the Caps have the most exciting player to come along in years in Ovechkin and they can't attract fans. And what about the surprising Hurricanes? They have the NHL's leading scorer in Staal, are leading their division and are on a huge roll and nobody's watching them. Florida and Atlanta fans I can totally understand.

We need teams in Winnipeg, possibly Hamilton or even Halifax. Is Saskatoon a possibility? The football fans they have in that town are crazy for their Roughriders and surely they could support a hockey team too? Let's get this game back to the people who are actually watching it and love it.

[Mozy]

the only thing i dont like about the new NHL is that fighting has gone down...i have to say i miss the fighting

[Jack]

Gary Bettman is turning Hockey from a Canadian game to a American game, because that's where the money is.

heck, Hockey fights are even better then what you see in other sports

Football? You teach kids to ram into each other and dog pile? Teach them to tackle someone in the air and bounce their head on the ground?

Baseketball? You teach kids to elbow and clutch and grab and fight for position?

Baseball? You have professionals throwing baseballs purposel AT the batter, you have runners RUNNING into the catcher and make him drop the ball.

and mind you, the sport with the most money is BOXING,

NASCAR, you have kids learning that driving fast is COOL! and POPULAR

geez

ok, now stick to the eye, slashing legs, these kinds should be out of the game

but hits and battles are PART of the game, and so is FIGHTING

fighting has been in the game and there's a PENALTY for it, an official PENALTY

Basketball, you fight, you get a warning and most of the cases you'll be ejected

Baseball, you fight, your gone

Footbal, you fight, your gone? (i'm not sure)

boxing, you fight, uh, your cheered, and you win money

nascar, uh, i haven't seen a fight in these yet, but if you count the fighting for position bumpings of cars, uh.. no there's no penalty

so in hockey you get a penalty, that's a penalty

[Cornuck]

For some reason, the NHL thinks that fighting casts a negitive blanket on the perceprtion of the sport. If they were serious, they would outlaw it - but they can't because even Bettman knows that it is part of the game.

Don't give me the American vs Canadian arguement - all hockey fans love fights. Will more people down here watch hockey becuase fights are gone? No! Those that think the game is too violent will NEVER be pursueded to watch the game on a regular basis - it wil never happen.

Do we need a return to the Broad Street Bullies days? I don't want to see it. Do we want to see 2 goons start fighting right at the faceoff for no reason? I don't - most of the time it's a grab fest and waste of time.

Do we want to see 2 guys fight because they've been battling all night? Hell ya! Do we want to see guys hit hard and clean and spark the team? Hell ya!

So in my opinion, the NHL is trying hard to attract the fan that will show up. So we get rules that start to water down the physical play. I'm all for end obstruction, but no fighting in the last 5 minutes? WTF?

[levelheaded]

I feel the game is about on par with last season. I like some of rule changes, and it is nice to see clutching and grabbing slowly leaving the game, and more scoring is always fun, but I think things are getting a bit ridiculous.
10-4 and 8-0 by Ottawa is not fun hockey to watch. After a while blowouts get boring. The new NHL was supposed to even out the teams in the NHL, instead, it seems to have made the gap wider then ever. Defense has gone from the most important part of hockey, to an afterthought in 18 months. Hitting and fighting is down, which really sucks, and "rivalries" are being beaten to death. The days of the hard fought 2-1 games like last night seem to be over, and games like last night are always the most fun to watch.
If the crackdown on obstruction can continue, and the stupid rules (like the trapezoid rule) leave the New NHL could be better, but for now, I don't think it is any more fun to watch then '03-'04.

[mindbender]

It really bothers me how Bettman seems to think that Americans don't understand hockey and need silly rule changes to make it more exciting. Plenty of our friends to the south clearly understand and love the game as we do (Detroit, New York, Philadelphia, Minnesota etc.). I like the removal of the clutching and grabbing but I miss the battles in front of the net, the hits and the fights and surely "all" hockey fans both north and south of the border miss this. Does anyone remember the Flyers of the 70's? You think those fans didn't enjoy fighting? Get real. I hate the shoot-out and I'm sorry but I just find it boring as hell. Judging by some of the players efforts in the shoot-out I'd have to say that half of them look just as bored with it. I don't know about anybody else but I'm finding that there are too many players taking dives with the new rules and there are too many "reaction" penalties being called on the few big hits we do have, simply because the boards made a lot of noise. It's ridiculous. Now, with all that said, I love the pace of the new NHL and the fact that goals are way up. Anyone taken in an Ottawa game this year? They seem to have it all. Speed, scoring, toughness (Neil has been playing great both physically and putting up points), goaltending (Hasek has surprised me). They are simply amazing to watch.