November 21, 2002

Beat Report: NHL

This year’s NHL looks a lot different from the league you knew last year. The hurry-up faceoffs and the crackdown on obstruction and interference have made the game a faster, more wide-open, and higher scoring affair.

Many people seem to enjoy the new flow of the game, with the notable and vocal exception of Canada’s answer to Archie Bunker, Don Cherry. Of course, Don may just be upset because some of his favorite guys aren’t going to make the cut in the new NHL. If you’re interested in the day-to-day live of a few of the enforcers that have enough skill to keep playing in today’s NHL, check out the online journals of Matt Barnaby or PJ Stock . Stock, along with being a passably entertaining writer, is also of the league’s 12 dirtiest players. Good for him.

But before you worry that the way that the game is being played now will mean that the NHL of the future will be overrun with non-physical little guys like surprising new star Martin St. Louis (23 points, 19 games) and the rest of Darren Pang’s All-Short Team, take heart in the fact that in one game in the minor leagues last week, 23 players were ejected in what could have been billed as QMJHL Smackdown ‘02.

It seems like the refs can’t do anything right this year. While Don Cherry complains that obstruction calls are ruining the game, others complain that the the crackdown is already fading. And speaking of complaining, the Maple Leaf’s are taking heat for being "whiny divers". It’s hard to respect a team with a winger whose name is an anagram of this.

When it comes down to it, instead of complaining about the differences in this year’s game, maybe we should be thankful for the rule changes that the NHL didn’t make. Well, maybe except the last one.

posted by Samsonov14 to hockey at 07:21 PM - 3 comments