NHL scoring is still much higher than it was in the Dead Puck Era, but it's always worth seeing what else can happen to promote a smooth pace to the game, says Adam Proteau.
As the NHL’s GM meetings unfolded this week, there were questions about certain league rules and regulations – most notably, the quality of overtime games and whether or not to tweak OT to make it more entertaining.
Ultimately, the GMs and league officials decided to keep the status quo for OT, which decides games after regulation nearly 70 percent of the time before a shootout.
There are a couple of things worth noting here: the first one is that, over the years, you can go back and easily find GMs and officials shooting down proposed changes as they tout the rules of the time period they’re in. Even in the Dead Puck Era, you had the game’s gatekeepers with the Alfred E. Neuman “What, me worry?” shoulder shrugs, and that proved to be part of the problem.
Only when things really got out of control – with waterskiing and constant targeting of skilled players weighing everyone down – did the NHL come to its senses, and Brendan Shanahan’s “summit” helped usher in a much more entertaining product.
To be clear, we’re not suggesting hockey’s top league is in a similar predicament today. Offense is still better than it was a handful of years ago, and that’s because of previous efforts to cut down on obstruction. But the NHL should always try to stay one step ahead and see what it can improve in the game before it gets bogged down again.
In fact, this season’s goals-per-game average of 3.11 is down from last season’s 3.18, per hockey-reference.com. It’s also down from the 3.14 average from the 2021-22 campaign. For the most part, at least, it’s still up from the hyper-defensive era that held back its best talents, as opposed to giving the game back to the skilled players.
Now, there are ways the league can ensure this offensive blossoming stays in place, goals are plentiful and the game moves at a good pace.
Some of the increased video review suggestions – as far as puck-over-glass penalty and high-sticking situations go – do have merit, but we’re not as crazy about video reviewing each and every incident. The game would get bogged down in decisions made outside the arena. It’s about a standard of play, not taking the human element out of the proceedings.
That said, we do still believe the NHL should add an eye-in-the-sky referee. It would be a notable change, but it would also help prevent calls from being missed. It wouldn’t add another body to an already-tight playing surface or another video review to an already-long game.
But some matters demand bold solutions, and other leagues are willing to take big steps to get a solid balance between offense and defense.
The NBA is now reviewing its competitive balance, because its offense is now overtaking all semblances of defense, and some people want to see tougher battles on the court than the ones they’re currently getting.
It’s a fair argument to make, but hockey isn’t close to a point in which people pining for the good old days of the ugly hockey games should be catered to. The game is now more about the skill of puck possession and dynamic vision for the sport, not about smothering talent in stick-piles and bear hugs and suffocating the entertainment out of the product. We can’t go back to those days, thankfully.
We’ve said it before, but it bears repeating: managing a professional sports league is like tending a garden. You’re making order out of chaos, and you want organic growth, but you can’t leave it untended, or else you’ll be dealing with a whole whack of weeds. It’s great that seven-in-10 games past regulation end before the shootout kicks in, but it’s always worth revisiting the seeds you’ve planted and what you’ve sown and wondering if you couldn’t produce a better crop.
The NHL needs to always be aware of what they’re selling, and the more it’s about selling skill, the better the end result will be.
Here's Ryan Kennedy and Michael Traikos with more on the talk about whether overtime needs tweaked or not: