Creating Controversy: Reducing NHL Roster Sizes

Lately, teams have been looking for players that will protect their more skilled ones.

Teams such as Montreal (Georges Laraque), Toronto (Ryan Hollweg), and Ottawa (Jarkko Ruutu) all went out to get a tough guy, to protect their more skilled players. However, lately it has appeared as though the game of hockey has almost become a little to fierce.

With all the discussion about hitting from behind, hits to the head, fighting, and more in the NHL, no one has done anything yet. And obviously we cannot just sit here and watch hit, after hit, after hit, going to the head, or coming from behind.

If only there was a way to decrease the chance of someone getting hurt in a fight, getting hit in the head, or worse, getting hit from behind.

While I was watching the Leafs' game on January 16th, an idea that seemed pretty controversial was brought to my attention: reducing the size of an NHL roster.

Of course, if you were to reduce the size of an NHL roster, the fourth line would no longer exist.

The fourth line is where most of the so called "goons" or "tough guys" play. You know, the guys that go out onto the ice and stir things up a little, by getting in a fight or laying out a big hit.

So with the desertion of the fourth line, we might no longer see those tough guys. This means that the chance of someone getting badly hurt could go down. However, the NHL would still be taking a risk.

If most of your players are skilled players - and you only have three lines - than the level of competition should increase, because the players will try even harder to crack a team's roster.

If the level of competition goes up, then the level of anger and tension will also go up. This means that those skilled players could become tough guys, because they will become used to fighting.

Hence, reducing the amount of players that an NHL team is allowed to have on their roster, has the to potential to make the game even more violent. In contrast, it also has the potential to make the game more safe.

Yes, fighting is a part of the game. Yes, hitting is a part of the game, and yes, if you take certain parts of hitting out of the game, then hockey might become a bit more boring to watch.

However, we all know that Gary Bettman needs to do something before anyone else dies.