2025-2026 NHL Offseason

Merkin Baller said:

Poncier said:

mrussel1 said:

Poncier said:

Meltdown99 said:

Looks like Stanley had a little accident…she’ll need to head out for some repairs…

The city of Tampa needs to stop winning. Between Brady tossing the Lombardi boat to boat and this, they've had their fill.

Tampa never had a title until 2002.  Now they have three cups and 2 Lombardi's.  It's not exactly Boston at this point. 

I'm just talking about the way they abuse championship trophies. They need to stop winning so these pieces of hardware survive.

Gronk & Michael Ryder agree. 

Poncier said:

mrussel1 said:

Poncier said:

Meltdown99 said:

Looks like Stanley had a little accident…she’ll need to head out for some repairs…

The city of Tampa needs to stop winning. Between Brady tossing the Lombardi boat to boat and this, they've had their fill.

Tampa never had a title until 2002.  Now they have three cups and 2 Lombardi's.  It's not exactly Boston at this point. 

I'm just talking about the way they abuse championship trophies. They need to stop winning so these pieces of hardware survive.

MayDay10 said:

Gotta go with the 3-2-1-0 points system.  It is so silly and imbalanced right now that you have regular season games weighted 50% more than other games. And its many games that get weighted more, creating a benefit for going to OT a lot.  Its my biggest gripe with the current NHL.

Puck over the glass is dumb too.  There was nothing wrong with making the delay of game there at the discretion of the referees.  The NHL so desperately wants to create black and white rules when it isn't really that kind of sport.  Throw video review into the fire unless you need to determine if the puck went over the goal line.


As far as Bettman goes.  There is good and bad.  Ultimately though, he is, and always has been the greasy lawyer frontman for the NHL's Board of Governors, and if it werent him, it would be another greasy lawyer type who would be doing the same exact bidding of the same wealthy owners (and taking all the heat).

He took over at a pivoting point for pro sports, and maybe particularly the NHL.  Much of that pivoting was toward money and expansion and TV contracts.  They took away the cool Division names in favor of East, West, etc.  We had USA/Canada vs The World all star games.  New buildings in pretty much every single market, including a lot of relocation.  Money, money, money poured in and players became more and more their own 'brands'.

You lost a lot of the raw unpredictability and emotion that hockey brought.  Partially due to the players risking too much... but mainly due to what we now know of concussions and the lawsuits that come from that.  You also have players that are much, much bigger, stronger, and quicker than they were in the 70s and 80s, and early 90s, and they do severe damage when they punch faces/heads more often.  Back in the day, we may have a couple guys who are 6' 190 pounds duking it out.... now we have players well over 6 feet, well over 200 pounds and on all sorts of 21st century nutritional, training, and supplement regimens.  
If anything, I believe that Bettman/the NHL has done the best job they could have possibly done to sit on the fence, allow fighting, but pretend just enough to be against it.  



At this time, with the NHL Board of Governors and Bettman, there is almost zero forward thinking going on.  The players are all giants, faster, more efficient, and better coached than ever, with 4 referees on the same playing surface size they used 150 years ago.  Not saying they need to go international size, but space is needed.  NHL games are boring slogs of robot players waiting for the other team to make a mistake.... and if there isnt an offsides challenge, we may see a goal at that point.

I also think they really have needed to lean in on the popularity the sport has in Europe and parts of Asia.  Its an advantage the NHL enjoys over most of our other sports and every year is a year wasted, while other sports seem to be pressing harder in those areas.  Im not talking "Europe Series" where the Sabres and Tampa Bay play a game in Germany... which is fine.  IMO they should be trying to plan a mid/during-the-season tournament with NHL teams and include some Euro teams or KHL teams much like Euro soccer does.  That would fast-track the European Expansion that has been rumored since Gretzky went to LA.  Eventually, I think you would have a Division/Conference out there, and Im sure a lot of European players would desire to play there.  True international competition.  You could have Tampa Bay vs Russia for the Stanley Cup where everyone is tuning in rooting for Tampa Bay to keep the cup here.


 

Meltdown99 said:

MayDay10 said:

Gotta go with the 3-2-1-0 points system.  It is so silly and imbalanced right now that you have regular season games weighted 50% more than other games. And its many games that get weighted more, creating a benefit for going to OT a lot.  Its my biggest gripe with the current NHL.

Puck over the glass is dumb too.  There was nothing wrong with making the delay of game there at the discretion of the referees.  The NHL so desperately wants to create black and white rules when it isn't really that kind of sport.  Throw video review into the fire unless you need to determine if the puck went over the goal line.


As far as Bettman goes.  There is good and bad.  Ultimately though, he is, and always has been the greasy lawyer frontman for the NHL's Board of Governors, and if it werent him, it would be another greasy lawyer type who would be doing the same exact bidding of the same wealthy owners (and taking all the heat).

He took over at a pivoting point for pro sports, and maybe particularly the NHL.  Much of that pivoting was toward money and expansion and TV contracts.  They took away the cool Division names in favor of East, West, etc.  We had USA/Canada vs The World all star games.  New buildings in pretty much every single market, including a lot of relocation.  Money, money, money poured in and players became more and more their own 'brands'.

You lost a lot of the raw unpredictability and emotion that hockey brought.  Partially due to the players risking too much... but mainly due to what we now know of concussions and the lawsuits that come from that.  You also have players that are much, much bigger, stronger, and quicker than they were in the 70s and 80s, and early 90s, and they do severe damage when they punch faces/heads more often.  Back in the day, we may have a couple guys who are 6' 190 pounds duking it out.... now we have players well over 6 feet, well over 200 pounds and on all sorts of 21st century nutritional, training, and supplement regimens.  
If anything, I believe that Bettman/the NHL has done the best job they could have possibly done to sit on the fence, allow fighting, but pretend just enough to be against it.  



At this time, with the NHL Board of Governors and Bettman, there is almost zero forward thinking going on.  The players are all giants, faster, more efficient, and better coached than ever, with 4 referees on the same playing surface size they used 150 years ago.  Not saying they need to go international size, but space is needed.  NHL games are boring slogs of robot players waiting for the other team to make a mistake.... and if there isnt an offsides challenge, we may see a goal at that point.

I also think they really have needed to lean in on the popularity the sport has in Europe and parts of Asia.  Its an advantage the NHL enjoys over most of our other sports and every year is a year wasted, while other sports seem to be pressing harder in those areas.  Im not talking "Europe Series" where the Sabres and Tampa Bay play a game in Germany... which is fine.  IMO they should be trying to plan a mid/during-the-season tournament with NHL teams and include some Euro teams or KHL teams much like Euro soccer does.  That would fast-track the European Expansion that has been rumored since Gretzky went to LA.  Eventually, I think you would have a Division/Conference out there, and Im sure a lot of European players would desire to play there.  True international competition.  You could have Tampa Bay vs Russia for the Stanley Cup where everyone is tuning in rooting for Tampa Bay to keep the cup here.


 

The only international hockey that is interesting is the Olympics.  And that’s because it means something to the players.  There will never be an overseas league that competes for the Cup…for one there is only a handful of countries that play hockey at an elite level.  

If those players from the past had access to the same coaching, training, dietary needs, video, equipment etc they easily compete with today’s nhl players…do you think tiny people played the game years ago…lol. The greatest dynasty ever assembled, The Canadiens of the late 70’s had a d core that were all over 6’0…the big 3 Robinson, Savard and Lapointe all 6’3?  Ken Dryden was 6’4”.  The equipment of today makes today’s players look bigger…today’s equipment is like body armour.

put today’s players in the equipment that players wore in the 70’s. And let’s see how they fare.

Im quite confidant in saying the late 70’s Canadiens could have competed with today’s NHL…and May not win 6 in a decade, buyb4 in a decade, yes…

also The Canadiens of the late 70’s had the greatest GM (Sam Pollick) and coach (Scotty Bowman), so they would have been able to manage the ridiculous salary cap.

Goal scoring is down because of the equipment the players wear today…

MayDay10 said:

Meltdown99 said:

MayDay10 said:

Gotta go with the 3-2-1-0 points system.  It is so silly and imbalanced right now that you have regular season games weighted 50% more than other games. And its many games that get weighted more, creating a benefit for going to OT a lot.  Its my biggest gripe with the current NHL.

Puck over the glass is dumb too.  There was nothing wrong with making the delay of game there at the discretion of the referees.  The NHL so desperately wants to create black and white rules when it isn't really that kind of sport.  Throw video review into the fire unless you need to determine if the puck went over the goal line.


As far as Bettman goes.  There is good and bad.  Ultimately though, he is, and always has been the greasy lawyer frontman for the NHL's Board of Governors, and if it werent him, it would be another greasy lawyer type who would be doing the same exact bidding of the same wealthy owners (and taking all the heat).

He took over at a pivoting point for pro sports, and maybe particularly the NHL.  Much of that pivoting was toward money and expansion and TV contracts.  They took away the cool Division names in favor of East, West, etc.  We had USA/Canada vs The World all star games.  New buildings in pretty much every single market, including a lot of relocation.  Money, money, money poured in and players became more and more their own 'brands'.

You lost a lot of the raw unpredictability and emotion that hockey brought.  Partially due to the players risking too much... but mainly due to what we now know of concussions and the lawsuits that come from that.  You also have players that are much, much bigger, stronger, and quicker than they were in the 70s and 80s, and early 90s, and they do severe damage when they punch faces/heads more often.  Back in the day, we may have a couple guys who are 6' 190 pounds duking it out.... now we have players well over 6 feet, well over 200 pounds and on all sorts of 21st century nutritional, training, and supplement regimens.  
If anything, I believe that Bettman/the NHL has done the best job they could have possibly done to sit on the fence, allow fighting, but pretend just enough to be against it.  



At this time, with the NHL Board of Governors and Bettman, there is almost zero forward thinking going on.  The players are all giants, faster, more efficient, and better coached than ever, with 4 referees on the same playing surface size they used 150 years ago.  Not saying they need to go international size, but space is needed.  NHL games are boring slogs of robot players waiting for the other team to make a mistake.... and if there isnt an offsides challenge, we may see a goal at that point.

I also think they really have needed to lean in on the popularity the sport has in Europe and parts of Asia.  Its an advantage the NHL enjoys over most of our other sports and every year is a year wasted, while other sports seem to be pressing harder in those areas.  Im not talking "Europe Series" where the Sabres and Tampa Bay play a game in Germany... which is fine.  IMO they should be trying to plan a mid/during-the-season tournament with NHL teams and include some Euro teams or KHL teams much like Euro soccer does.  That would fast-track the European Expansion that has been rumored since Gretzky went to LA.  Eventually, I think you would have a Division/Conference out there, and Im sure a lot of European players would desire to play there.  True international competition.  You could have Tampa Bay vs Russia for the Stanley Cup where everyone is tuning in rooting for Tampa Bay to keep the cup here.


 

do you think tiny people played the game years ago…lol. The greatest dynasty ever assembled, The Canadiens of the late 70’s had a d core that were all over 6’0…the big 3 Robinson, Savard and Lapointe all 6’3?  Ken Dryden was 6’4”.  The equipment of today makes today’s players look bigger…today’s equipment is like body armour.

https://hockey-graphs.com/2015/02/19/nhl-player-size-from-1917-18-to-2014-15-a-brief-look/

Players have gotten taller and heavier since the NHL was 'good'.  I would add again that they are much better conditioned, quicker, and efficient which bogs down the sport. The game has also skewed younger to keep up with the speed, which has actually made the size dip down slightly.   
Watching a game from the 70s, from your example, everyone has a lot of room and are generally slower, but it is a better sport to watch then IMO because it creates a lot more variance and excitement.  Their 1st step is way behind what these guys do today.  I do agree that equipment is a part of it.  Goalies actually had to make saves instead of be in the right position to cut down the % chances the puck goes past him.

mrussel1 said:

Meltdown99 said:

mrussel1 said:

I love the direction of hockey today.  Younger,  faster,  speed game is awesome. I wouldn't mind a few tweaks to open the game up just a touch,  but in all I enjoy hockey more than ever. 

The NHL tried damn near everything under the sun to open the game up, get goal scoring up…what should they do now?  Bigger ice surface.  International hockey has big ice and can be boring as shit…

All that’s left is 4 on 4 for the entire game, reduce equipment size of both skaters and goalie and bring back the wood stick?

Goal scoring suffers because because of the size of the equipment.  

You can do what the NFL does.. call defensive penalties tighter.  You can call any check to the back in front of the crease as a cross, for example.  That would either generate more PPs or keep people planted.  Either way more goals.  Now I know everyone criticizes the officials, but there are small ways to increase scoring by a 1/2 to full goal a game.  

F Me In The Brain said:

I don't think more goals necessarily = better hockey. 

Many people do -- probably more than do not -- it is just not an opinion that I hold. 

Same thing with baseball and with football.  I know most people want life to look like the video games but I am OK w/o that.

Expansion draft day is a week away -- this is going to be wild.

MayDay10 said:

F Me In The Brain said:

I don't think more goals necessarily = better hockey. 

Many people do -- probably more than do not -- it is just not an opinion that I hold. 

Same thing with baseball and with football.  I know most people want life to look like the video games but I am OK w/o that.

Expansion draft day is a week away -- this is going to be wild.

I dont need more goals.  Just higher 'event' hockey.  More chances, great saves, etc.  One of the most entertaining games I ever saw was Buffalo 1, New jersey 0 in 4 overtimes.  
It just seems that everyone plays and coaches primarily to decrease events.  The only time events happen is when a team makes a mistake usually as opposed to a great play.