The New NHL
Last night I had the opportunity to watch (on TV) my first hockey game in 17 months. It was the Dallas Stars versus the Edmonton Oilers. All in all, I enjoyed it but I found that the game I remembered is not the game they are putting on the ice this year.
There are several new rule changes this year designed to open up the ice. Along with the rule changes, is an edict to the officials to call the games closely. Because there are so many changes, EA Sports has incorporated animated rules briefings into their marketing campaign. They are of course using their gaming assets to do so. I have to say that I appreciated it and needed the information.
Last night’s game had 20 power plays and 10 goals — the game ended in a 6-4 Stars victory. If each power play had not overlapped, the 20 power plays would have represented 40 of the 60 minutes of hockey. So basically, the 5-on-5 play was in short supply last night.
To be honest, I’m not sure I liked it. I kinda liked a team working hard for their goals. And I liked that power plays were limited and that you really had to take advantage of them when you got them. As it is now, you only have to wait a couple of minutes and then you’ll be on the power play.
I do not know how many shots on goal there were last night, but the shots that did find their way to the net were very different than normal. These were mostly power play shots. I can’t help but think that the goalies have to hate this. They are facing more coordinated attacks and harder more frequent shots. I guess if you have chosen to stop rubber for a living maybe you look forward to the challenge. But this is like being at a hockey all-star game every night where there is no defense — you get shots like those in that contest, but only for one night and for only one period. We’re talking about a whole season now.
I have no idea now how you build your team. You better have a good goalie, for sure. And then it seems you better be solid on defense. Then again, you need to have good skill up front to take advantage of the power plays. You’ll also need the same skill players to do penalty kill duty. If you are deep on the bench and aren’t on any special teams, will you see the ice?
So many questions and so I guess we’ll see how this goes. Next up, Dallas Stars vs. Detriot Red Wings on Friday night and in person. Whether pre-season or not, those match-ups are always fun.