I used to love hockey.“Used to” is the operative verb phrase.
How did things fall apart? It’s easy for me to blame the lockout, and that certainly had a hand in things—but the real reason is both simpler and more complicated:
Hockey sucks.
Yes, I said hockey sucks. Shocking isn’t it? Especially from a 20-year fan of the Edmonton Oilers who's lived most of his life in Canada...but there it is.
Hockey sucks.
The reason?
The NHL powers-that-be staged the lockout to legislate the end of the offside trap.
They can claim it was about other things, but we all know the truth. The owners needed to break the Players Union to eliminate the offside trap—and they did just that.
And therein lies the deficiency of hockey as a sport.
European football, American football, and even baseball have adapted naturally to shifts in strategy by individual teams.
But when the New Jersey Devils became the kings of the offside trap, there was no adaptation—no discovery of how to overcome the über-boring Devils.
Teams threw themselves against the Devils’ wall and failed. Rather than adapting to win, other teams adapted to survive—and the NHL became a snore to watch, at least until the playoffs.
That doesn’t happen in other sports.
Consider soccer. When a team decides to bottle up the midfield against Manchester United with a 4-5-1 formation, the Red Devils shift to a long-ball game.
In American football, the very concept of special teams sprang from the sport’s ability to naturally adapt to game strategies and situations.
And what about baseball? Japan was able to win the World Baseball Classic by playing a fast, daring game perfectly suited to counteract the USA’s steroid monsters.
The NHL, on the other hand, legislates change.
And that, more than anything else, is why the current state of the game is so dire—and that, more than anything else, is why I never watch hockey anymore.
The game is incapable of natural advancement. Important tactical changes are a thing of the past. All hockey can be from this point forward is what it already is—a game of board room hacks, messing with past beauty to make a buck.
The Real Problem with the NHL: Hockey Sucks
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6 months ago
What's boring is blaming the Devils for everything wrong with hockey. Come up with something new!
from 6 months ago
I am actually blaming hockey for not being able to overcome the Devil's offside trap, not the Devils for everything that is wrong with hockey. Hockey's deficiencies as a tactically adaptable sport are what make hockey's problems.
from 6 months ago
I'm sorry Brad but I can't just stand by and listen to you talk about how hockey sucks. I don't like the new rules any more than any other Canadian but that's no reason to say it sucks. See Betmen's the real problem here, he's the one behind the rules and he's the one trying to take out the violence in hockey all to sell it to americans. So it's not hockey that truly sucks, it's Garry Betmen who sucks and is making hockey suck.
6 months ago
I wouldn't give all credit to the Devils for creating the trap. There were many teams who played it, the Devil just played in the best.
The reason the neutral zone trap was so difficult to overcome was that two line passes were illegal. Players could not pass the puck through the zone, and thus the game needed to be opened up. Hooking had to be removed and players needed to be able to freely shoot the puck through the zone (like in the "long ball game" soccer example you cited). Removing the two line offside made the "long ball" possible, when before it wasn't.
I hate the shootouts, but I fully support the removal of the 2 line offside. In fact, European hockey never played with a red line.
The fact of the matter is, as a purist, I can understand your frustration, but hockey is NOT working in the United States. If it is going to surive (right now highschool football gets better TV ratings) then changes needed to be made to attract more viewers. Plain & simple.
Soccer has never appealed to Americans, and neither will 2-1 or 1-0 hockey games.
6 months ago
Jacques Lemaire created the offside trap, the Devils only perfected it.
Then you are dead wrong on whats wrong with hockey. The Devils playing a perfect ofside trap is no problem at all. Hockeys problems has a name: Gary Betteman. With the increase of NHL franchises during the current Betteman era, the overall talent has been divided in way too many teams.
Should the NHL still count around 21-24 teams instead of that whopping 30+ teams, the Devils trap as you describe it would be challenged by teams containing more talent. Then the location of the new teams cannot help the cause of hockey.
The Winnipeg Jets and the Quebec Nordiques for example, were adequate hockey markets and never shouldve left the league at first. Cities like Nashville,Columbus and Phoenix never shouldve had access to a NHL franchise ever.
Why did hockey lost some of its fun? The fault should be directed to Gary Betteman for his poor administration. Not to the offside trap.
I agree with you in some part when comes the time to consider the two work stoppages since Bettemans arrival. Sure.
One more reason. The referees. And once again the Betteman administration is in cause. Beteman allowed one more zebra on the ice and I am still looking for its usefullness at all. The quality of the refs job is at an all-time low as I am writing this. I cannot watch a single decently refereed hockey game anymore since at least 5 or 6 years. If the refs were to finally raise their judgement level to an adequate one, there would be a lot more action, a lot more discipline from the players and more goals scored.
Dont boo the trap, blame Betteman for destroying hockey.
6 months ago
Oh please, like the Devils were the only team playing the "trap". What about Detroit's "Left-wing lock"? Wait, it's Detroit, so it's ok. Or about any game when one team is up by a goal in the final minutes? You'll see the 1-2-2 with the team that's up playing defensively with something that looks like the trap. Nevermind, it's ok, it's not the Devils. Only the Devils are boring, not the 29 other teams in the league who play the same style.
6 months ago
Ok first off, I must admit that I am a die-hard Devils fan. Always have been, always will be. Now that I'm done with my disclaimer, on to my argument.
I must agree with some of your post and others comments. Bettman has ruined the game. The game has slowly been push to obscurity with respect to TV broadcast rights (especially with OLN, sorry, I mean "Versus" - like that made a difference). My experiences have shown that if I force (and yes I do mean force) someone to sit down and actually watch a game, they become fans. Maybe they're not the die hards like I am with season tickets, autographed jerseys, etc but they are still fans. Hockey just needs to be given a fair chance and people will like it. With respect to the drug/steroid abuse in sports, hockey is, by far, the cleanest major professional sport. I know a lot of people are becoming fed up with astericks on everything and when I tell them about hockey, they give it a shot. They simply want to see actual athletes competing, not biologically engineered monsters beating each other up.
My other comment is that I am fed up with hearing 1-0 and 2-1 games aren't exciting. If anyone watched the Devils-Flames game the other day, you would know that it was, by far, one of the most exciting games in a while. There were two top teams competing with the game going back and forth for a while. There were great plays and great saves. What did the score end up to be? 1-0 OT win for the Devils. THAT is the kind of game I want to see everytime I goto a game (ok maybe a 7-0 win over the Rangers or Flyers...). If non-fans want to see scores similar to a football game, that's not the kind of fans we should want. THAT would ruin the sport. Baseball has survived and even thrived under 1-0, 2-1, etc games, why can't hockey? Just give it a shot.
6 months ago
As an old school Oilers fan who was alive to have seen the dynasty(I'm 30), I personally never had anything against the Devils trap system. On the contrary, I love to see hockey executed to perfection using ANY system.
The fact is, a 1-0 game can be the most exciting, just for the tension released vis a vis "who scores the next goal". 8-5 games(unless it was the 80's Oilers LOL), tend to be sloppy and boring to the knowledgable fan.
What's REALLY killing hockey is 1- the 2 referee system that doesn't allow the single ref to control the game. it also adds another body on the ice. I thought the game was getting too big for the surface of the ice? So, they stick another guy on!?...Come on.
Also, this Bettman "lets suck up to the American market" retardation has got to go, unless hockey is going to get even worse. The best things in life are a joy unto themselves, not for pandering to hypothetical markets. That's how bad movies get made, btw. Hollywood idiot producers trying to second guess the market.
Finally, they have destroyed the old violence. Hockey in the good old days was like an eye for an eye, bench clearing brawls(btw Bettman everyone LOVES THEM), good fights, and no stupud instigator rule etc etc.
Okay. I tried to talk sense. ignore this former hard core fan NHL, and NHLPA, as you lose many thousands more like me every season.
6 months ago
I just want to clear one thing up...I am NOT opposed to the offside trap, nor do I blame the Devils in any way for why hockey blows right now. I am blaming the sport itself for being unable to adapt to a perfectly valid system, a system I would have employed myself as a coach given half a chance.
I think the deficiency lies in the sport of hockey. And I think the real question we need to ask is how could the sport be improved, without changing the rules of play, to allow for people to adapt their systems to changing times?
6 months ago
instead of looking at the sport of hockey, the reason no one watches on TV is the marketing of hockey, or lack there of. if the only way to judge the credibility of a sport is tv ratings, then we have gotten way off course. the actual sport of hockey has nothing to do with it.
6 months ago
anyone who hates the game of hockey because of its systematic play is not very intelligent. it is a good fast paced sport, that takes easily the most skilled athlete to play. anyone can pretend to play football, basketball or baseball, but try and pretend to skate and stick handle...good fricken luck!
6 months ago
It's not the trap that makes hockey blow. It's too many lame-assed teams in the sunbelt, many who should simply be dissolved for not having any appeal.
It's about the powers that be caring more about casual American fans than their traditional fans. It's a classic case of taking the current fans totally for granted.
Anyway, the trend is for hockey to shrink. There are new forms of sports emerging, stemming from MMA and the X-games. The joke on the NHL is simple: You have ignored your own fans to greedily grab a few cheap dollars. Now, your league is going to shrink, waste away, and eventually end up akin to roller derby. LOL
The hockey I remember best is when there were bloody fights, 1 referee, and 24 teams. 30 teams? Give me a break. Who even knows what half of the other teams are even doing anymore? is this what the NHL wants? Then good riddance.
6 months ago
Oilers fan from yesterday re-posting.
I remember in the 80's when they used to prattle on about how "Gretzky is too big to stay in Edmonton", before sending him packing to the Kings.
With mister former-but-still-able-to-pass-as-clean Wayne-o, the NHL was able to expand into several crappy markets.
Funny how these days you NEVER hear about Gretzky's Oilers days? It's freaking hilarious that he never won another cup without the Oilers.
My point being, the NHL, led by that Pee Wee Herman clone would rather pretend the Oilers days never happened, since it goes against their idiotic "we have to appeal to NASCAR fans" zeitgeist.
Come to think of it, that's THE point. The one time tradition laden NHL is nowdays nothing more than a junior high style "let's pretend hockey never existed until Gary Bettman arrived to save us" league. LOL
6 months ago
Francois is right... Bettman and the over expansion of the league is the problem. Not every team can have a star player because there's fewer to go around, and so many teams are in these awful hockey markets, such as Florida and Nashville where nobody will go see games thus leaving the team with no money to sign good players (the cap has helped that problem, but not solved it)... its a vicious cycle.
6 months ago
Blame Gary Bettman all you want for the problems in the NHL has. But you hockeypucks obviously miss the point.
The real reason why the game and the NHL sucks is because no other sports league embraces the mindless outlaw nature of violence more than hockey. It is the only sport where fighting (which is against the rule book, and you can look it up) is not only tolerated but rewarded. The pinhead Don Cherry uses his bully pulpit on Saturday nights to promote the goon element of the game while virtualy ignoring the the talents of Sidney Crosby. The sports networks here in Canada make it an effort to highlight all the hockey fights that are on display but not all the goals scored. Seriously, do sports networks in America highlight personal fouls in football or flagrent technicals in basketball the way hockey fights are presented in Canada?
No wonder the sport is such a joke outside of Canada (and it's not just the United States that feels that way either). Who's going to take it seriously when they promote sideshow antics like that.
So blame the problems of the league on expanding to Sun Belt markets all you idiots want. But a sport that fails to combat this unnecessary part of the game will die a slow death.
And if you don't think there's a problem with it, then I suggest you're part of the problem!
6 months ago
Contrary to popular belief low scoring games ARE more exciting. Instead of watching Calgary beat Tampa 9-6 (I could have swore I was watching an NBA game!) a much more fun game to watch is a 3-2 battle where a goal actually means something. Watching 10 goals scored a game takes away the excitement because a goal means less.
It really drives me crazy how defense is scorned upon in hockey and only hockey. When in football and other sports it is praised!
And as for the trap being in New Jersey since Brent Sutter has taken over for the Devils they have really changed their system. Much, much more aggressive forechecking and puck control. If you want to call it a trap it’s at the very least a different trap.
The ratings for the NHL went down for a number of reasons. One reason is the NHL snubbed ESPN and decided to go with Versus. Not too many people even have a clue what Versus is in comparison to ESPN. Also, I know when I hear someone talk about the channel NBC hockey is not what I think of. Another reason no doubt is the lock out.
The trapezoid is a joke. It's completely contrary to what it's purpose was intended. (To prevent goalies like Broduer going to the corner to move the puck up the ice and possibly create some offense).
We can only hope for the sake of Hockey Gary Bettman will quit trying to change it. Because the more you change hockey the less legit it becomes.
4 months ago
Make the scoring system exactly the same as in soccer:
3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw.
If tied after 3 periods, play one more only. If still tied, that's the final result.
The present system was put in place as an attempt to reward the less successful teams.
The hell with that - let 'em get better or get better players.
3 months ago
Excellent use of the ire-inducing headline tactic. Got me to read it.
I think the game has been far more exciting to watch the last few years, but maybe I'm in the minority here. I think the real problem for hockey is not that it's boring--it's anything but--but rather, that it doesn't translate well to television. And it probably never will. It is definitely FAR better live. But the bulk of the sports that make mad money do so through TV revenue.
3 months ago
Excellent use of the ire-inducing headline tactic. Got me to read it.
I think the game has been far more exciting to watch the last few years, but maybe I'm in the minority here. I think the real problem for hockey is not that it's boring--it's anything but--but rather, that it doesn't translate well to television. And it probably never will. It is definitely FAR better live. But the bulk of the sports that make mad money do so through TV revenue.
3 months ago
Excellent article. While I still don't think 'hockey sucks' you're right in that the league has become, at times, a boring game of copy-cat.
When's the last time anyone saw a team use a 3-man forecheck? Something that existed since the inception of the NHL.
What bothers me even more is when certain defensive-minded coaches are heralded for their 'genius'. What's so ingenious about implementing a system where 4 of your skaters aren't allowed over the redline unless you're on a powerplay?
I just hope that the trend of hiring aggressive and liberal thinking coaches like Bruce Boudreau continue. Or maybe the key is to ban all French coaches. ;) (joking of course).
In the end, it's money that's hurting hockey. Owners want playoff revenue and coaches want jobs. And it's far easier to teach defense than offense.
I'm 100% certain that if the league had a TV deal which payed all the players salaries, and guaranteed a surplus in revenue for teams regardless if they made the playoffs, you'd see a different brand of hockey.
Anyway, I enjoyed the article. Thanks!
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