Tampa Bay Lightning center Steven Stamkos says it’s harder than ever to score in the NHL.Kim Klement
Steven Stamkos watches old NHL highlights and sees a completely different game than the one that he's starring in.
"The goals that were scored 20, 30, 40 years ago have no chance of going in the net now," the Tampa Bay Lightning captain said. "It definitely is harder than ever to score and put up points."
Hall of Fame coach Scotty Bowman called it "tough to score, real tough," and Mike Babcock of the Toronto Maple Leafs deemed it "impossible to score."
The NHL isn't at a crisis point like it was in the early 2000s when interference, clutching and grabbing had drowned scoring to 5.14 goals a game, the lowest level since the expansion era began in 1967. But after post-lockout rule changes opened up the game in 2005-06 to get the league to 6.16 goals a game, it's back down to 5.46 through the first 277 games this season.
"The athletes are better, bigger, stronger goalies and it's just tougher to score," Florida Panthers general manager Dale Tallon said. "Better coaching, video, all these things."
Modern hockey is arguably the fastest the game has ever been, but there's no shortage of complaining about a lack of scoring chances and goals. And there are plenty of theories on how to fix the NHL's scoring problem.
MAKE THE NETS BIGGER
Babcock started this new wave of goal-scoring grumbling recently when he said goaltender interference reviews were taking goals away when the puck was already not going in enough. He pointed to the size of goalies in 1980 to now and explained the game has changed significantly as a result.
Hockey nets are six feet wide by four feet tall. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the size of goaltenders has grown four inches in the past three decades.
Making the nets an inch or two bigger is not a new idea. NHL senior vice-president and director of hockey operations Colin Campbell has four different sized nets in his barn and cautioned that even though GMs have discussed the idea, it would have far-reaching consequences, like whether minor, junior and youth leagues all over the world would have to spend millions of dollars to change their nets.
Veteran winger Jarome Iginla, part of the joint NHL-NHLPA competition committee, used to be against making nets bigger but now supports the idea. Bowman and Iginla's coach with the Colorado Avalanche, Patrick Roy, would rather the league make the goalposts smaller.
"If every time you hit the crossbar and the post it goes in, and it happens three or four times a game, I think that could make a difference," Roy said.
MAKE GOALIE EQUIPMENT SMALLER
Goalies believe with the quality of sticks and the speed of shots that they need equipment for safety reasons. Skaters — and GMs — disagree.
"I think that guys are so big now and so athletic that I'm sure with the ways that companies make their equipment, they can find a way to still make it protective," Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said.
Reducing goalie equipment has been an ongoing process in recent years, and it could take another step for next season. Campbell believes today's bigger, better-trained and more athletic goalies are ready to co-operate with that.
"It's one thing to have large equipment, it's another to be six-foot-six," Campbell said. "We can't legislate against that."
MAKE THE NEUTRAL ZONE SMALLER
In 2005, the NHL increased the size of attacking and defensive zones from 60 to 64 feet, with the aim of giving more room to manoeuvre offensively, especially on the power play.
It worked right away, but over the past 10 years coaches and defenders have changed their approach, allowing the puck to move freely at the points on the blue line but collapsing to choke up room in better-quality scoring areas.
Going back to 60-foot zones is where Bowman would start.
"It's hard now because the coaches, it's a big end zone, they can't cover the points, so they cover in front of the net, the scoring areas and (are) trying to stop goals," Bowman said. "It's hard to score from the point now because it has to go through a lot of guys and it has to beat a pretty good goalie."
CALL MORE PENALTIES
One key to the offensive outburst in 2005-06 was an increase in power-play goals. Rules were more strictly enforced, and goals followed.
The standard lapsed in the following seasons, and it's something New York Islanders captain John Tavares noticed slipping even more after the all-star break last year.
"There just was not as many penalties being called, and it made it really tough for a lot of guys to be able to create the same amount of opportunities and be able to score at the same rates that they had been," Tavares said.
THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX
Former Montreal Canadiens GM Bob Gainey once proposed a rule that would make it illegal for players to lay out on the ice to block shots. Keeping at least one skate on the ice would help prevent injuries and also allow more shots to get on net.
Hall of Fame defenceman Nicklas Lidstrom suggested reducing the size of the crease to allow more activity around the net. With so many players saying they shoot for second chances and rebounds, it's not a bad idea.
"(To score) I think you've got to have a knack around the net," said reigning Art Ross Trophy winner Jamie Benn, whose 87 points were the fewest to capture the scoring title since 1967-68. "I think the closer you are to the net, it's probably going to be easier."
Then there's the thought that better hockey is the objective, rather than more goals. Easier said than done.
"There are certain 2-1 games that are really, really exciting, and there are certain games that are 2-1 that aren't," New Jersey Devils GM Ray Shero said. "And I'm not sure about what we're talking about in terms of rules or interpretations or goalie equipment is just about goal-scoring, it's about how you make the game better."
With files from Bill Beacon in Montreal