I think Roenick is being demonized for comments that the media is taking out of context. The sad state of hockey. The only way to get anything out of it right now is to sensationalize and take things out of context. I've read both sides of the story, and given what I know about the media, I'm gonna have to side with JR on this one. I can't possibly know what his real intentions are, but he at least _seems_ like he just wants to cut through the BS and get everyone back on the ice. He just speaks with cander and refuses to play politics. Shrug, admirable quality if you ask me.
Man, I really miss hockey. First the season gets canceled. Then my local CHL team didn't make the playoffs for the first time in 5 seasons.
I can only hope hockey makes a comeback, but I almost don't want to see it in the hands of the current NHL owners and NHL players association.
Have you seen some of the rule changes they are proposing? None of these are cemented, but they are being tossed around as ideas to make the games more high scoring and attract new hockey fans.
1. Getting rid of the red line. No more two line passes. Eh, this one isn't SO bad, but it's going to actually slow the game down if you ask me. No longer can D man like Lidstrom camp at the top of the slot for dash in's or huge rips. No, they will have to stay back in case of a D break out because a two line pass could easily catch a cherry picker for a break away.
2. Tag up offsides. You'd no longer have to wait for the opposing team to coross the puck back on the blue line after being offsides. Your team just needs to "tag-up" across the blue line and you can run back to steal the puck. Again, this will slow down the game. All you have to do now is just apply pressure in the neautral zone, get the puck, dump, chase, dump, tag up, rinse repeat. It's going to turn the entire 3rd period into defense in the NZ if one side is ahead. Sure it might make for a few snazzy steals followed by a break away goal. But seriously, most players won't take that kind of risk.
3. Zero tolerance infractions on the puck handler. Bah.... I'm all for calling a clean game, but this means you couldn't even make contact with the player. All you'd be able to do is poke check the puck. Any other contact would be a stoppage of play and a face off in your zone, or a penalty. This is just dumb.
4. The goalies pads are getting trimmed down. They are saying the goalies are too good and no one wants to see a shut out. ********! I love when I see goalies getting to be the stars of the game because they locked down the game. All they want to do is start another goal / point race to break all the existing records. The home run race brought back baseball, and it might do the same for hockey. While that's good in a sense, you should earn those records and not beat them because of rule changes. Boooo!
All these cats are complaining that goal scoring has gone down and that's not generating excitement. While I can see the arguement, I don't agree. I like a defensive game. Some of my favorite players have been defensemen. Chris Chelios, Paul Coffee, Derian Hatcher, and of course ole Nicky Lidstrom just to name a few of the legends. These guys play good D and can pick up O just as good. The D man are the most talented and important players in game if you ask me. They just don't get as much credit because they are not racking up the insane points.
Well maybe the reason scoring is down D has stepped up, or the goalies have too. Or maybe it's because the teams are playing dump and chase too much when you're up by two goals. Why risk your star player trying to get him a hat when you've already won? Bah. That's how the great one did it, play time. Jagr just sliced and diced everyone. I'd say Iginla is just as good as those guys, but his play time isn't as high. Because the Flames are scared of losing him.
Man, bring back hockey, but don't turn it into basketball.
end hockey rant... I just miss my sport
