So I’ve given you some time to think about your ideal NHL without clouding your thoughts with my own. Now it’s time to let you know how I think it should be. Let’s go!

Player safety

The NHL has been crowing a lot lately about how they will make decisions that are in the best interest of protecting their players. I’m going to call them on this one, simply because there is still an insistence on keeping touch icing.

Ask Marco Sturm or Kurtis Foster what they think of touch icing. We’ve seen Iginla and Regehr both have scary falls into the boards as a result of this rule as well. Broken legs and sprained ankles are easy to shrug off as a result of a fast and physical game, but it’s only a matter of time before we see a more serious head or neck injury as a result of this rule. The NHL is the only hockey I ever see that maintains this rule (although I realize there are still others); if the IIHF and the CHL can manage with no-touch icing, why is the NHL so adamant on keeping this rule?

With regard to player safety, I would also:

• grandfather mandatory visors into the league
• adopt the OHL’s helmet rule for fighting
• crack-down on players not tightening their chinstraps (if you can fit more than two fingers between your chin and the strap, it isn’t tight enough)

Gameplay

I’m of the belief that the NHL has improved immensely under the new standard of officiating that has been enforced since the lock-out. I think this could be further improved upon by increasing the size of the rink to the International standard. We’ve got an extra referee on the ice now, and bigger, faster players than we used to have. Opening up more space for them to move around out there would make the game more free-flowing, and, in my opinion, more exciting. Opening up that extra space makes it that much more difficult to successfully employ a stymying defensive strategy.

On that note, I’d also like to see more 4-on-4. I’m not a real lover of the shoot-out anyways, so why not play a longer overtime at 4-on-4? Especially on a larger ice surface, I doubt we’d see many games go beyond 10 minutes of overtime anyways. I’d even like to see 4-on-4 overtime adopted for playoff games.

Standings

I’ve made my thoughts on this one known here before: I hate 3-point games! Every game should have the same impact on the standings. That’s why I would endorse a 3-point regulation win and only 2 points for an overtime/shootout win, while the loser still earns a single point. It doesn’t make sense to me that all wins are created equal while all losses are not.

Uniforms

Don’t let the Canucks design their own uniforms anymore. Seriously, they’ve subjected us to enough already.

The Draft

This is the selfish WHL fan in me talking, but bump the draft to 19 year olds. Let the kids play another year in junior hockey. For the most part, I think we’ll see better developed players, and less guesswork for the scouts and GMs on draft day.

Playoffs

Let’s go back to playing out of your division in the playoffs. Remember the 80’s where the Flames were always playing the Oilers, Kings, and Canucks in the playoffs? That’s how real rivalries are built. There’d need to be a bit of divisional re-alignment to facilitate that, or perhaps some type of wild card system like the NFL uses, but I think the fans would appreciate those match-ups, and it would inject that much more excitement into the post-season.

The Schedule

Hack it down to 70 games. Each game means a little bit more, and we can finish the playoffs before the CFL season starts.

Salaries

My economics classes tell me there’s nothing wrong with NHL salaries, since they are what the market will bear; however, I love Bob McCown’s suggestion that rather than earning a dollar value salary, each player earns a percentage of his team’s salary. Teams would then be rewarded financially for each win, thereby increasing each player’s pay incrementally over a reasonable base salary. Check out McCown’s Law for the full description of how this system would work.

This is my great fantasy. I doubt we’ll ever see any of it happen, but if we do, I’ll be happy to take credit for it.

The amount of debate in the NHL right now on a variety of potential rule changes has gotten me thinking: what would the ideal NHL look like?

Obviously there are going to be wide and differing opinions on this question if it is presented to different people, so, I’m presenting it here to different people. Bring me your wide and differing opinions!

I’d like to invite my fellow CalgaryFlames.net bloggers to post their own thoughts here. If you aren’t a CalgaryFlames.net blogger, you can email me at schrojo@gmail.com and I’ll post the insightful comments in another post in a week or so.

So, have at it? Want to change the rules or equipment? Maybe the buildings. Even the culture of the sport is fair game. I’ll post my own here soon!

We all know the Flames have the best uniforms in the NHL, and obviously have no need of a third jersey. What would a third jersey do that the beautiful red home uniform doesn’t already do? Not every NHL fan is as lucky as we are, and that marketing machine that is professional sport has devised the concept of more and more jerseys that can be hocked to the fans. That’s great if your team did a good job of designing their alternate uniform, but as we will see here, this is not always the case. Here is my ranking, from worst to best, of the alternate jerseys being sported in the NHL this season.

19		Atlanta Thrashers Are these guys actually wearing hockey jerseys? They look like motocross jerseys to me. You can’t see it well in this photo, but the swooping bird heads on the shoulders make these look like the NFL Rams’ uniforms. These things are an abomination, but in the big picture they aren’t that much worse than the powder blue home jerseys these guys are burdened with. If you are a Thrasher fan, you have my sympathies, as your team is my winner for the worst of the third jerseys.
18		Phoenix Coyotes The worst part of this is that when the Coyotes rolled out their maroon rebranding, it took them from one of the worst looking teams in the NHL to one of the best. Granted, these ones aren’t as bad as the original Phoenix alternate; however, the lame logo on the front of these jerseys is the killer on these ones. If it were up to me, Wayne’s boys would stick with their everyday uniforms.
17		Dallas Stars Another case of not as bad as their old third jersey, but oh-so-lame because it’s only a colour reversal of their less than spectacular home jersey. They would’ve looked better in the old star pattern jersey.
16		Ottawa Senators I thought this one was a joke when I first saw it. “What? Really?” Who thought the giant nickname wordmark was a good idea on these? I don’t mind the pattern on these ones, and the stripes on the arms work for me by making me think of the Ottawa 67’s uniforms, but that “logo” is just laughable.
15		Boston Bruins I’m pretty sure I saw leaks of this one last spring. I wasn’t impressed with it then, and it hasn’t really grown on me. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not terrible, but it’s not overly creative or unique. The black third jersey is uninspired, and when you’ve got Zdeno Chara and Milan Lucic on your roster, do you really need to look more intimidating? Maybe I’m just the crazy one for liking their old yellow thirds.
14		Chicago Blackhawks Yes, we’re solidly in the it doesn’t suck, but it’s not really turning my crank category. I don’t mind the Hawks’ new get up, but swapping white for black just seems kind of boring. It is a classic look that’s worked for decades and still works; it’s just not as exciting as the kids who are wearing it.
13		San Jose Sharks Overall, I thought their RBK redesign was a moderate step backward from their previous look. The third jerseys pretty much continue that with another mundane black entry. Do guys really get excited to wear these?
12		Carolina Hurricanes When the ‘Canes first joined the NHL I despised the square blocks along the waistline, but after learning the significance of said blocks I gave it a pass, and I’m glad they kept that element here. I kind of like the crest on these ones, too. It’s good to see a modern club who isn’t having a visual identity crisis.
11		Los Angeles Kings The Kings have a terrible track record on third jerseys, so the fact that this one isn’t ranked #19 is almost a miracle. I like the black/white/gray that harkens back to the Gretzky era in LA, so the Kings get a pass on the black shirts. Extra points for incorporating modern and classic design elements into the same jersey.
10		Toronto Maple Leafs Considering they’ve barely changed their look in their entire history, it’s tough to stray far from the classic look. This design is expected, but timeless.
9		New York Islanders Glory day throwbacks are all the rage, right? If you’re ever presented with the choice of (a) Captain Highliner, (b) 70’s Championship throwback; choose B every time!
8		Edmonton Oilers I know the City of Chumps loved the McFarlane third jersey, but I thought it was too far of a departure from the identity of the club. When I see this jersey it reminds me of the classic Battle of Alberta, complete with Lanny McDonald and 1989. Go Flames!
7		Tampa Bay Lightning This was a tough one for me, because the “Bolts” crest is downright stupid. I love the colour and pattern of the jersey, though, so despite the awful crest, it’s starting to grow on me. I’d love to see it with the proper logo crest on there.
6		Philadelphia Flyers Bold move to bring back the Broadstreet Bullies look, but for another club who has never deviated far from their original look, I think this works well.
5		Vancouver Canucks I think I’ve made my feelings on the everyday Canuck sweaters pretty well known. In short, I think they look like a peewee team who is trying too hard. The orca crest sucks, and the arching “Vancouver” crest is a visual mismatch to the crest. This alternate may be the biggest improvement over the everyday sweater on any team in the league. The classic look with some contemporary style tweaks wins with me, even if the Canucks don’t.
4		Pittsburgh Penguins The Penguins overshot the glory day throwback a little bit, but sometimes vintage wins for its visual impact. Having seen the league’s poster boy posing in this jersey since last year’s Winter Classic, this one has had plenty of time to grow on me. As a Lemieux fan, I’d prefer a 1991 throwback, but this one’s pretty cool too.
3		Buffalo Sabres The modern life of the Sabres has been one ongoing identity crisis. I like to think that this throwback is an admission of wrongdoing on so many of the jerseys since.
2		St. Louis Blues Personal sentiment aside, this is probably the winner of the best jersey. It’s clean, it has a classic look, and it integrates the arch into the crest design. The Blues at one time nearly had a pretty loud alternate (pardon the pun, and thanks to Mike Keenan for withholding that monstrosity), so the discretion shown in this design is refreshing. If I was a Blues fan, one of these would already be hanging in my closet.
1		Montréal Canadiens Habs win. This may be my bias, but the modern-looking throwback is the best looking jersey on NHL ice. Except for the Flames’ jersey, of course.

I’m sure you think you know better than me. Leave your thoughts in the comments!

I don’t have a lot of beefs with the rules of hockey these days. I could stand to see the instigator rule disappear, and I think the trapezoid behind each net is unnecessary, but these are minor quibbles that I can live with. There is, however, one big issue that really gets under my skin: overtime/shootout losses. The issue to me isn’t so much that a point is awarded for overtime/shootout losses, but that it causes some games to be worth three points, while others are worth two. I’ve taken enough finance and accounting classes to be sufficiently bugged by that imbalance.

And so, after fretting over this for the past several seasons, I decided to run the numbers and see what the impact of the single point OT/SO loss. Perhaps there are teams who are really getting shafted by the current standings, or perhaps it is just the nerds like me who are bothered by this. Let’s take a look, shall we?

In the chart below, you will find the NHL standings through the end of March 16, and comparison standings for two other alternatives:

1. The ‘3-Point Game’
   In this format, a regulation time winner would be awarded three points, while overtime/shootout winners would earn two points. Overtime/shootout losses would continue to be worth a single point, and regulation losses worth none.
2. Straight Win-Loss
   The points system could be eliminated entirely and, much like MLB and the NBA, base the standings solely on number of wins, regulation or not.

NHL Standings (through March 16/08)

Big picture: Only in one place do we see a difference in who makes the playoffs (Nashville bumping Vancouver in one instance). We see a bit of bouncing amongst the tighter divisions (Ottawa/Montreal, Minnesota/Colorado/Calgary), but not much that’s really significant. The seedings would get stirred up a fair bit in both conferences if we applied the 3-point game. In fact, only two teams would retain their seeding in the Eastern Conference. The one big move that we notice is pretty predictable: those pesky Oilers. Edmonton is the one team in the NHL who has won more games in overtime/shootout than in regulation this year, and the 3-point game would not be friendly to them, bumping them to 14th in the conference.

Theory debunked? Is my taste for stats just being fueled by my hatred of the Oilers? Before we settle on any conclusions, let’s apply the theory to another league: the WHL.

2007-2008 WHL Final Standings

Again, if we look at the big picture of who makes the playoffs, there is no difference between who falls on either side of the cut-off. In this instance, though, there’s a pretty big mix-up in the Eastern Conference seeding when using the 3-point games: Brandon up from sixth to second (by virtue of winning their division), Regina down from second to fifth, and Kootenay down from fifth to seventh. Only a single playoff match-up (Calgary vs. Moose Jaw) would remain in-tact. In the Western Conference, Spokane would be the only major benefactor, leapfrogging Tri-City and Vancouver to win the top seed.

So what sort of conclusions can be drawn from this comparison? Here’s what I’ve boiled it down to:

• Straight win-loss records don’t vary too much from the existing 2-point win format.
• The 3-point win format is more likely to have an impact on the standings.
• The line between playoff and non-playoff teams doesn’t shift much, if at all, regardless of the format applied, but the 3-point game can re-arrange the seedings noticeably.
• I still hate the Oilers.