The summer doldrums of hockey. Propose an NHL rule change.

[Zamboni]

Minor penalties last for two minutes no matter how many goals are scored during the PP. 

Get rid of the skills challenge otherwise known as the OT shoot out.

Get rid of the goalie trapezoid behind the net. But also have them be fair game to be checked hard if they hang onto the puck too long like any player.

Any and all deliberate shots to the head with a stick, shoulder, knee, elbow or fist, is an immediate game misconduct. And an immediate review to see if more Game suspensions are warranted. Level of injury does not equal length of penalty or suspension.

[shrader]

No line change after icing?  Expand that to any rules violation.  Offside, hand pass, high stick, anything... And the big one?  After any penalty.  I want to see a team starting out the PK with 1 defenseman on the ice or no center.

If you're in the penalty box at the end of overtime, you cannot be in the shootout.  Actually, I'd get rid of the shootout all together, but that's never happening.

[mjd1001]

White jerseys at home.

If you only have 3 guys on the ice and take a penalty, you play with 2.  If its 3 on 3 in overtime and you take a penalty, you play 3 on 2. Take another penalty its 3 on 1. Don't like it? dont' take the penalty.

[Broken Ankles]

18 hours ago, pastajoe said:

A goal should count no matter how it goes into the net, including kicked in and high stick. Both take skill and are too subjective to call properly.

Also 3-2-1 point system; 3 for regulation win, 2 for OT/shootout win, 1 for OT/shootout loss.

I’d rather exclude all goals off a skate.  Takes away any judgement by Toronto on intent. 

[5th line wingnutt]

15 hours ago, Marvin said:

Puck over the glass is like icing and not a penalty.

Make it a 1 minute penalty.

[5th line wingnutt]

19 hours ago, pastajoe said:

A goal should count no matter how it goes into the net, including kicked in and high stick. Both take skill and are too subjective to call properly.

Also 3-2-1 point system; 3 for regulation win, 2 for OT/shootout win, 1 for OT/shootout loss.

Part 1: No.

Part 2: Yes, the current system is statistically invalid.  Why are some hockey games worth 3 points and others only 2?

[PerreaultForever]

6 hours ago, nfreeman said:

1.  OT in the playoffs goes to 4-on-4 after the 1st OT.

Hell no!!!!!!!!!!!!

[7+6=13]

10 hours ago, Eleven said:

This would be cool.

Goalie too

[pi2000]

eliminate instigator penalty

half-shields optional

remove the trapezoid

no penalty on faceoff for touching puck w hand

2-on-2 after 3-on-3 OT, eliminate shootout

3/2/1 point system

play the puck off netting

eliminate coaches challenges

1-8 confernce playoff seeding

season starts in Septemeber, ends in April (eliminate all-star game and bye weeks)

eliminate draft lottery system

drafted players unsigned after college career are returned to the draft

contraction.   dissolve the Coyotes, Panthers, Hurricanes, Ducks, Stars and Blue Jackets

realignment with a great lakes divison of Tor, Buf, Chi, Det, Mtl and Ott

all teams play eachother 4 times

chips in pucks to auto detect goals

eliminate the blue lines, use center red for offsides

every 4 icings is a minor penalty

Edited August 1, 2023 by pi2000

[Kristian]

Lose the instigator penalty.

Way too many douchebags getting away with cheapshots, because people are punished for stepping in.

Also, it’s never called right anyway.

[Doohickie]

20 hours ago, LabattBlue said:

Size of the goalie gloves is embarrassing as is the chest/shoulder padding. 

You ever watch NLL?

[LabattBlue]

Just now, Doohickie said:

You ever watch NLL?

Yes, but the NHL is not some two bit lacrosse league. 

[Doohickie]

8 hours ago, pi2000 said:

realignment with a great lakes divison of Tor, Buf, Chi, Det, Mtl and Ott

What great lake is Montreal on?  Ottawa?  A better name would be the St. Lawrence Division since the Great Lakes dump into the St. Lawrence Seaway.

[shrader]

17 hours ago, Broken Ankles said:

I’d rather exclude all goals off a skate.  Takes away any judgement by Toronto on intent. 

Kicking at a puck with razor blades on your feet as the goalie is trying to cover it.  What could possibly go wrong?

[PASabreFan]

I get my knob gobbled every time the Sabres clinch a playoff berth.

[Hawerchuk]

11 hours ago, pi2000 said:

eliminate instigator penalty

1-8 confernce playoff seeding

season starts in Septemeber, ends in April (eliminate all-star game and bye weeks)

drafted players unsigned after college career are returned to the draft

chips in pucks to auto detect goals
 

Most of those are a hard NO for me, but the ones I kept from your list, I would definitely agree with. Especially CHIPS IN PUCKS. That's a real good one which should be implemented. I also would love to see a Sept - April season. Awarding the CUP in June just sucks overall.

[bob_sauve28]

15 hours ago, pi2000 said:

 

eliminate the blue lines, use center red for offsides

 

Interesting idea. I'd love to see them try a variety of ideas in regards to offsides. Maybe no offsides at all, but if defensive team gets puck past blue line then offensive players have to get out of the zone, but then could just reenter after everyone cleared out. 

[Taro T]

Really like @Brawndo's idea of a SHG ending a PP.  Kind of neat twist and would be a definite momentum changer.

Some others:

Give a team an option when the opponent takes a minor penalty: either get the 2 minute PP OR for the next 3 offensive zone faceoffs get possession of the puck at the far point.  (Everybody (all 10 skaters) lined up in a faceoff formation but the puck is at the far point and play starts on the ref's signal.)  Would give teams with lousy PP's a much better chance of getting a killer scoring chance as the quick pass to the other point sets up a shot from just outside the house.  Would also be interesting to see how the strategy might adjust based upon game situation &/or opponent.

On coincidental minor penalties, allow teams to drop below 4v4 (either 4v3 or 3v3).  That's the way it was done until the mid-80's.  Knowing there'll be additional game after the 3v3 ends should eliminate (significantly, if not entirely) the dropping back into your own zone to keep possession of the puck when you want to make a line change at 3v3.

Speaking of which, if they don't eliminate OT, then at least add a lax style over and back rule for the 3v3.  Once you've taken the puck into the offensive zone, you can't take it back to your side of the redline.  It could be tweaked further with another old lax rule (prior to the shot clock) - the stall warning.  If the team has possessed the puck for a full minute, then it has to keep it inside the opponent's blue line to maintain possession.

And, why don't they get rid of SO's altogether.  If a game is tied through regulation, play a 10 minute OT 5 aside.  Nobody scores by the end of it, they each get 1 point.

Get rid of games that have differing numbers of points.  ALL games are 2 point games.  (Going to all 3 point games would disconnect the standings from historical ones even worse than the current ~2.4 PPG standing disconnect them.)

Add a 2nd camera over the net, this one directly on the goal line.  If you see the puck fully over the line from that camera then you KNOW it was fully in the net.  Keep the other one because it'll see the puck as it is crossing the goal line too.

And while adding those cameras, add 2 - 4 in the goalposts / crossbar (maybe 1 or 2 in the ice on the goal line as well) to get more views of the puck when the goalie and other bodies are blocking sight of it.

Keep the offsides review, but limit the time allowed to look at the replays.  If it takes more than about 40 seconds to tell if the play was onsides or not, then it was close enough that it meets the spirit of the rule which is to keep people from gaining a significant advantage by being in the zone significantly before the puck is in zone.

Also, add 1 or 2 off-ice officials that sit literally on the blue lines at each end who are responsible for actually calling off-sides.  (Not sure if they'd work in conjunction with the linesmen or if the linesmens' jobs would be simplified.

[shrader]

20 hours ago, Taro T said:

Add a 2nd camera over the net, this one directly on the goal line.  If you see the puck fully over the line from that camera then you KNOW it was fully in the net.  Keep the other one because it'll see the puck as it is crossing the goal line too.

I always worry about something like this screwing with the how the puck rebounds off the post.

[Thorny]

Get rid of the pond hockey, shinny-esque 3 v 3 OT that bears as little resemblance to actual hockey as the shootout: I don’t need 5 minutes of keepaway.

On 7/30/2023 at 9:19 PM, Brawndo said:

Icing enforced on PKs and a SHG ends the penalty 

PP merchants would have even more value 

[pastajoe]

In OT, either a 20 second shot on goal clock, or you lose possession if you bring the puck back out of the offensive zone.

[Porous Five Hole]

On 8/1/2023 at 7:13 PM, Taro T said:

 

Speaking of which, if they don't eliminate OT, then at least add a lax style over and back rule for the 3v3.  Once you've taken the puck into the offensive zone, you can't take it back to your side of the redline.  It could be tweaked further with another old lax rule (prior to the shot clock) - the stall warning.  If the team has possessed the puck for a full minute, then it has to keep it inside the opponent's blue line to maintain possession.

 

This is probably too radical for the NHL, but I love this idea.  I would say that in OT, once you’ve gained the offensive zone, you cannot willfully exit the zone. If you do, dump the puck into the corner and give up possession. Again, just 3 on 3 in OT. 
 

It’ll never happen, but this is my favorite idea of the thread.  

[Curt]

On 7/30/2023 at 9:53 PM, pastajoe said:

A goal should count no matter how it goes into the net, including kicked in and high stick. Both take skill and are too subjective to call properly.

Also 3-2-1 point system; 3 for regulation win, 2 for OT/shootout win, 1 for OT/shootout loss.

Scoring a goal with high stick or kicking it in would take skill for sure, but I think the issue is player safety.  You don’t want guys swinging high sticks to try to score and accidentally clipping eachother in the face, or kicking their feet that have giant razor blades attached to the bottom.

As for the points system change, I’m all for it.  I could actually take it a step further. 3 points for a regulation win, 2 for an OT win, 0 for an OT loss.  Really encourage these guys to go for wins in regulation.  Also, 1 and 1 for a tie, because we should eliminate shootouts and bring back the tie too.

[skaught]

6 hours ago, shrader said:

I always worry about something like this screwing with the how the puck rebounds off the post.

They had chips in the pucks (and on all the players) last season and it seemed to work fine.

[Marvin]

I am on the 3-2-1-0 points train if the don't bring back ties.