This is the start of something great ...Mathews just gets better every year he has perfected the off the post goal making it very hard to defend the net since even covering the whole net doesn't help you against his shot ...do a top 20-50-100 of his off the post goals . I was watching a replay of a bunch of his goals the other day and the kid is just amazing how he doesn't even actually need open net to score an open post or crossbar is just as good for him and he can put more on the puck aiming for the post and really get a great bounce and at worst it pops out in front and the goalie is down and out of the play .
Um. Why talk about the trap when it's statistically irrelevant? New Jersey won the cup. in the 90's. you mention 1982 as a year when comparing Autin Matthews. ok. But you also mention the New Jersey Devils, and Mario Lemieux, Lemieux wasn't playing in 1982. And the New Jersey Devils? They were the Colorado Rockies until May of 1982. They didn't win the cup until 1995. After a 48 game season. Which isn't statistically significant like the Detroit Red Wings were in the 90's The Trap Worked!!! For 48 games, but not 82 games. Now, let's look at Austin Mathews. Who is playing very well! After COVID... And COVID AGAIN! Must be fun for Austin now, no one's talking about his bout with COVID! in 2020 And his other bout with COVID!!! January 2022. Maybe he's scoring because he's able to travel between games, instead of being cooped up in Toronto, or Edmonton like in seasons past. Maybe scoring is up because COVID limitations are down! maybe next year the limitations will be back on, lowering the scoring. Must be the Trap is back in fashion, or maybe it's the pretzels! th-cam.com/video/Qqwf0uvkXrE/w-d-xo.html
Start because players like mcdavid Matthews huberdeau and high offensive players are scoring. Their will be more points, Also many teams like the ducks have sensational young star players like terry,zegras,drysdale who I see dominating the league with everyone. In the next couple years more great talent is on the way like Shane Wright, Connor bedard. So in the the next 3-4 years I100% see a start in offensive production SURGE as the years go by
I think this just further demonstrates the greatness of Ovechkin. To do what he was doing when there wasn’t an offensive boom like in the 80s or today is incredible. Greatest goal scorer ever by far.
Unfortunately, Ovechkin's legacy has been tarnished by his friendship with Putin. It's hard to celebrate a player's skill when they're connected with a dictator who is responsible for so much death and destruction.
@@maplebrook1955 oh stop it you snowflake. Imagine you’re in his shoes with your family over there. If you speak out against him, they would all be dead.
Actually not true if we're basing it one single season. Matthews is currently further ahead of the #2 in goals per game than Ovechkin was in his 65 goal season and star players back then scored a larger percentage of the overall goal totals because of stacked powerplay time and worse 3rd and 4th lines, but it's still very close.
@@funtimes8296 doesn't seem that way. back then when Ovi was playing there would be 1, maybe 2, 50 goal scorers. this year there may be 4 if Ovi can score 4 in the last 9 games. also how many players were getting 100 points back then? you may be right about the star players scoring a larger % of the goals, but there are many more goals being scored now.
@@peterbrown1435 You misunderstand me so I'll explain further. I'm not saying the top scorers don't score more today, I'm saying the differences are exaggerated in the overall scoring levels. Plus Ovechkin himself had 5:37 on the powerplay per game and Matthews has 3:03 this season which is still a minute behind Draisaitl, McDavid and a minute and a half behind Ovechkin today and it's clearly easier to score on the powerplay. Besides that all you have to do is look at the goals per game Matthes has over the #2 and the rest of the top scorers, it's basically the same as Ovechkin's. The season is not done though so let's see how it plays out.
50 in 50 only counts when its the start of a season. The whole point of 50 in 50 being so hard is that its measured by games 1 thru 50 not just any 50 out of 82. The last person to do it was Hull in 90
I love the high-scoring games, but theres also more impressing goalie-controlled games than before. A great example was the Boston-Tampa game a couple days ago, a 2-1 OT win for BOS where both teams had a combined 66 shots on net (.966 sv% for ullmark, .946 sv% for Vasy). I think what is best for the game is not high goal totals, but a high number of scoring chances. watching a team score on every other breakaway isn't as impressive as having consistent zone pressure, with 3-4 chances before finally finding the back of the net. It may not look as pretty on a score sheet, but as a fan watching there is a lot more tension when teams have great goaltending as well as offensive capability
Absolutely. It’s boring and predictable when it’s high scoring. I love when you have no idea who’s gonna win, and every time either team enters the zone, there’s a chance to put the game away. It puts you on your toes. Another perfect example is the avalanche vs Edmonton game that happened on Saturday. 2-1 avs. Keumper had 49 saves. The whole game was insane. Koskinen had 34. The shootout was intense. And it makes the payoff of who ever does inevitably scores even better.
Exactly. Scoring chances are what makes for excitement, not necessarily lots of goals. It's when there are minimal scoring chances (hello late 90's hockey) that it gets dull.
Well, they had Stevens and Scott N (can't remember how to spell his last name) back there, 2 incredible Hall of Fame D men, and Hall of Fame Goalie that's in the top 5 of all time, and the best passing goalie ever. So, ya, they did.
Stevens was also allowed to basically kill talented players. Now that skilled players aren't being injured as much, you're seeing more coming into the league.
There's something to be said for that, but goaltending has also transformed DRAMATICALLY during the same time period. I was a college hockey goalie not all that long ago (ending in 2012) and the way goalies played in my era was completely different to the way goalies play now, with the reverse VH being the most obvious example.
It wasn't just the trap, it was league expansion that diluted the hockey talent pool and destroyed team depth which caused a switch to defensive hockey because teams couldn't support full tilt offense anymore. 1999 was a big expansion year that killed the NHL's talent. This in combination with aging talent that no longer produced like before. It's why we have so many high scoring teams again, the older talent is concentrating with the newer talent just like the late 80's and early to mid 90's. What will happen is the aging talent in a few years will begin to taper off and if the league expands some more this will cause the repeat into defensive hockey.
I actually agree with this stance. Never heard anybody put it like that. The only problem with this theory is that it assumes nobody's coming up from juniors every year that's as good as the "aging talent".. which, every year there's probably a handful of kids from the juniors that are better than current NHL players. Although they may not be "superstars", every year there's so much talent coming up. I understand that guidance from aging talent is what makes these guys superstars. They understand the game on a totally different level
I tend to disagree. I would say the talent pool increased as the share of Canadian players went from 70ish percent in the early 90s to barely a majority and were replaced largely by Russians and Czechs. I would argue that some of the biggest leaps in scoring came when the talent pool decreased: early 40s (many stars left to fight in WW2) and 70s-early 80s (massive expansion and the WHA)
@@chadrussell9309 My thought too Chad. The Gretzky-era scoring increase has always been attributed to the saturated talent pool when they combined with the WHA. And considering that the 90s expansion came along with a massive influx of star European players to the NHL... I would think the talent pool wasn't diluted nearly as much as it was during the WHA merger.
The Cap had not been Implemented yet. So though the pool Was deeper that factor was rendered irrelevant Until The Salary Cap era. Pre Cap you could Buy all the best players and put them on one team.
Theres one crucial aspect you left out from the devils and their trap use and dominance. That was also the "clutch and grab" era where players could hug a player and hold him without getting a penalty. The game was an absolute crawl. Once they stopped the clutch and grab, along with the other rule changes, offense was allowed to take over again. And we also can't leave out that in that era players still used wooden sticks or very early composite shafts, the tech now makes shooters much more deadly
Agreed. In 2017 there were too many players injured with the slashes. Rules change and then a huge increase in goals immediately at the beginning of the following season.
The "ideal" NHL game for a neutral observer has a 1 or 2 goal margin of victory by the winner and 10 to 15 shots per period by each team. A final score of 2-1, 3-1, 4-2 or even 6-4, 7-5 with 45 shots by the winner, 30 shots by the loser looks like a pretty good game all around without "garbage time" in the third period.
Aside from Matthew's, watching the Panthers come back from multiple 3rd period mutliple goal deficits of 6-2, 5-1, and 3-0 in the SPAN OF A WEEK against the Devils (won 7-6), Leafs(won 6-5) and (I forget the last one) was something I hadn't seen in a LONG time. Goal scoring is definitely on the way up when my beloved Devils manage post a 7 goal night multiple times this year, I want to say 4 times, May only be 3.
No offense at all.. But that’s the kind of stuff that made me start questioning all of pro sports, and one of the reasons I quit watching a couple years back. ( the leagues forcing puss puss liberal politics down my throat was also a huge reason) But it always just seems like when they need it most, an amazing headline story just starts developing… Or the team that’s almost bankrupt the previous year, amazingly wins the first pick of the draft, etc, etc… But, when the nhl killed the awesome VIOLENT, shit talking, rivalries, like 2013 flyers/penguins for instance, in favor of less physicality/fights, smaller players, and the obvious gimmicks… Not to mention letting up on brutal hits along the wall??!!! (That eats me alive) it was the beginning of the end for lots of die hard hockey fans.
Gretzky’s slapshot is criminally underrated to this day. It didn’t have a ton of velocity, but it was so accurate and very unpredictable. Gretzky really was a unicorn player.
Showing all of the McDavid goals as though they were part of the past, framing that Matthews is THE reason behind the current goal explosion, and not showing Draisaitl even once is pretty silly.
I'm nowhere near a leafs or Matthews fan but it's sad to see some try to downplay what he's doing. 50 in 50 is what it is when it happens shouldn't matter as long as it's in the same season.stay salty my friends🤣🤣
@@brendo6897 nope. That's not how it works and that's not how it's ever worked. We aren't changing established decades long norms just to make LesfsNation feel all warm and fuzzy. If he didn't score 50 in 51 starting at Game 1 then it's not relevant. You don't hear Oilers fans talking about McDavids 150 points in 82 do you? No you don't because it happened over 2 seasons. But by your logic....hey, McDavid scored 150 points in a season
Notice that the decline in the NHL directly corresponds with Gary Bettman's hiring as NHL Commissioner in 1993 . He has NO IDEA how hockey is supposed to be played yet he made rule changes that hampered scoring and the entertainment value of the game. Think about it . Wayne Gretzky scored 215 points with the old rules in place. So why the hell would you change the rules to increase scoring ? You wouldn't unless you were trying to change the sport . The only reason that Bettman got the job as the NHL Commissioner is that he was marketing director for the NBA when Jordon, Pippin, Bird , Magic and a host of other starts too numerous to name were in their primes . An ashtray could have made money for the league as Marketing Director during that time . He had NOTHING to do with the NBA's success , it was ALL the players . Because of that the brain trust of the NHL thought he could help them become even more successful than they were . WRONG ! In two short years , because of his stupid rule changes and the reduced scoring and excitement that it produced caused viewership to plummet and the Stanley Cup Champions at the time the New Jersey Devils couldn't fill their arena ! Pathetic ! During that time this jackass managed to cancel the NHL season and the Stanley Cup Playoffs and lose their primary TV contract with ESPN and almost put them out of business . Yet he kept his job ! On top of that NHL viewership is down 22% in the last two years and hockey participation in CANADA of all places is down ! The foundation of this great sport is in serious trouble and Gary Bettman is to blame .
Bro in 1979 Mike Bossy set the record for the fastest NHL player to 100 goals, hitting the 100 mark in his 129th game. This isn't anything new, the game was very physical back then too.
@@scottthompson3493 you say goalies were trash but did you even watch this video. It talks about how defensive strategies were invented to deal with this. If there's barely any defense in front of the net the goalies are going to have a hard time keeping pucks out. Think about a game where your defense is out to lunch and your goalie is getting hammered. Very easy to see high scoring games when that happens even today. I wouldn't say the goalies were trash back then I would say defense was trash back then.
Playoffs are a different animal. The teams that go deep stifle high scoring offenses. I’m looking at all of the clubs right now sub 200 goals against, it’s an elite field: Carolina, NYR, Boston, Calgary and Colorado. These are teams you will have to claw and dig every goal from where nothing will come easy and games will be 0-1, 2-1 and 3-2 in the postseason. Then there’s Florida which allows many goals but just out scores all of their defensive issues. But they have had so many come from behind victories and I just don’t see that being a viable game plan come May.
If you're counting points per player, don't forget how the extra TV timeouts allows top lines to return to the ice more quickly. In the Gretzky era, I don't recall any TV timeouts. Now we have more than ever, and during those precious minutes the top players get to rest, then get right back on. It creates a greater imbalance in ice time between the checking lines and the top lines, with point totals that reflect it.
I think the real difference in the 21-22 season that increases goal production is the introduction of the Seattle Kraken. The NHL foresaw this issue, and made sure to add a team this year.
No, they are the very short-term blip. Much like the boom that saw Teemu Selanne be a rookie scoring machine the year of two brutal expansion drafts for the two expansion teams. You give em a brutal expansion draft, scoring has to go up. This time GMs wised up after the Vegas expansion draft disaster and didn't over-rate all of their assets for the draft, with all that stupid protectionism. GMs still get to draft and replace players you lose in the draft, no need to worry so much.
Parity is a bad as its been since pre cap, the eastern playoff teams were set months before the season ended. Tampa and Colorado were destined for the finals barring injury. Wings were historically bad defensively and somehow only finished 8th worst in the league. So many teams padded statlines against us.
The difference is back then there was hooking, grabbing, interference, the refs let them play like that, today it's be a penalty every 2 minutes, my ch different back then, now guys are flying around in the slot getting prime scoring chances, back then you'd have someone in your face, way more body contact back in that era .
@Poop Jones Lol not just boomers I am nowhere near a boomers age and any time I watch modern hockey it puts me to sleep faster then any sleeping pill can. They absolutely call more penalties today and not only that but a lot more suspensions as well. I mean you can't even make an open ice hit without getting at least a minor anymore. Being a goal scorer was a lot harder back in the day because not only did the NHL allow clutching and grabbing but also they has to score knowing full well that the other team was going to hit them and back then they hit too hurt. Now a days star players know for the most part they aren't going to get hit or at least not like how they did back in the days so they are a lot braver because of that.
In my opinion, there is a developing need for one position/role - the shutdown center. As star players seemingly get more dominant, teams will want someone to have someone essentially stay locked on that player, similar to what Kesler did to McDavid in the playoffs.
As someone who lives in AZ, it is still hard for me to believe a kid who grew up playing ice hockey around here is one of the most dominant players in the league.
@@rustyjohn1327 eh he has 925 Igor has a 935 and the same gaa and wins Freddie has to get like 4 shutouts in a row to catch up in save % I think but could happen
Also Freddie's playing behind imo the best defensive system in the league. Maybe the islanders or stars have better systems but don't have the players to execute them.
See right now in hockey, there is some great stuff going on. Amazing goalies, phenomenal forwards, crazy offensive defensemen. Great years to be a hockey fan.
Love when goalies dominate, and alternatively when players do. Offers variety and puts you on your toes. Lower scoring games improves payoff of whoever does score even better. Avs vs oilers game was a great example. 49 saves for keumper and 34 for koskinen.
You might not have been alive in the 80s so I can forgive you for saying that Brodeur was the greatest puck handling goaltender of all time, which is completely wrong. The man who revolutionized hockey for stick handling goaltenders was Ron Hextall. He was the guy Brodeur was copying and he has said it himself. There's no comparison. RON HEXTALL was the 1st and the original puck-handling, goal-scoring goalie and he was the greatest of all time at it. Just for that alone he should have been in the HOF, but because of his reputation, and politics, they won't vote him in which is ridiculous.
Absolutely agree, and I loved Brodeur. But they need to take the trapezoid out -- life was more-exciting watching goalies leave the net and mishandle pucks. You also got fewer defensemen leaving the game with concussions.
It’s evolving the sport. This era will have a ton of goals, then teams will find strategies to shut down scoring and then the cycle will happen again. You can’t stop it whether that’s for good or bad
The problem with the NHL today is the goaltenders. An entire generation has grown up being taught that the "butterfly" style is the ONLY way to play goal. To overcome the style's weaknesses, goaltending equipment has evolved to support only that style. You now have leg pads that have edges that go flat along the ice to cover the 5-hole, gigantic body padding that looks like a padded fat suit to cover up as much of the space in the net as possible, without actually doing anything. Goaltenders are now just "one trick ponies" that just bounce up and down on every shot. The skills used in goaltending for decades are now gone as they just slide back and forth across the goal line hoping the puck will hit their ridiculous huge padded bodies and arms. Gone is the mobility, the stick skills, controlling rebounds. Some goaltenders were mobile enough to be called their teams "third defenseman." No more. Goaltenders today are just backstops that pucks bounce off of. They have NO idea where the puck is going once it hits them. The defenseman's job has completely changed as they have the responsibility to clear everything that bounces off the now helpless goaltender. Nothing funnier in the game today than seeing a helpless goaltender trying to go side to side, ending up on his belly, flailing a leg out, praying the shooter won't lift the puck more than a foot off the ice because the net is now WIDE open. If the player is dumb enough to shoot low and hit the goalie's leg, the announcers scream about what "a great save that was." What a joke. The game has gotten faster, the players much more skilled and fun to watch. The goaltenders have gone in the opposite direction. Skills have eroded away, replaced by gigantic padded bodies, who just bounce up and down on every shot, no matter where it's coming from or how high or low it is. Players are finally, FINALLY, after YEARS, shooting the puck up high, an area that is open all the time. It's making goaltenders look like the fools that they have become.
@@davidmenard2680 You have bigger goalies because they can wear BIGGER body padding, plugging up more of the net. No skill involved anymore, just a league full of table hockey goalies that just go back and forth letting pucks bounce off of them. Look at box lacrosse goaltenders to see what the NHL goaltenders are trying to evolve into, wearing padding that's the same size as the net.
Amazing how the Devils get blamed for the trap and "ruining" hockey, when Montreal won 24 cups with the same strategy... The "dead puck era" happened to coincide with two other developments: rapid expansion (thinner talent pool) and free agency (inability to maintain dynasties).
This is complete and utter bs...this is someone who only has knowledge of the Habs' 1986 and 1993 cups. The Canadiens have had some of the most offensively explosive teams of multiple eras. (hello late 70's and late 50's, amongst others) Besides, it's just a ridiculous statement in general. The Habs have had some very smart coaches over the years, and smart coaches know to play to their teams' strengths personnel-wise, so just like most any successful franchise, their style of play has shifted based on their rosters. This silly comment is just uninformed hate for the sake of hate. I'm not even a Habs fan, and this is blatantly obvious 😅
Been playing and watching hockey for 50 years, Son. They tell me my first words were "Rod Gilbert". As a Rangers fan, it was obvious the Devils were the better team in '94. They (Rangers) got lucky. But just for perspective: Lemaire, Robinson, and Bowman = Trap, or "left wing lock", if you prefer. Most-successful coaches of the 90's, early-00's. A delayed forecheck and clogging the middle (a "trap") ain't exactly a novel strategy. Montreal pedigree. All teams trapped in the 90's: they had to because free agency and rapid expansion diluted the talent pool and made it impossible to keep Murderer's Row-teams together for more than a few years. Devs, Wings and Pens all trapped in the 90's (all multiple cup winners, Bowman coached two of them, IIRC). Expansion teams trapped for lack of any better alternative. Trapping comes back with every playoff season: everyone does it, still (even the removal of the red line didn't help: teams will still play 1-1-3 and clog the middle). There was no "dead puck era" -- there was defensive hockey and great goaltending in those days -- Brodeur, Hasek, Roy, Osgood, Vernon, just to named a few. There is no "hate", just an expression of objective fact
It's lazy analysis that blames the Devils. Hack sport writers used to be the only way most fans interacted with most teams. All hockey was defense-oriented in the 90's. You are spot on in what you've said here (save maybe for the bit about the habs as I'm not old enough to have seen those teams so I'm not able to agree or disagree). But people act like the Devils invented defense. The Scotty Bowman left-wing-lock Redwings were not necessarily fun to watch either, people forget, and the whole league was clutch and grab. When Mario Lemieux complained about being hooked and held and slashed he didn't name the Devils - it was a league-wide thing. The Devils just happened to be better at late 90's early 2000's NHL hockey than most teams. It's like being mad at the 80's Oilers for being better at offense than others. "The-Devils-Ruined-Hockey!" crowd ain't going nowhere, though. Content creators today are too young to have seen them and the journalists of the day had more in common with Steve Simmons than they do an honest person with no allegiance to dark forces. History, innit?
@@Paul-gk2he Yep. Definitely a generational gap. Bossy would probably score 60 a year in today's NHL, and Mario 70 or more, routinely. They were that good. The rest of the pack would have been very far behind, but still considered "very good" by today's standards. You also didn't routinely see 6' 3" goaltenders who go down and still cover half the net as the style back then was stand-up goaltending (at one time it was against the rules for a goaltender to go to the ice on purpose!), and it didn't help that the equipment goalies wore back in the day was crap compared to today's stuff.
2:20 the drop off really started in 1992. It would be nice to see a graph of square inches for goalie pads laid over the GPG graph. IMO, the insanely big goalie pads are solely responsible for a combined 3-4 saves per game. When you compare them to pads from the early 80's, it's easy to see the HUGE advantage goalies have today.
Goalie pads were quite big in the 80's / 90's. They were just worn really tight and opted to oversize in the width, not the height .. I think Richter's pads were something like 14" wide at one point. But goalies were also universally smaller as you had guys that were 5'8 in the league. Compare that era average height to now, basically have to be at minimum 6' + to get a look these days. It wasn't just one major thing, it was a series of things that bled together at the right time to reduce scoring: - Goalies got bigger, bigger goalies needed bigger equipment (and then they started to add cheaters to bulk out, pants and chest/arms got huge size increases). - Goaltending technique shifted from standup/reactionary to primarily be butterfly style. - Goaltending equipment got more advanced and stopped using heavy materials (horse hair, etc.) and started using foams, along with more advanced designs which were styled to control rebounds, speed movement, and cut space / fill gaps (maximize coverage and movement in the butterfly). And then throw in the trap style to cut down on high chance scoring opportunities as well as D-men being absolutely able to murder you in the proximity of the net, and you get the dead puck low scoring era. You might also contribute the increase in size of player shoulder protection as well, which allowed big D guys to crush skilled players without worrying about self preservation (something you did have to worry about when your pads were super thin).
@@kylek29 Richter played in the 90's, which proves my point. Compare his pads to Billy Smith in '81. The NHL used to have a more restrictive pad size rule. Do an image search on a goalie in early 80's gear. Then the 90's, then today. The size of the goalies doesn't explain that much width and length increase. The 5 hole has been cut in half by the big groin extensions, and the width make sealing to the ice much easier.
@@That90sShow in 2003-2004, the NHL changed rule 11 to limit the size of leg protection, which began to grow in the late 80's. No coincidence scoring then went up. But in the 90's the gear hard grown so much, it is still proportionally much larger than it was in the 80's. No matter the size of the goalie, the gear covers a larger area of, and beyond, the legs than in the 80's.
High scoring actually makes the game shittier. The dead puck era was a lot more fun than the '80s were. Who wants to see a game where the end score is 10-7? That's not hockey, that's waterpolo.
Your missing too many variables thru the eras like bigger goalies, bigger defenseman and taking heads off!! There’s so much more including rule changes. This year scoring is wayyy up for sure the defenses are mostly to blame. Flyers and Canadiens are tanking , covid and mass injuries like la kings defense etc etc. ,,, too much stuff to list
gretzky lead the league in goals by 28 goals in 1982, matthews leads it by 4 this year... please dont say that your make believe ''era adjusted'' stats would put matthews on pace for 92, it's laughable and predictable from a gen z.
While the Devils get most of the blame for the trap, I think what really put it over the top was when the Florida Panthers went to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1996 by playing a purely defensive trap game. While the Devils were a recognized good team that had been a contender for several years, teams seeing a third year expansion team with pretty mediocre talent manage to get all the way to a cup final by playing a trap, it convinced every mediocre team in the league that "we got to do this". It reached its peak the year the Anaheim Ducks made it to the finals vs. the Devils. The Devils in those years had a good scoring team, but Florida & Anaheim were completely one-dimensional, relying on the trap and good goaltending to get by.
Huh? You see how the Panthers D played against the legion of doom? Shut them down behind the net, and in the corners. Got the puck out of the defensive zone. No trap needed. You see what they did to Pittsburgh? I understand the trap, but where did you get all of that?
@@simonreilly213 they were a 94 point team, 8th in the NHL, cause of the "trap". How bout grinding, balanced scoring, and good D, dump and chase, and they were on a hot streak. tHe tRaP. That crap was already solved after Lou. Quit regurgitating
@@simonreilly213 they beat Pitt cause of the trap? It more that Johnston was a crap coach, and Florida 100 percent outplayed and worked them? You just upchuck whatever you see someone else saying online.
The NHL should be more concerned about injuries than this. For starters Mike Bossy missed scoring 50 goals a year for 10 years due to injury. One of his greatest regrets. Today we miss guys like Price, Kucherov who played just 46 games, Batherson who played 46 games due to injury, J. Benn who is not at his best anymore due to injury, Kesler who had to retire,... Actions that cause those injuries should be dealt with via more majors and or suspensions.
I absolutely agree although I think it was more so a lack of decent gear and training that made them “awful”. There was more than a few ways to play as an offense man or defense man, but there was only really one way to play goalie and it was to strap on some big heavy pads and stand up and move slowly. Now you have pads lighter than a feather and multiple styles, the big two being butterfly or hybrid. Goalies are much faster now and you’re not scoring those low on the ice shots anymore like they were in the 80’s. But I agree the change in how goaltenders play is largely at fault for the change in goals scored per game I think.
The equipment changed. Look at the size of the pads in the 80s. On top of that, butterfly was impossible due to the material their pads were made of. They’d absorb the water and get so heavy you couldn’t move. You could take the best goalie in the league today and give him 80s pads and I guarantee he’d look pretty much like they did.
Ovechkin deserves credit for single handedly Making Goals Great Again. Remember how the NHL purists used to shit on Ovi for the excitement and joy he would show when celebrating a goal? He made it OK for these younger offensive studs like Matthews to say "I'm here to score goals, it's what I do, and everything else is secondary to me" If Ovi or Matthews played in the 80's/90's they'd probably average 75 goals for their entire careers.
Also have to consider that the trap-heavy era was aided by the major style shift of goaltenders (butterfly). Back then, shot accuracy and power was lower so it wasn't as hard for those goaltenders to dominate if they got square and dropped. Nowadays, aided by the stick tech and better skills, players are far more likely to be able to beat a goalie with a razor-thin margin shot. I'm sure the game will continue in cycles, but I don't think the cycle will be as drastic as the 80's to 90's shift simply because I can't fathom that much efficiency in technique being picked up over such a short period of time.
Stick tech, goalie playing style and defensive focus all changed this. 100% a pro from the 60s would not do as well today. They'd make an impact but a 50-60 goal scorer would likely halve their production.
Stick tech!!! Baseball still not allowing aluminum or fibre bats. Would alter the game, stats and might mortally injure a few pitchers. Hockey seems to have no limitations on stick strength. The goalies are padded up but I would hate to be a shot-blocking D-man. If you've been hit in an low-padded or unpadded area that extra 5-10 mph shot speed is huge.
I thought the "CONCERNED" part of the title was going to address the TV rating problem. Because even though scoring has increased, it hasn't translated into TV ratings. And the NHL should be genuinely concerned
i have a feeling the tv rating are affected more by shitty cable provider, this drives more and more people to stream games instead often illegallly since the legal one sucks just as much as paid cable and cost a fortune.
Here’s a question for y’all. I genuinely enjoy watching hockey but it is literally never on tv where I’m at like almost never until playoffs come which is the only time I get to watch. What in the hell do I need to do to watch some hurricanes haha
You missed the expansion that brought us from 21 to 30 teams during the dead puck era. A lot of teams had no offensive power, so they HAD to play the trap to remain competitive in the standings. The game is in a great place right now, and I don't think we'll see a swing like we did in the 90s.
I think fewer goals are better. The games seem more competitive this way. I think the advancements in goalie gear technology and goalie training as a whole has gotten ridiculously good. Back in the 80’s it was (arguably) way easier to score in general because goaltenders really only had the stand-up style of play with rounded pads and slow movements. You could deke and shoot it along the ice and score fairly easily. However with the advancements in lighter gear that essentially seals the ice completely in the butterfly, goaltenders are much, much faster and play more butterfly or hybrid style. This means you’re only really scoring on rebounds or one timers where the net is essentially empty and the goalie has to make a desperation save, or snipes where the goalie can’t see it. Yeah you can still score off a deke but it’s happening less and less often. Star players are stars for reasons other than how many goals they can score and I think that’s good. Now it’s less about how many shots you take and more about where you’re taking your shots from.
@@drew_peabawls13 and everything I stated is why they would. If the players from the 80’s were (in their peak) playing against today’s goalies with today’s gear, they wouldn’t be the best, they’d be pretty mediocre.
Here we go again. Telling us what we should be concerned about. Numbers crunchers slicing and dicing the game down to percentages. Can't you just watch a game and enjoy it? Or do you have to compare it to a game played twenty years ago to draw some king of pattern from it. Guess what? The game my grandfather played was different from the game my dad played. And so it goes for Me and my son. Everything evolves, or at least it should. The same applies to hockey. The sky is not falling, the British aren't coming and hockey is alive and well.
Since Europeans began taking over the NHL, the game began changing for the better. More goals, more talented players, more speed, higher skilled players and more speed. The game today is just insane, so much talent it's stupid. Gretzky is Gretzky, but the level of competition was a joke when compared to modern NHL.
I don't realistically see this happening unfortunately. By all means, I would love a massive upshot in scoring but if we examine the underlying trends causing this uptick, there is a more logical reason for it. Through 2018-202 we would see many top tier goalies retire or leave the league in some form. This created a talent vacuum with many of the non-contending teams ending up with mediocre to straight up terrible goal tending tandems. Sure players are beginning to adapt to goalie tactics, but that doesn't fully account for this huge explosion of offense. Just take a look at some of these rosters, there aren't more than 5-6 tope tier goalies that you can name. sure there's absolute beats like Shesterkin, Saros, and Anderson but if you continue down that list you will see a severe drop in talent. I mostly attribute the increased offensive numbers to the numerous poor performances by low level teams, such as Detroit's 10-7 loss to Toronto. Eventually the goalie talent pool will swell again and we will see more complete teams defensively-speaking. I don't think the numbers will crater back to the early 2000's levels, but enough to show that this year really was bit of a statistical fluke.
I think some of the really young goalies being able to play NHL games and showing that we don't necessarily need a bunch of AHL experience before going to the NHL will help. Otteinger in Dallas is doing a hell of a job between the pipes for someone so young. There are a few others. Experience will always help, but NHL experience vs. AHL at a younger age may be a game changer. Who knows.
@@jasondebbo6697 in 2022 the first 22 players who have empty netters account for 98 EN goals and the season ain't over. In1994 the first 22 players who had empty netters only accounted for 51 for a total season. Sounds like more than double to me....
Yeah Huberdeau is having a great season and the panthers are coming back after brobrobsky playing at his worse 2 years ago. They are on top the league and I see the panthers going on and making it big in the playoffs. #BringontheRatshower
I don’t think more goals is something people want. At least there shouldn’t be any rule changes to facilitate that. There’s more skills than just scoring vital to hockey.
i disagree massively lol im a diehard fan and i love seeing this level of production. Although i do think ur completely right that they shouldn't start making stupid changes to make scoring easier than it is now
Nothing better than a 2-1 or 3-2 game with good goaltending and few penalties. Every shift could produce a potential game winning goal, no matter which period.
The NHL is a shit show that has never learned any lessons. Case in point: everyone seems to forget Jaromír Jágr’s “lost season” of 1999-2000 and the media has no interest in reminding them. At the end of Dec 1999 Jaromír was on pace to score 70-80+ goals, rack up 170-180+ points and finish 40+ points ahead of the entire rest of the league in the scoring race. And this was at the height of the Dead Puck Era, with NO Mario OR Ron Francis on that team. As coaches throughout the league were saying - Jaromír is doing it all on his own. Had he been able to finish that season - it would’ve been record shattering - the biggest margin of victory since 99 beat Mario 183-108 (I believe it was - in ‘86-‘87. And side note - ANY person who actually tries to claim that a player like Peter Forsberg or Mats Sundin was just as good as Jágr, is a flipping moron) It was a GOLDEN opportunity to attract new fans, promote interest in the game - and what did the NHL do? They PISSED IT AWAY. Why? Because they weren’t about to allow a Euro born, raised and trained in a Commie Country to enjoy a dominating season like that. When play resumed in Jan ‘00 the refs put away their whistles, it became open season on Jaromír and his record shattering season was destroyed thanks to a cheap shot from Mike Peca. Peca tried to take him out at the knee, clearly hoping to leave him with a season ending (if not career ending) injury, Jágr managed to avoid a direct hit, but Peca rammed his knee into Jaromír’s thigh so hard, he developed a haematoma in it that required hospitalization and he was knocked out of the lineup for 12-15 consecutive games. He came back, scored 6 points (3g, 3a) in his first two games back, before being injured again in only his 4th game back - this cheap hit courtesy of Dan McGillis. And the only thing the NHL & media will say is - in an era of low scoring games, Jaromír Jágr won the ‘99-‘00 scoring race with 96 points. The NHL is STILL it’s own worst enemy. You know why? Because they’re still doing the same shit they did back then. When Jaromír left the NHL to play in Russia - his father was interviewed by a member of the Czech media and had some REALLY damning shit to say that highlights EVERYTHING that is wrong with the NHL. He stated that, sometime in 2000 that Jaromír was BLUNTLY told that America (and they didn’t specify if he meant the US or North America as a whole) DID NOT WANT him to be the face of the NHL, that the league was NEVER going to allow him to play up to his potential and dominate it the same way 99 and Mario had (even though he was clearly capable of doing so) and that the media here was NEVER going to give him credit for just how great of a player he was. If the NHL had ONE OUNCE of common sense, they would’ve promoted the SHIT out of Jaromír Jágr - because he had it all - the most dynamic, talented, exciting player in the league and he also had the looks and the charisma - the man’s personality alone lit up the entire arena. He didn’t just play hockey - he PUT ON A SHOW - EVERY DAMN NIGHT. And the NHL is STILL doing the same shit. McDavid racks up a lot of points and is a good little white bread Canadian. Therefore he is the official “face” of the NHL, gets promoted by the media, etc. Big Shit - the guy also has ZERO personality, a bowl of tapioca has more charisma, and he’s also frankly unattractive. And that’s what it often boils down to - it doesn’t just have to do with parity around the league, how much players are paid, if games are high scoring or not. What turns off A LOT of potential fans and I’ve seen it happen repeatedly - is the fact that the league is STILL absolute shit when it comes to promoting the players who are a great blend of talented, charismatic and marketable - preferring to promote players who might be talented, but are bland, unattractive and/or boring as crap.
I absolutely hate it. Defense and great goaltending is what makes the game exciting, so when you see guys with too much room just running over teams it really annoys me. I want physical play, blocked shots, highlight reel saves, and most importantly 1-0 shutouts
These still happen in the playoffs when the real hockey starts. You get the best of both worlds, current stars reaching records that haven't been seen in the past 25 years and then the most entertaining hockey ever without crossing the line of barbarianism.
Number of goals per game is not a reflection of the quality of the spectacle. I've seen so many games that ended up 2-1 or 3-2 that were infinitely more thrilling than most high tally scorelines.
That's always going to be a dumb thing to say because it's not as simple as placing a player in the 80s Do you mean if you sent Ovi back in time with his gear from the 2000s to face a bunch of players with wooden sticks and poor skate technology? Because yeah sure, that's obvious and would apply to more than half the league. Or do you mean if Ovi had to grow up back then and learn to play hockey in the 70s? Because that's not so obvious at all. Gretzky was miles ahead of his peers, dont know what makes you think Ovi would have found a way to revolutionize the game in that era even more than Gretzky
I always say Sidney Crosby is the greatest hockey player of all time, and Alex Ovechkin is the greatest goal scorer or all time because they put up their insane numbers in the modern era. Goaltending in previous eras was an absolute joke. Put those 2 in gretzky’s era or Bossy’s era, and I believe they’d be better.
No it was not "an absolute joke". It was a different style that you're not used to seeing, that does not have as good of results as the butterfly. Brodeur, Roy, and Hasek are still regularly considered the greatest goalies ever, and they all learned that style, and used a hybrid, not a pure butterfly.
@@Jim-pq9pm when I say absolute joke, what I mean is, it was very ineffective compared to goaltending today. Not to mention the difference in pads/equipment. Goaltending is leaps and bounds ahead of where it was before.
@@MuddyTubMedia No, it's not. It's like one or 2 degrees of separation. Like I pointed out, the greatest goalies we have ever had used that style at time. Roy in fact won a stanley cup with that style. And frankly, the size of the pads aren't that important when you consider how tiny the puck is.
@@That90sShow my name is 87and66. Don’t go thinking I don’t have respect for Mario. He’s the second greatest hockey player of all time IMO, and sometimes I switch him and Sid at 1 and 2. Better than 99. Sad that he had so many health issues and injuries in his career. But I will stand by my statement that Ovi is the greatest goal scorer. Not hockey player. But goal scorer.
At one point the 3 best players in the world were goalies (Hasek, Roy and Brodeur) and were easily the MVP’s of the league. That will never happen again.
The only reason habs went to the finals last off-season is because they were playing a were good trap game despite not having the best team on paper. Oh and and healthy Price helped alot aswell
You forgot to mention the elimination of the hockey enforcer. The reason Wayne Gretzky scored all those goals is because nobody was allowed to touch him, or else they had to face Semenko or McSorley. The same with Steve Izerman of Detroit, who had Probert and Kocur. Every team had their big guys who protected their star players, but now those days are over. This has significantly cut down the number of goals per game. Players like Crosby and McDavid and Matthews are now unprotected and can be physically taken out of the play.
The traditional enforcer is gone, but it has opened the door to players like Brady Tkachuk being so important that I will inevitable bring more players who can hit and score. Back in the day a player like Gretzky could single handedly carry a teams offence that it was fine to have a player with brick hands and feet. With the way hockey players are developing, skill + grit will be that role.
"The dumbest of all, the two line pass would be removed" are you saying the two line pass was a bad rule? Because it existed for many decades. It was a perfectly fine rule that made the trek through the neutral zone more strategic. It was good to remove It, I think, but it was fine for it's time
As a leafs fan ill accept that. Unlike the other idiot saying mathews is made of glass and weak and needs others to prop himself up. Some ppl just make shit up
The leafs are built different this year . I don't see Boston or Washington or Tampa taking them out in the first round . It was a weird set of circumstances and barring serious injury I only see them being better as they have only gotten better as the year has progressed ...look at their last 17 games 13-2-2 that's ridiculous ..no teams want to meet them early in the playoffs
They can't lose forever . I think combined losing last year in such a dramatic ugly fashion and then losing Hyman to salary cap has actually made them a more well rounded team . Now every player gets in the corner and goes after the lucks and not just waits for Hyman . Even the best teams in the league have no answer for their first 3 lines . ..i grabbed my leafs to win the cup back in the fall and am so excited that there is a legit chance I get to go-to the casino and cash that badboy in
Look at years where a new team entered the league...and see if the avg ppg increased the year or 2 after their entrance. In 1979, if i remember well 4 teams came in!! Coincidence?
No, but that still doesn't explain away the greatness of Gretzky and Lemieux and Orr. They certainly benefited from a statistical inflation. However, one could also argue that video replay, no red line, and 3 v 3 ot also inflates scoring. McDavid is almost guaranteed to score in 3 v 3 OT. Remember that they had to get rid of 4v4 penalties because Gretzky was too good. You guys never put enough thought into this goofy argument
@@Jim-pq9pm Yes Gretzky and Lemieux were awesome players. But they are not the only ones contributing to the high avg ppg for the league. The entire league had a high average. I also believe that there are multiple reasons and that i like your points as well. Many differences and explanation for sure. Today we have Matthews and McDavid, still the average is not has high as Crosby and Ovechkin. So we have to look beyond the great players. Are there other factors at play between the 1980s to today? Great Video Rob!
@@ericgirouard1481 "But they are not the only ones contributing to the high avg ppg" Yes, but the gap between those two and the rest is massive. Steve Yzerman put up 155 points, which is the highest point total by from someone other than 99 and 66
@@Jim-pq9pm - And "second tier" stars like Yzerman, Savard, Robitaille and many others were still SUPER entertaining to watch....it's not like kids these days think, that it was a bunch of hacks that just got lucky.
Ewww no. Games should have an average of 1 goal per period by each team. People don't watch hockey for defense. Go watch soccer if that's what you want
I can see from a person that plays net you hate to see the score run up . But watching the video of Mathews first 50 goals this year this kid is truly special ...he aims for the post half the time and has perfected the goal without a goalie leaving anything open . He has turned the post from the goalies best friend to his own personal assistant
an 8-7 game is fun and entertaining once in a while, but if you start getting them every day it's a mockery of the sport. A 3-2 game is probably the optimal hockey score. Maybe 4-3, if you like a little more offense.
The last thing the NHL needs is to become another NBA style league. Great defense makes goals more explosive. The intensity of the NHL is due to sparse scoring and all out effort up and down the ice. The last thing hockey needs is to have their stars refusing to participate in defense in order to cherry pick points.
Seems like a lot of people are complaining about rules or non rules that existed in the 80s and 90s. But no one can honestly tell me that todays hockey is better than 80s and 90s hockey. Hockey today is beyond watered down with teams and very high talent yet low energy
Much larger goalies, wearing much larger equipment, in better shape, a more effective playing style (stand-up goalies went extinct a long time ago), better goalie coaching, aided by video analysis, have all played a huge role in the decrease in scoring since the mid-90's. Look at how much of the net shooters could see back then! In his prime, could Gretzky score 92 goals in today's NHL? He wouldn't stand a chance in hell.
Idk if you’ve ever watched jxmmyhighroller or not, but your content is literally a hockey version of his and I love it, you two are probably my favourite sports TH-camrs right now
Good stuff man, thanks much for that passion. What I noticed about the difference between Matthews and Grezky's goal scoring is that 99's goals were contributing to filling Stanley Cups , not just stat lines , much like that those fellas in Edmonton right now, just ribbing for fun . Who's knows maybe these guys will get to press the cup over their head soon enough. That would be good for hockey .
Beautiful video ! Your videos have gotten better in time . Your hard work shows . I love your comments as they may know more than I . Your comments section is well informed , you are drawing the cream . I was around in the early 80's and watched Bossy . His career was shortened , but a video with your meticulous research would be appreciated . Another suggestion would be undrafted goalies , Belfour , Curtis Joseph etc.... (5 would be easy ) The Russians had a line of Federov , Bure , and Mogilny , this would be interesting . Just keep making videos as they are great recently ! THANX
I think it's an anomaly due to goaltending shortages. The amount of teams that had to rely on back-up and third and fourth string goaltenders for significant amounts of time has helped raise goal scoring to these heights.
Very true, also just the amount of non-NHL caliber players a team may have to relay on, any given night, because of the covid rules, mixed with regular injuries. will be intresting to see if the trend continues next season or not.
He's been at or near a 50 goal pace every season except his rookie. He just put up 50 goals in the previous 50 games, a feat not accomplished since 1996 by Mario Lemieux himself.
@@Jim-pq9pm This comment, and video, isn't just based off of defensive liability Matthews, even though it features him. A lot of players across the NHL are having career years and it's partially due to lackluster goaltending. This also isn't to take anything away from the feats players like Matthews, Draisaitl and Huberdeau have accomplish this year or any super star feats they may accomplish in the future. I am just saying, league wide, this scoring will not be sustainable as goaltending (or defensive structures) improves next year as there won't be a 100 plus goalies suiting up in a 32 team league.
@@deltagolavista1 Bold prediction. Scoring has been trending up for the last 5 years or so. I would chalk this up to simply there being a lot of talent. Talent inspires other players to improve, it fires up rivals and encourages players who otherwise might have an average career to get better. Goaltending from my point of view has reached it's peak. Players know what goalies do, goalies don't really have anything else to improve on atm.
The year Gretzky eclipsed the 200 point mark there were only three teams in the west that finished with over a .500 record. In the east, there were seven teams over .500 wins. Goalies were smaller and wore next to nothing in equipment compared to today. The players were about 2" in height shorter on average and about 20 lbs lighter than today. Put a guy on a stacked team where the dynasties of the Habs and Islanders were pretty much over, voila! 200 points.
The reason for the rise in goals is one thing only and that is the number of power plays. Do a simple of PowerPlay Goals per year. The NHL makes it is easier to call a power play so the chance of a goal rises. Good hits are now penalties. Players turning their backs towards incoming hitters. In my day, no one ever turned their back and now you see purposeful turns to get hit so their lips get cut on the glass and 4 min. The NHL is lame this past 27 years. I played with an NHL player and also a current head coach...love hockey, but the NHL has turned lame. Playoffs are where the real game begins; regular season is unwatchable.
Trivia point; New Jersey Devil took the style from the SHL - from DIF specifically, in the early 90s. Another fun fact. DIF got demoted from the SHL this year.
1 Cable TV taking it away from local TV stations forcing older viewers to subscribe to Cable Sports channels. It used to play on CBC without the need of cable 2 the violence hasn’t translated well among the new generation and today’s modern sensibilities 3 the continuous scandals surrounding abuse that isn’t resolved 4 it’s the least diverse sport out of the Big 4 in North America
5 Least accessible sport to play. There's something about witnessing a basketball or soccer ball... catching or running a football for a touchdown, hitting a home run... no one picks up a hockey stick unless they play hockey so they wouldn't be able to take in the moment. Hockey runs on excitement thats it
It was really the 95-96 Panthers that killed hockey for multiple decades. They played Tackle Hockey and got to the Cup finals with their trash roster and got Mario to retire
Will this be the END... Or the START?
I think START, Caufield will be exploding stats.
This is the start of something great ...Mathews just gets better every year he has perfected the off the post goal making it very hard to defend the net since even covering the whole net doesn't help you against his shot ...do a top 20-50-100 of his off the post goals . I was watching a replay of a bunch of his goals the other day and the kid is just amazing how he doesn't even actually need open net to score an open post or crossbar is just as good for him and he can put more on the puck aiming for the post and really get a great bounce and at worst it pops out in front and the goalie is down and out of the play .
Rob, If the league restarted today who do you think goes first in the draft, Matthews or McDavid?
Um.
Why talk about the trap when it's statistically irrelevant?
New Jersey won the cup.
in the 90's.
you mention 1982 as a year when comparing Autin Matthews.
ok.
But you also mention the New Jersey Devils, and Mario Lemieux,
Lemieux wasn't playing in 1982.
And the New Jersey Devils?
They were the Colorado Rockies until May of 1982.
They didn't win the cup until 1995.
After a 48 game season.
Which isn't statistically significant like the Detroit Red Wings were in the 90's
The Trap Worked!!! For 48 games, but not 82 games.
Now, let's look at Austin Mathews.
Who is playing very well!
After COVID... And COVID AGAIN!
Must be fun for Austin now, no one's talking about his bout with COVID! in 2020 And his other bout with COVID!!! January 2022.
Maybe he's scoring because he's able to travel between games, instead of being cooped up in Toronto, or Edmonton like in seasons past.
Maybe scoring is up because COVID limitations are down!
maybe next year the limitations will be back on, lowering the scoring.
Must be the Trap is back in fashion, or maybe it's the pretzels!
th-cam.com/video/Qqwf0uvkXrE/w-d-xo.html
Start because players like mcdavid Matthews huberdeau and high offensive players are scoring. Their will be more points, Also many teams like the ducks have sensational young star players like terry,zegras,drysdale who I see dominating the league with everyone. In the next couple years more great talent is on the way like Shane Wright, Connor bedard. So in the the next 3-4 years I100% see a start in offensive production SURGE as the years go by
I think this just further demonstrates the greatness of Ovechkin. To do what he was doing when there wasn’t an offensive boom like in the 80s or today is incredible. Greatest goal scorer ever by far.
Unfortunately, Ovechkin's legacy has been tarnished by his friendship with Putin. It's hard to celebrate a player's skill when they're connected with a dictator who is responsible for so much death and destruction.
@@maplebrook1955 oh stop it you snowflake. Imagine you’re in his shoes with your family over there. If you speak out against him, they would all be dead.
Actually not true if we're basing it one single season. Matthews is currently further ahead of the #2 in goals per game than Ovechkin was in his 65 goal season and star players back then scored a larger percentage of the overall goal totals because of stacked powerplay time and worse 3rd and 4th lines, but it's still very close.
@@funtimes8296 doesn't seem that way. back then when Ovi was playing there would be 1, maybe 2, 50 goal scorers. this year there may be 4 if Ovi can score 4 in the last 9 games. also how many players were getting 100 points back then? you may be right about the star players scoring a larger % of the goals, but there are many more goals being scored now.
@@peterbrown1435 You misunderstand me so I'll explain further. I'm not saying the top scorers don't score more today, I'm saying the differences are exaggerated in the overall scoring levels. Plus Ovechkin himself had 5:37 on the powerplay per game and Matthews has 3:03 this season which is still a minute behind Draisaitl, McDavid and a minute and a half behind Ovechkin today and it's clearly easier to score on the powerplay. Besides that all you have to do is look at the goals per game Matthes has over the #2 and the rest of the top scorers, it's basically the same as Ovechkin's. The season is not done though so let's see how it plays out.
Fun fact: Matthews has scored 51 goals in his last 50 games, and was the first person to score 50 in 50 since super Mario in 1995/1996 season
50 in 50 only counts when its the start of a season. The whole point of 50 in 50 being so hard is that its measured by games 1 thru 50 not just any 50 out of 82. The last person to do it was Hull in 90
Found the leafs fan
@@snfriedm yes you did
It's amazing, he is truly a generational talent
@@coreytrevor3910 so he didn't get 50 goals in 50 games?
I love the high-scoring games, but theres also more impressing goalie-controlled games than before. A great example was the Boston-Tampa game a couple days ago, a 2-1 OT win for BOS where both teams had a combined 66 shots on net (.966 sv% for ullmark, .946 sv% for Vasy). I think what is best for the game is not high goal totals, but a high number of scoring chances. watching a team score on every other breakaway isn't as impressive as having consistent zone pressure, with 3-4 chances before finally finding the back of the net. It may not look as pretty on a score sheet, but as a fan watching there is a lot more tension when teams have great goaltending as well as offensive capability
The ultra dominant Flames (Vernon) and Canadiens (Roy) of the late 80's were so impressive.
I agree with this
Absolutely. It’s boring and predictable when it’s high scoring. I love when you have no idea who’s gonna win, and every time either team enters the zone, there’s a chance to put the game away. It puts you on your toes. Another perfect example is the avalanche vs Edmonton game that happened on Saturday. 2-1 avs. Keumper had 49 saves. The whole game was insane. Koskinen had 34. The shootout was intense. And it makes the payoff of who ever does inevitably scores even better.
Exactly. Scoring chances are what makes for excitement, not necessarily lots of goals. It's when there are minimal scoring chances (hello late 90's hockey) that it gets dull.
Completely agree I was at that game and I’m a bolts fan and I wasn’t mad was a damn good game of hockey and was on the edge of my seat all game
The Devils were one of the top teams in shots, goals, and most other offensive categories during the clutch and grab era.
Well, they had Stevens and Scott N (can't remember how to spell his last name) back there, 2 incredible Hall of Fame D men, and Hall of Fame Goalie that's in the top 5 of all time, and the best passing goalie ever. So, ya, they did.
Red Wings where rolling too. Won more cups and 25 playoff streak….
@@sammyweed4771 True, they were good.
They won the same amount of cups during the clutch and grab era (between lockouts).
Stevens was also allowed to basically kill talented players. Now that skilled players aren't being injured as much, you're seeing more coming into the league.
@@bradweinberger6907 Ya, that's true, I think he would have adapted those to be brutal open ice hip checks though, he was a very, very good player.
I think stick technology has something to do with it. The new sticks are insane. They're so light and you can generate a wicked shot with no wind up.
nah the sticks have been like that for 15 or so years
There's something to be said for that, but goaltending has also transformed DRAMATICALLY during the same time period. I was a college hockey goalie not all that long ago (ending in 2012) and the way goalies played in my era was completely different to the way goalies play now, with the reverse VH being the most obvious example.
@@autobotavengerfireballxl5339 I guess I'm getting old. Lol
@@autobotavengerfireballxl5339 yeah...and thats the problem
@@MrDeceptacon88 the sticks arent a problem in any way....
It wasn't just the trap, it was league expansion that diluted the hockey talent pool and destroyed team depth which caused a switch to defensive hockey because teams couldn't support full tilt offense anymore. 1999 was a big expansion year that killed the NHL's talent. This in combination with aging talent that no longer produced like before. It's why we have so many high scoring teams again, the older talent is concentrating with the newer talent just like the late 80's and early to mid 90's. What will happen is the aging talent in a few years will begin to taper off and if the league expands some more this will cause the repeat into defensive hockey.
I actually agree with this stance. Never heard anybody put it like that.
The only problem with this theory is that it assumes nobody's coming up from juniors every year that's as good as the "aging talent".. which, every year there's probably a handful of kids from the juniors that are better than current NHL players. Although they may not be "superstars", every year there's so much talent coming up. I understand that guidance from aging talent is what makes these guys superstars. They understand the game on a totally different level
I tend to disagree. I would say the talent pool increased as the share of Canadian players went from 70ish percent in the early 90s to barely a majority and were replaced largely by Russians and Czechs.
I would argue that some of the biggest leaps in scoring came when the talent pool decreased: early 40s (many stars left to fight in WW2) and 70s-early 80s (massive expansion and the WHA)
@@chadrussell9309 My thought too Chad. The Gretzky-era scoring increase has always been attributed to the saturated talent pool when they combined with the WHA. And considering that the 90s expansion came along with a massive influx of star European players to the NHL... I would think the talent pool wasn't diluted nearly as much as it was during the WHA merger.
The Cap had not been Implemented yet. So though the pool Was deeper that factor was rendered irrelevant Until The Salary Cap era. Pre Cap you could Buy all the best players and put them on one team.
Theres one crucial aspect you left out from the devils and their trap use and dominance. That was also the "clutch and grab" era where players could hug a player and hold him without getting a penalty. The game was an absolute crawl. Once they stopped the clutch and grab, along with the other rule changes, offense was allowed to take over again. And we also can't leave out that in that era players still used wooden sticks or very early composite shafts, the tech now makes shooters much more deadly
Meh. The clutching and grabbing went both ways. Many goals were scored by superstars while their teammates were putting headlocks on the defenders.
Agreed. In 2017 there were too many players injured with the slashes. Rules change and then a huge increase in goals immediately at the beginning of the following season.
There were great shooters with wood sticks, new sticks let poor shooters have a better shot, similar to golf technology.
Goaler equipment and technique also got better. Compare an 80 goalie to say post 2000 and it's night and day.
they still let clutch and brab go in the playoffs. at least from time to time it seems to be prominent.
The "ideal" NHL game for a neutral observer has a 1 or 2 goal margin of victory by the winner and 10 to 15 shots per period by each team. A final score of 2-1, 3-1, 4-2 or even 6-4, 7-5 with 45 shots by the winner, 30 shots by the loser looks like a pretty good game all around without "garbage time" in the third period.
LOL according to whom?
Aside from Matthew's, watching the Panthers come back from multiple 3rd period mutliple goal deficits of 6-2, 5-1, and 3-0 in the SPAN OF A WEEK against the Devils (won 7-6), Leafs(won 6-5) and (I forget the last one) was something I hadn't seen in a LONG time.
Goal scoring is definitely on the way up when my beloved Devils manage post a 7 goal night multiple times this year, I want to say 4 times, May only be 3.
Sens
Matthew is, or Matthew's personal object?
No offense at all.. But that’s the kind of stuff that made me start questioning all of pro sports, and one of the reasons I quit watching a couple years back. ( the leagues forcing puss puss liberal politics down my throat was also a huge reason)
But it always just seems like when they need it most, an amazing headline story just starts developing… Or the team that’s almost bankrupt the previous year, amazingly wins the first pick of the draft, etc, etc… But, when the nhl killed the awesome VIOLENT, shit talking, rivalries, like 2013 flyers/penguins for instance, in favor of less physicality/fights, smaller players, and the obvious gimmicks… Not to mention letting up on brutal hits along the wall??!!! (That eats me alive) it was the beginning of the end for lots of die hard hockey fans.
Gretzky’s slapshot is criminally underrated to this day. It didn’t have a ton of velocity, but it was so accurate and very unpredictable. Gretzky really was a unicorn player.
True, the way the puck glided on the ice at 45 MPH and went into the net completely uncontested from that 85 degree angle, truly incredible.
Bossy used to flip the puck on its side to make it smaller...
Yep. Truly The Great One‼️
😊
To be honest Rob this was actually a very great video idea because for some reason I noticed more goal scoring this season and points production.
Showing all of the McDavid goals as though they were part of the past, framing that Matthews is THE reason behind the current goal explosion, and not showing Draisaitl even once is pretty silly.
Steven stamkos and ovi died too apparently
And pasta
Well... This guy is a Canucks fan... Tells you all you need to know
ah...the oilers fan i was looking for in the comments...knew one of u shits was gonna bring up draishitl
@@chrisdesouza7292 good job?
I'm nowhere near a leafs or Matthews fan but it's sad to see some try to downplay what he's doing. 50 in 50 is what it is when it happens shouldn't matter as long as it's in the same season.stay salty my friends🤣🤣
No. It's never been looked at that way. We aren't changing 70 years of hockey history to satisfy Leafs fans.
@@johanstinson lol it doesn't matter when it happened in the season, it's still an accomplishment. it's the same accomplishment. 50 goals in 50 games
@@brendo6897 nope. That's not how it works and that's not how it's ever worked.
We aren't changing established decades long norms just to make LesfsNation feel all warm and fuzzy.
If he didn't score 50 in 51 starting at Game 1 then it's not relevant.
You don't hear Oilers fans talking about McDavids 150 points in 82 do you? No you don't because it happened over 2 seasons. But by your logic....hey, McDavid scored 150 points in a season
@@johanstinson lmfao hater
@@johanstinson just admit you're a hater, it doesn't matter when he scored 50 goals in 50 games, it's still the same thing
Notice that the decline in the NHL directly corresponds with Gary Bettman's hiring as NHL Commissioner in 1993 . He has NO IDEA how hockey is supposed to be played yet he made rule changes that hampered scoring and the entertainment value of the game. Think about it . Wayne Gretzky scored 215 points with the old rules in place. So why the hell would you change the rules to increase scoring ?
You wouldn't unless you were trying to change the sport . The only reason that Bettman got the job as the NHL Commissioner is that he was marketing director for the NBA when Jordon, Pippin, Bird , Magic and a host of other starts too numerous to name were in their primes . An ashtray could have made money for the league as Marketing Director during that time . He had NOTHING to do with the NBA's success , it was ALL the players .
Because of that the brain trust of the NHL thought he could help them become even more successful than they were . WRONG ! In two short years , because of his stupid rule changes and the reduced scoring and excitement that it produced caused viewership to plummet and the Stanley Cup Champions at the time the New Jersey Devils couldn't fill their arena ! Pathetic ! During that time this jackass managed to cancel the NHL season and the Stanley Cup Playoffs and lose their primary TV contract with ESPN and almost put them out of business . Yet he kept his job ! On top of that NHL viewership is down 22% in the last two years and hockey participation in CANADA of all places is down ! The foundation of this great sport is in serious trouble and Gary Bettman is to blame .
Say this again. Alex Ovechkin put up 8 50-goal seasons during the height of the Dead Puck Era.
@Angry JayByrd nope. Scoring went down again between 2011 and 2015. In 2015 the nhl started restricting goalie pad size again.
Bro in 1979 Mike Bossy set the record for the fastest NHL player to 100 goals, hitting the 100 mark in his 129th game.
This isn't anything new, the game was very physical back then too.
Equipment was worse (sticks, skates, etc), there were less games, there was a 2 line pass rule
Plus goalies were trash back then.
@@scottthompson3493 you say goalies were trash but did you even watch this video.
It talks about how defensive strategies were invented to deal with this.
If there's barely any defense in front of the net the goalies are going to have a hard time keeping pucks out.
Think about a game where your defense is out to lunch and your goalie is getting hammered. Very easy to see high scoring games when that happens even today.
I wouldn't say the goalies were trash back then I would say defense was trash back then.
@@scottthompson3493 Ya. Brodeur. Roy, Dryden. They were garbage 🙄
Offense has been up so much this season. Was def hard to adjust to at first. I really want to see what the scores will be like during the playoffs
That’s the question. Good job.
Playoffs are a different animal. The teams that go deep stifle high scoring offenses. I’m looking at all of the clubs right now sub 200 goals against, it’s an elite field: Carolina, NYR, Boston, Calgary and Colorado. These are teams you will have to claw and dig every goal from where nothing will come easy and games will be 0-1, 2-1 and 3-2 in the postseason.
Then there’s Florida which allows many goals but just out scores all of their defensive issues. But they have had so many come from behind victories and I just don’t see that being a viable game plan come May.
If you're counting points per player, don't forget how the extra TV timeouts allows top lines to return to the ice more quickly. In the Gretzky era, I don't recall any TV timeouts. Now we have more than ever, and during those precious minutes the top players get to rest, then get right back on. It creates a greater imbalance in ice time between the checking lines and the top lines, with point totals that reflect it.
I never thought of hockey as wolves and bunnies...thank you for the analogy Rob!!! As always, a great video and fantastic research!
Thanks dude!
@@RobTalksHockey love the 007 music😂🙂
I think the real difference in the 21-22 season that increases goal production is the introduction of the Seattle Kraken. The NHL foresaw this issue, and made sure to add a team this year.
No, they are the very short-term blip. Much like the boom that saw Teemu Selanne be a rookie scoring machine the year of two brutal expansion drafts for the two expansion teams. You give em a brutal expansion draft, scoring has to go up. This time GMs wised up after the Vegas expansion draft disaster and didn't over-rate all of their assets for the draft, with all that stupid protectionism. GMs still get to draft and replace players you lose in the draft, no need to worry so much.
Parity is a bad as its been since pre cap, the eastern playoff teams were set months before the season ended. Tampa and Colorado were destined for the finals barring injury. Wings were historically bad defensively and somehow only finished 8th worst in the league. So many teams padded statlines against us.
The difference is back then there was hooking, grabbing, interference, the refs let them play like that, today it's be a penalty every 2 minutes, my ch different back then, now guys are flying around in the slot getting prime scoring chances, back then you'd have someone in your face, way more body contact back in that era .
@Poop Jones Not at all.. There is such little contact that the only calls are for having your stick near someones hands. Its pathetic
@Poop Jones Lol not just boomers I am nowhere near a boomers age and any time I watch modern hockey it puts me to sleep faster then any sleeping pill can. They absolutely call more penalties today and not only that but a lot more suspensions as well. I mean you can't even make an open ice hit without getting at least a minor anymore. Being a goal scorer was a lot harder back in the day because not only did the NHL allow clutching and grabbing but also they has to score knowing full well that the other team was going to hit them and back then they hit too hurt. Now a days star players know for the most part they aren't going to get hit or at least not like how they did back in the days so they are a lot braver because of that.
You used yo have to REALLY battle in the crease....remember guys like Tim Kerr?
Slower players back in that era too
In my opinion, there is a developing need for one position/role - the shutdown center. As star players seemingly get more dominant, teams will want someone to have someone essentially stay locked on that player, similar to what Kesler did to McDavid in the playoffs.
Kesler was just someone who committed penalty after penalty against McD and never got called. Also we gonna talk about the pad lift?
@@JerryCuberton You sound like a bitter fanboy
@@JerryCuberton It worked lol
@@Jim-pq9pm i'm just salty
@@Childofbhaal true, true
Eh dont worry about it, Matthews will get like 1 or 2 goals every playoff year and keep getting eliminated in the first round.
A lot of people thought this about Ovi. Keep the same energy for Matts. I love your bias. Keep it up.
@@markvanderlugt5041 Nothing about this is biased when Leafs choke worse than the Caps did. Pull that blissful ignorance out of your ass already.
@@markvanderlugt5041 this aged well
@@thedukeparty it actually did, thanks buddy
A friend and I once had a discussion. I said "I sense a trap" and he asked "Next move?" to which I replied "Spring the trap!"
As someone who lives in AZ, it is still hard for me to believe a kid who grew up playing ice hockey around here is one of the most dominant players in the league.
Coming from a Canadian he is the best player in the NHL. You can quote me on this at this point next year, or 5 years into the future.
@@funtimes8296 coming from another canadian this is biased
Lemieux was unstoppable. The only that that could stop him was GOD, and even he had trouble!
@Baddie replying just to see how long it takes for someone to argue
Well...and his back.
And Igor is putting up one of the best goalie seasons of all time cmon that’s really impressive
Yes it is impressive what Igor is doing but Freddie is starting to put up a fight for the veznia
@@rustyjohn1327 eh he has 925 Igor has a 935 and the same gaa and wins Freddie has to get like 4 shutouts in a row to catch up in save % I think but could happen
Also Freddie's playing behind imo the best defensive system in the league. Maybe the islanders or stars have better systems but don't have the players to execute them.
@@Gergentine true Igor defense is good but not near Freddie’s
See right now in hockey, there is some great stuff going on. Amazing goalies, phenomenal forwards, crazy offensive defensemen. Great years to be a hockey fan.
Love when goalies dominate, and alternatively when players do. Offers variety and puts you on your toes. Lower scoring games improves payoff of whoever does score even better. Avs vs oilers game was a great example. 49 saves for keumper and 34 for koskinen.
I’m enjoying the depth that you are now able to go into. This analysis is something that I really feel brings something to the table!
You might not have been alive in the 80s so I can forgive you for saying that Brodeur was the greatest puck handling goaltender of all time, which is completely wrong. The man who revolutionized hockey for stick handling goaltenders was Ron Hextall. He was the guy Brodeur was copying and he has said it himself. There's no comparison. RON HEXTALL was the 1st and the original puck-handling, goal-scoring goalie and he was the greatest of all time at it. Just for that alone he should have been in the HOF, but because of his reputation, and politics, they won't vote him in which is ridiculous.
Absolutely agree, and I loved Brodeur.
But they need to take the trapezoid out -- life was more-exciting watching goalies leave the net and mishandle pucks.
You also got fewer defensemen leaving the game with concussions.
@@matthewnoto9380 I agree with you as well. I loved seeing the goalies playing the puck.
It’s evolving the sport. This era will have a ton of goals, then teams will find strategies to shut down scoring and then the cycle will happen again. You can’t stop it whether that’s for good or bad
Unless there’s a rule change. Scoring won’t be decreasing anytime soon. Same thing in nba with 3 pointers
The problem with the NHL today is the goaltenders. An entire generation has grown up being taught that the "butterfly" style is the ONLY way to play goal. To overcome the style's weaknesses, goaltending equipment has evolved to support only that style. You now have leg pads that have edges that go flat along the ice to cover the 5-hole, gigantic body padding that looks like a padded fat suit to cover up as much of the space in the net as possible, without actually doing anything. Goaltenders are now just "one trick ponies" that just bounce up and down on every shot. The skills used in goaltending for decades are now gone as they just slide back and forth across the goal line hoping the puck will hit their ridiculous huge padded bodies and arms. Gone is the mobility, the stick skills, controlling rebounds. Some goaltenders were mobile enough to be called their teams "third defenseman." No more. Goaltenders today are just backstops that pucks bounce off of. They have NO idea where the puck is going once it hits them. The defenseman's job has completely changed as they have the responsibility to clear everything that bounces off the now helpless goaltender. Nothing funnier in the game today than seeing a helpless goaltender trying to go side to side, ending up on his belly, flailing a leg out, praying the shooter won't lift the puck more than a foot off the ice because the net is now WIDE open. If the player is dumb enough to shoot low and hit the goalie's leg, the announcers scream about what "a great save that was." What a joke. The game has gotten faster, the players much more skilled and fun to watch. The goaltenders have gone in the opposite direction. Skills have eroded away, replaced by gigantic padded bodies, who just bounce up and down on every shot, no matter where it's coming from or how high or low it is. Players are finally, FINALLY, after YEARS, shooting the puck up high, an area that is open all the time. It's making goaltenders look like the fools that they have become.
Don’t forget that size of goalie’s now. 6ft + over. Many 6ft 5” monsters compared to older goalies. Sawchuk, Gumper, Tony O,
@@davidmenard2680 You have bigger goalies because they can wear BIGGER body padding, plugging up more of the net. No skill involved anymore, just a league full of table hockey goalies that just go back and forth letting pucks bounce off of them. Look at box lacrosse goaltenders to see what the NHL goaltenders are trying to evolve into, wearing padding that's the same size as the net.
The NHL is perfect ruleset wise. They need to make it the easiest to view via streaming apps.
Amazing how the Devils get blamed for the trap and "ruining" hockey, when Montreal won 24 cups with the same strategy...
The "dead puck era" happened to coincide with two other developments: rapid expansion (thinner talent pool) and free agency (inability to maintain dynasties).
This is complete and utter bs...this is someone who only has knowledge of the Habs' 1986 and 1993 cups. The Canadiens have had some of the most offensively explosive teams of multiple eras. (hello late 70's and late 50's, amongst others) Besides, it's just a ridiculous statement in general. The Habs have had some very smart coaches over the years, and smart coaches know to play to their teams' strengths personnel-wise, so just like most any successful franchise, their style of play has shifted based on their rosters. This silly comment is just uninformed hate for the sake of hate. I'm not even a Habs fan, and this is blatantly obvious 😅
Been playing and watching hockey for 50 years, Son. They tell me my first words were "Rod Gilbert".
As a Rangers fan, it was obvious the Devils were the better team in '94. They (Rangers) got lucky.
But just for perspective: Lemaire, Robinson, and Bowman = Trap, or "left wing lock", if you prefer. Most-successful coaches of the 90's, early-00's. A delayed forecheck and clogging the middle (a "trap") ain't exactly a novel strategy. Montreal pedigree.
All teams trapped in the 90's: they had to because free agency and rapid expansion diluted the talent pool and made it impossible to keep Murderer's Row-teams together for more than a few years.
Devs, Wings and Pens all trapped in the 90's (all multiple cup winners, Bowman coached two of them, IIRC). Expansion teams trapped for lack of any better alternative. Trapping comes back with every playoff season: everyone does it, still (even the removal of the red line didn't help: teams will still play 1-1-3 and clog the middle).
There was no "dead puck era" -- there was defensive hockey and great goaltending in those days -- Brodeur, Hasek, Roy, Osgood, Vernon, just to named a few.
There is no "hate", just an expression of objective fact
It's lazy analysis that blames the Devils. Hack sport writers used to be the only way most fans interacted with most teams. All hockey was defense-oriented in the 90's. You are spot on in what you've said here (save maybe for the bit about the habs as I'm not old enough to have seen those teams so I'm not able to agree or disagree). But people act like the Devils invented defense. The Scotty Bowman left-wing-lock Redwings were not necessarily fun to watch either, people forget, and the whole league was clutch and grab. When Mario Lemieux complained about being hooked and held and slashed he didn't name the Devils - it was a league-wide thing. The Devils just happened to be better at late 90's early 2000's NHL hockey than most teams. It's like being mad at the 80's Oilers for being better at offense than others. "The-Devils-Ruined-Hockey!" crowd ain't going nowhere, though. Content creators today are too young to have seen them and the journalists of the day had more in common with Steve Simmons than they do an honest person with no allegiance to dark forces. History, innit?
@@Paul-gk2he Yep. Definitely a generational gap.
Bossy would probably score 60 a year in today's NHL, and Mario 70 or more, routinely. They were that good. The rest of the pack would have been very far behind, but still considered "very good" by today's standards.
You also didn't routinely see 6' 3" goaltenders who go down and still cover half the net as the style back then was stand-up goaltending (at one time it was against the rules for a goaltender to go to the ice on purpose!), and it didn't help that the equipment goalies wore back in the day was crap compared to today's stuff.
Ah yes, the trap surely existed in the 1910s :P
*rolls eyes*
2:20 the drop off really started in 1992. It would be nice to see a graph of square inches for goalie pads laid over the GPG graph. IMO, the insanely big goalie pads are solely responsible for a combined 3-4 saves per game. When you compare them to pads from the early 80's, it's easy to see the HUGE advantage goalies have today.
Goalie pads were quite big in the 80's / 90's. They were just worn really tight and opted to oversize in the width, not the height .. I think Richter's pads were something like 14" wide at one point. But goalies were also universally smaller as you had guys that were 5'8 in the league. Compare that era average height to now, basically have to be at minimum 6' + to get a look these days.
It wasn't just one major thing, it was a series of things that bled together at the right time to reduce scoring:
- Goalies got bigger, bigger goalies needed bigger equipment (and then they started to add cheaters to bulk out, pants and chest/arms got huge size increases).
- Goaltending technique shifted from standup/reactionary to primarily be butterfly style.
- Goaltending equipment got more advanced and stopped using heavy materials (horse hair, etc.) and started using foams, along with more advanced designs which were styled to control rebounds, speed movement, and cut space / fill gaps (maximize coverage and movement in the butterfly).
And then throw in the trap style to cut down on high chance scoring opportunities as well as D-men being absolutely able to murder you in the proximity of the net, and you get the dead puck low scoring era.
You might also contribute the increase in size of player shoulder protection as well, which allowed big D guys to crush skilled players without worrying about self preservation (something you did have to worry about when your pads were super thin).
@@kylek29 Richter played in the 90's, which proves my point. Compare his pads to Billy Smith in '81.
The NHL used to have a more restrictive pad size rule. Do an image search on a goalie in early 80's gear.
Then the 90's, then today. The size of the goalies doesn't explain that much width and length increase. The 5 hole has been cut in half by the big groin extensions, and the width make sealing to the ice much easier.
@@bobhenry6159 not to mention today's pads and skates are more waterproof and much lighter. Back in the 80's goalies had it tough.
Mario Lemieux was getting 0.8 goals per game in the dead puck era.. At 36 years old..... Just sayin
@@That90sShow in 2003-2004, the NHL changed rule 11 to limit the size of leg protection, which began to grow in the late 80's. No coincidence scoring then went up. But in the 90's the gear hard grown
so much, it is still proportionally much larger than it was in the 80's. No matter the size of the goalie, the gear covers a larger area of, and beyond, the legs than in the 80's.
High scoring actually makes the game shittier. The dead puck era was a lot more fun than the '80s were. Who wants to see a game where the end score is 10-7? That's not hockey, that's waterpolo.
Your missing too many variables thru the eras like bigger goalies, bigger defenseman and taking heads off!! There’s so much more including rule changes. This year scoring is wayyy up for sure the defenses are mostly to blame. Flyers and Canadiens are tanking , covid and mass injuries like la kings defense etc etc. ,,, too much stuff to list
Thank the Red Wings lol
gretzky lead the league in goals by 28 goals in 1982, matthews leads it by 4 this year... please dont say that your make believe ''era adjusted'' stats would put matthews on pace for 92, it's laughable and predictable from a gen z.
While the Devils get most of the blame for the trap, I think what really put it over the top was when the Florida Panthers went to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1996 by playing a purely defensive trap game. While the Devils were a recognized good team that had been a contender for several years, teams seeing a third year expansion team with pretty mediocre talent manage to get all the way to a cup final by playing a trap, it convinced every mediocre team in the league that "we got to do this". It reached its peak the year the Anaheim Ducks made it to the finals vs. the Devils. The Devils in those years had a good scoring team, but Florida & Anaheim were completely one-dimensional, relying on the trap and good goaltending to get by.
Huh? You see how the Panthers D played against the legion of doom? Shut them down behind the net, and in the corners. Got the puck out of the defensive zone. No trap needed. You see what they did to Pittsburgh? I understand the trap, but where did you get all of that?
@@stop....hammertime not sure what you’re question is. He got it from history because it’s a fact.
Minnesota used to rely on it alot,the Kraken tried to be a defensive team but it backfired!
@@simonreilly213 they were a 94 point team, 8th in the NHL, cause of the "trap". How bout grinding, balanced scoring, and good D, dump and chase, and they were on a hot streak. tHe tRaP. That crap was already solved after Lou. Quit regurgitating
@@simonreilly213 they beat Pitt cause of the trap? It more that Johnston was a crap coach, and Florida 100 percent outplayed and worked them? You just upchuck whatever you see someone else saying online.
I just wish the NHL board of governors would stop messing with the game.This constantly changing the rules is causing me to lose interest.
You sir, got a new follower. Informative video. On a side note: Auston is a beast.
Thanks dude!
The NHL should be more concerned about injuries than this.
For starters Mike Bossy missed scoring 50 goals a year for 10 years due to injury. One of his greatest regrets.
Today we miss guys like Price, Kucherov who played just 46 games, Batherson who played 46 games due to injury, J. Benn who is not at his best anymore due to injury, Kesler who had to retire,...
Actions that cause those injuries should be dealt with via more majors and or suspensions.
We cannot forget how AWFUL goalies were in the 80's. I think that is one of the only factors that comes into play when speaking on this.
100%
I absolutely agree although I think it was more so a lack of decent gear and training that made them “awful”. There was more than a few ways to play as an offense man or defense man, but there was only really one way to play goalie and it was to strap on some big heavy pads and stand up and move slowly. Now you have pads lighter than a feather and multiple styles, the big two being butterfly or hybrid. Goalies are much faster now and you’re not scoring those low on the ice shots anymore like they were in the 80’s. But I agree the change in how goaltenders play is largely at fault for the change in goals scored per game I think.
When did goalies become good? Mario Lemieux was scoring 50 in 50 multiple times and it wasn't in the 80s.
The equipment changed. Look at the size of the pads in the 80s. On top of that, butterfly was impossible due to the material their pads were made of. They’d absorb the water and get so heavy you couldn’t move. You could take the best goalie in the league today and give him 80s pads and I guarantee he’d look pretty much like they did.
Ovechkin deserves credit for single handedly Making Goals Great Again. Remember how the NHL purists used to shit on Ovi for the excitement and joy he would show when celebrating a goal? He made it OK for these younger offensive studs like Matthews to say "I'm here to score goals, it's what I do, and everything else is secondary to me" If Ovi or Matthews played in the 80's/90's they'd probably average 75 goals for their entire careers.
Also have to consider that the trap-heavy era was aided by the major style shift of goaltenders (butterfly). Back then, shot accuracy and power was lower so it wasn't as hard for those goaltenders to dominate if they got square and dropped. Nowadays, aided by the stick tech and better skills, players are far more likely to be able to beat a goalie with a razor-thin margin shot.
I'm sure the game will continue in cycles, but I don't think the cycle will be as drastic as the 80's to 90's shift simply because I can't fathom that much efficiency in technique being picked up over such a short period of time.
Stick tech, goalie playing style and defensive focus all changed this. 100% a pro from the 60s would not do as well today. They'd make an impact but a 50-60 goal scorer would likely halve their production.
Stick tech!!! Baseball still not allowing aluminum or fibre bats. Would alter the game, stats and might mortally injure a few pitchers. Hockey seems to have no limitations on stick strength. The goalies are padded up but I would hate to be a shot-blocking D-man. If you've been hit in an low-padded or unpadded area that extra 5-10 mph shot speed is huge.
I thought the "CONCERNED" part of the title was going to address the TV rating problem. Because even though scoring has increased, it hasn't translated into TV ratings. And the NHL should be genuinely concerned
i have a feeling the tv rating are affected more by shitty cable provider, this drives more and more people to stream games instead often illegallly since the legal one sucks just as much as paid cable and cost a fortune.
Here’s a question for y’all. I genuinely enjoy watching hockey but it is literally never on tv where I’m at like almost never until playoffs come which is the only time I get to watch. What in the hell do I need to do to watch some hurricanes haha
You missed the expansion that brought us from 21 to 30 teams during the dead puck era. A lot of teams had no offensive power, so they HAD to play the trap to remain competitive in the standings. The game is in a great place right now, and I don't think we'll see a swing like we did in the 90s.
I think fewer goals are better. The games seem more competitive this way. I think the advancements in goalie gear technology and goalie training as a whole has gotten ridiculously good. Back in the 80’s it was (arguably) way easier to score in general because goaltenders really only had the stand-up style of play with rounded pads and slow movements. You could deke and shoot it along the ice and score fairly easily. However with the advancements in lighter gear that essentially seals the ice completely in the butterfly, goaltenders are much, much faster and play more butterfly or hybrid style. This means you’re only really scoring on rebounds or one timers where the net is essentially empty and the goalie has to make a desperation save, or snipes where the goalie can’t see it. Yeah you can still score off a deke but it’s happening less and less often. Star players are stars for reasons other than how many goals they can score and I think that’s good. Now it’s less about how many shots you take and more about where you’re taking your shots from.
@@drew_peabawls13 and everything I stated is why they would. If the players from the 80’s were (in their peak) playing against today’s goalies with today’s gear, they wouldn’t be the best, they’d be pretty mediocre.
Here we go again. Telling us what we should be concerned about. Numbers crunchers slicing and dicing the game down to percentages. Can't you just watch a game and enjoy it? Or do you have to compare it to a game played twenty years ago to draw some king of pattern from it. Guess what? The game my grandfather played was different from the game my dad played. And so it goes for Me and my son. Everything evolves, or at least it should. The same applies to hockey. The sky is not falling, the British aren't coming and hockey is alive and well.
i actually like low scoring games tbh , i find them more intense and fun to watch so i don't know how to feel about this
Since Europeans began taking over the NHL, the game began changing for the better. More goals, more talented players, more speed, higher skilled players and more speed.
The game today is just insane, so much talent it's stupid. Gretzky is Gretzky, but the level of competition was a joke when compared to modern NHL.
I don't realistically see this happening unfortunately. By all means, I would love a massive upshot in scoring but if we examine the underlying trends causing this uptick, there is a more logical reason for it. Through 2018-202 we would see many top tier goalies retire or leave the league in some form. This created a talent vacuum with many of the non-contending teams ending up with mediocre to straight up terrible goal tending tandems. Sure players are beginning to adapt to goalie tactics, but that doesn't fully account for this huge explosion of offense. Just take a look at some of these rosters, there aren't more than 5-6 tope tier goalies that you can name. sure there's absolute beats like Shesterkin, Saros, and Anderson but if you continue down that list you will see a severe drop in talent. I mostly attribute the increased offensive numbers to the numerous poor performances by low level teams, such as Detroit's 10-7 loss to Toronto. Eventually the goalie talent pool will swell again and we will see more complete teams defensively-speaking. I don't think the numbers will crater back to the early 2000's levels, but enough to show that this year really was bit of a statistical fluke.
I think some of the really young goalies being able to play NHL games and showing that we don't necessarily need a bunch of AHL experience before going to the NHL will help.
Otteinger in Dallas is doing a hell of a job between the pipes for someone so young. There are a few others.
Experience will always help, but NHL experience vs. AHL at a younger age may be a game changer.
Who knows.
The closer to the way hockey was in 1992-93 current hockey gets, the better
Guys hit in 1992 93 and there werent EVERY possible advantage for offencive players
There are a lot more empty net goals being scored now, teams are scoring 2-3 empty net goals in some games which does pad the scoring all-around.
Bro what games are you watching
@@jasondebbo6697 in 2022 the first 22 players who have empty netters account for 98 EN goals and the season ain't over.
In1994 the first 22 players who had empty netters only accounted for 51 for a total season. Sounds like more than double to me....
Love the little 007 in the background!
The style of hockey being played changes over time. It always has, regardless of rule changes.
You would think this would be obvious to grown men⁉️
@@sportsfix6975 way before that 😂
@@Azamat421 I deleted my comment, don't want to spoil it for the kids, even though I think it's dishonest.
Why does no one mention the panthers? They’ve scored plenty more than the leafs. I need some damn respect on my boys.
Yeah Huberdeau is having a great season and the panthers are coming back after brobrobsky playing at his worse 2 years ago. They are on top the league and I see the panthers going on and making it big in the playoffs. #BringontheRatshower
I don’t think more goals is something people want. At least there shouldn’t be any rule changes to facilitate that. There’s more skills than just scoring vital to hockey.
i disagree massively lol im a diehard fan and i love seeing this level of production. Although i do think ur completely right that they shouldn't start making stupid changes to make scoring easier than it is now
well said. Really.
Goals do not automatically make a game interesting. I'd much rather have a 2-1 defensive duel than an 8-1 blowout
Nothing better than a 2-1 or 3-2 game with good goaltending and few penalties. Every shift could produce a potential game winning goal, no matter which period.
Great channel love the videos, you don’t need misleading titles. Keep up the good work!!
The new generation of players is way more skilled. Especially in the offence. McDavid effect, he came and set the bar higher than anyone ever.
Is he even genetically human? We have to check.
More fights>More goals
it's just an era without good goaltending, big hits, or fights. i'd cut the goal production in half, just to get the rest of the game back.
The NHL is a shit show that has never learned any lessons. Case in point: everyone seems to forget Jaromír Jágr’s “lost season” of 1999-2000 and the media has no interest in reminding them. At the end of Dec 1999 Jaromír was on pace to score 70-80+ goals, rack up 170-180+ points and finish 40+ points ahead of the entire rest of the league in the scoring race. And this was at the height of the Dead Puck Era, with NO Mario OR Ron Francis on that team. As coaches throughout the league were saying - Jaromír is doing it all on his own. Had he been able to finish that season - it would’ve been record shattering - the biggest margin of victory since 99 beat Mario 183-108 (I believe it was - in ‘86-‘87. And side note - ANY person who actually tries to claim that a player like Peter Forsberg or Mats Sundin was just as good as Jágr, is a flipping moron) It was a GOLDEN opportunity to attract new fans, promote interest in the game - and what did the NHL do? They PISSED IT AWAY. Why? Because they weren’t about to allow a Euro born, raised and trained in a Commie Country to enjoy a dominating season like that. When play resumed in Jan ‘00 the refs put away their whistles, it became open season on Jaromír and his record shattering season was destroyed thanks to a cheap shot from Mike Peca. Peca tried to take him out at the knee, clearly hoping to leave him with a season ending (if not career ending) injury, Jágr managed to avoid a direct hit, but Peca rammed his knee into Jaromír’s thigh so hard, he developed a haematoma in it that required hospitalization and he was knocked out of the lineup for 12-15 consecutive games. He came back, scored 6 points (3g, 3a) in his first two games back, before being injured again in only his 4th game back - this cheap hit courtesy of Dan McGillis. And the only thing the NHL & media will say is - in an era of low scoring games, Jaromír Jágr won the ‘99-‘00 scoring race with 96 points. The NHL is STILL it’s own worst enemy. You know why? Because they’re still doing the same shit they did back then. When Jaromír left the NHL to play in Russia - his father was interviewed by a member of the Czech media and had some REALLY damning shit to say that highlights EVERYTHING that is wrong with the NHL. He stated that, sometime in 2000 that Jaromír was BLUNTLY told that America (and they didn’t specify if he meant the US or North America as a whole) DID NOT WANT him to be the face of the NHL, that the league was NEVER going to allow him to play up to his potential and dominate it the same way 99 and Mario had (even though he was clearly capable of doing so) and that the media here was NEVER going to give him credit for just how great of a player he was. If the NHL had ONE OUNCE of common sense, they would’ve promoted the SHIT out of Jaromír Jágr - because he had it all - the most dynamic, talented, exciting player in the league and he also had the looks and the charisma - the man’s personality alone lit up the entire arena. He didn’t just play hockey - he PUT ON A SHOW - EVERY DAMN NIGHT. And the NHL is STILL doing the same shit. McDavid racks up a lot of points and is a good little white bread Canadian. Therefore he is the official “face” of the NHL, gets promoted by the media, etc. Big Shit - the guy also has ZERO personality, a bowl of tapioca has more charisma, and he’s also frankly unattractive. And that’s what it often boils down to - it doesn’t just have to do with parity around the league, how much players are paid, if games are high scoring or not. What turns off A LOT of potential fans and I’ve seen it happen repeatedly - is the fact that the league is STILL absolute shit when it comes to promoting the players who are a great blend of talented, charismatic and marketable - preferring to promote players who might be talented, but are bland, unattractive and/or boring as crap.
I absolutely hate it. Defense and great goaltending is what makes the game exciting, so when you see guys with too much room just running over teams it really annoys me. I want physical play, blocked shots, highlight reel saves, and most importantly 1-0 shutouts
These still happen in the playoffs when the real hockey starts. You get the best of both worlds, current stars reaching records that haven't been seen in the past 25 years and then the most entertaining hockey ever without crossing the line of barbarianism.
Number of goals per game is not a reflection of the quality of the spectacle. I've seen so many games that ended up 2-1 or 3-2 that were infinitely more thrilling than most high tally scorelines.
sounds like u know hockey unlike most of the commentators on here
More proof on how if ovi and Gretzky switched eras ovi would always come out on top
That's always going to be a dumb thing to say because it's not as simple as placing a player in the 80s
Do you mean if you sent Ovi back in time with his gear from the 2000s to face a bunch of players with wooden sticks and poor skate technology?
Because yeah sure, that's obvious and would apply to more than half the league.
Or do you mean if Ovi had to grow up back then and learn to play hockey in the 70s?
Because that's not so obvious at all. Gretzky was miles ahead of his peers, dont know what makes you think Ovi would have found a way to revolutionize the game in that era even more than Gretzky
cough Mario Lemieux 1993 1996 2001.. cough
Stopped watching NHL 20 years ago, shot themselves in the foot when they went on strike.
I always say Sidney Crosby is the greatest hockey player of all time, and Alex Ovechkin is the greatest goal scorer or all time because they put up their insane numbers in the modern era. Goaltending in previous eras was an absolute joke. Put those 2 in gretzky’s era or Bossy’s era, and I believe they’d be better.
No it was not "an absolute joke". It was a different style that you're not used to seeing, that does not have as good of results as the butterfly. Brodeur, Roy, and Hasek are still regularly considered the greatest goalies ever, and they all learned that style, and used a hybrid, not a pure butterfly.
@@Jim-pq9pm when I say absolute joke, what I mean is, it was very ineffective compared to goaltending today. Not to mention the difference in pads/equipment. Goaltending is leaps and bounds ahead of where it was before.
@@MuddyTubMedia No, it's not. It's like one or 2 degrees of separation. Like I pointed out, the greatest goalies we have ever had used that style at time. Roy in fact won a stanley cup with that style. And frankly, the size of the pads aren't that important when you consider how tiny the puck is.
lmao.. Mario lemieux had 0.8 goal per game seasons in 3 different decades. gtfo with this wayne and ovi crap
@@That90sShow my name is 87and66. Don’t go thinking I don’t have respect for Mario. He’s the second greatest hockey player of all time IMO, and sometimes I switch him and Sid at 1 and 2. Better than 99. Sad that he had so many health issues and injuries in his career. But I will stand by my statement that Ovi is the greatest goal scorer. Not hockey player. But goal scorer.
At one point the 3 best players in the world were goalies (Hasek, Roy and Brodeur) and were easily the MVP’s of the league. That will never happen again.
They were all pretty amazing. Belfour and Joseph weren't far behind. That Hasek though, he was incredible.
The only reason habs went to the finals last off-season is because they were playing a were good trap game despite not having the best team on paper. Oh and and healthy Price helped alot aswell
You forgot to mention the elimination of the hockey enforcer. The reason Wayne Gretzky scored all those goals is because nobody was allowed to touch him, or else they had to face Semenko or McSorley. The same with Steve Izerman of Detroit, who had Probert and Kocur. Every team had their big guys who protected their star players, but now those days are over. This has significantly cut down the number of goals per game. Players like Crosby and McDavid and Matthews are now unprotected and can be physically taken out of the play.
The traditional enforcer is gone, but it has opened the door to players like Brady Tkachuk being so important that I will inevitable bring more players who can hit and score. Back in the day a player like Gretzky could single handedly carry a teams offence that it was fine to have a player with brick hands and feet. With the way hockey players are developing, skill + grit will be that role.
"The dumbest of all, the two line pass would be removed" are you saying the two line pass was a bad rule? Because it existed for many decades. It was a perfectly fine rule that made the trek through the neutral zone more strategic. It was good to remove It, I think, but it was fine for it's time
One of the major reasons is the playoff teams in the East have long been decided so playing wide open hockey is no longer a risk.
Is this about the leafs failing in the first round again?
🤣
I thought the same thing lol
As a leafs fan ill accept that. Unlike the other idiot saying mathews is made of glass and weak and needs others to prop himself up. Some ppl just make shit up
The leafs are built different this year . I don't see Boston or Washington or Tampa taking them out in the first round . It was a weird set of circumstances and barring serious injury I only see them being better as they have only gotten better as the year has progressed ...look at their last 17 games 13-2-2 that's ridiculous ..no teams want to meet them early in the playoffs
They can't lose forever . I think combined losing last year in such a dramatic ugly fashion and then losing Hyman to salary cap has actually made them a more well rounded team . Now every player gets in the corner and goes after the lucks and not just waits for Hyman . Even the best teams in the league have no answer for their first 3 lines . ..i grabbed my leafs to win the cup back in the fall and am so excited that there is a legit chance I get to go-to the casino and cash that badboy in
I'd argue that quality of goals also matters. No one wants to watch 15 lazy goals from the blue line every game lol
Look at years where a new team entered the league...and see if the avg ppg increased the year or 2 after their entrance. In 1979, if i remember well 4 teams came in!! Coincidence?
No, but that still doesn't explain away the greatness of Gretzky and Lemieux and Orr. They certainly benefited from a statistical inflation. However, one could also argue that video replay, no red line, and 3 v 3 ot also inflates scoring. McDavid is almost guaranteed to score in 3 v 3 OT. Remember that they had to get rid of 4v4 penalties because Gretzky was too good. You guys never put enough thought into this goofy argument
@@Jim-pq9pm Yes Gretzky and Lemieux were awesome players. But they are not the only ones contributing to the high avg ppg for the league. The entire league had a high average. I also believe that there are multiple reasons and that i like your points as well. Many differences and explanation for sure. Today we have Matthews and McDavid, still the average is not has high as Crosby and Ovechkin. So we have to look beyond the great players. Are there other factors at play between the 1980s to today? Great Video Rob!
@@ericgirouard1481 "But they are not the only ones contributing to the high avg ppg"
Yes, but the gap between those two and the rest is massive. Steve Yzerman put up 155 points, which is the highest point total by from someone other than 99 and 66
@@Jim-pq9pm - And "second tier" stars like Yzerman, Savard, Robitaille and many others were still SUPER entertaining to watch....it's not like kids these days think, that it was a bunch of hacks that just got lucky.
I logged in into my backup Account to give two likes on the Video. One for the great Hockey Content and one for the Goodboy at the end.
Give me a 2 to 1 ot game over the nonsense 11 goal games.. perhaps it's cause I play net but I love solid defensive games
Ewww no. Games should have an average of 1 goal per period by each team. People don't watch hockey for defense. Go watch soccer if that's what you want
I can see from a person that plays net you hate to see the score run up . But watching the video of Mathews first 50 goals this year this kid is truly special ...he aims for the post half the time and has perfected the goal without a goalie leaving anything open . He has turned the post from the goalies best friend to his own personal assistant
an 8-7 game is fun and entertaining once in a while, but if you start getting them every day it's a mockery of the sport. A 3-2 game is probably the optimal hockey score. Maybe 4-3, if you like a little more offense.
@@dwayneb72 he is a tallent that's forsure.. anyone who puts the puck in 50 times in 1 season in today's NHL is awesome..
The last thing the NHL needs is to become another NBA style league. Great defense makes goals more explosive. The intensity of the NHL is due to sparse scoring and all out effort up and down the ice. The last thing hockey needs is to have their stars refusing to participate in defense in order to cherry pick points.
Seems like a lot of people are complaining about rules or non rules that existed in the 80s and 90s. But no one can honestly tell me that todays hockey is better than 80s and 90s hockey. Hockey today is beyond watered down with teams and very high talent yet low energy
NHL is a joke anymore. No hit league. You can barely even call it hockey anymore. It’s more like mortified shinny from millionaires
Much larger goalies, wearing much larger equipment, in better shape, a more effective playing style (stand-up goalies went extinct a long time ago), better goalie coaching, aided by video analysis, have all played a huge role in the decrease in scoring since the mid-90's. Look at how much of the net shooters could see back then! In his prime, could Gretzky score 92 goals in today's NHL? He wouldn't stand a chance in hell.
Idk if you’ve ever watched jxmmyhighroller or not, but your content is literally a hockey version of his and I love it, you two are probably my favourite sports TH-camrs right now
He is definitely my inspiration 👌🏼
Good stuff man, thanks much for that passion. What I noticed about the difference between Matthews and Grezky's goal scoring is that 99's goals were contributing to filling Stanley Cups , not just stat lines , much like that those fellas in Edmonton right now, just ribbing for fun . Who's knows maybe these guys will get to press the cup over their head soon enough. That would be good for hockey .
Beautiful video ! Your videos have gotten better in time . Your hard work shows . I love your comments as they may know more than I . Your comments section is well informed , you are drawing the cream . I was around in the early 80's and watched Bossy . His career was shortened , but a video with your meticulous research would be appreciated . Another suggestion would be undrafted goalies , Belfour , Curtis Joseph etc.... (5 would be easy ) The Russians had a line of Federov , Bure , and Mogilny , this would be interesting . Just keep making videos as they are great recently ! THANX
I think it's an anomaly due to goaltending shortages. The amount of teams that had to rely on back-up and third and fourth string goaltenders for significant amounts of time has helped raise goal scoring to these heights.
Very true, also just the amount of non-NHL caliber players a team may have to relay on, any given night, because of the covid rules, mixed with regular injuries. will be intresting to see if the trend continues next season or not.
He's been at or near a 50 goal pace every season except his rookie. He just put up 50 goals in the previous 50 games, a feat not accomplished since 1996 by Mario Lemieux himself.
@@Jim-pq9pm This comment, and video, isn't just based off of defensive liability Matthews, even though it features him. A lot of players across the NHL are having career years and it's partially due to lackluster goaltending. This also isn't to take anything away from the feats players like Matthews, Draisaitl and Huberdeau have accomplish this year or any super star feats they may accomplish in the future.
I am just saying, league wide, this scoring will not be sustainable as goaltending (or defensive structures) improves next year as there won't be a 100 plus goalies suiting up in a 32 team league.
@@deltagolavista1 Bold prediction. Scoring has been trending up for the last 5 years or so. I would chalk this up to simply there being a lot of talent. Talent inspires other players to improve, it fires up rivals and encourages players who otherwise might have an average career to get better. Goaltending from my point of view has reached it's peak. Players know what goalies do, goalies don't really have anything else to improve on atm.
The year Gretzky eclipsed the 200 point mark there were only three teams in the west that finished with over a .500 record. In the east, there were seven teams over .500 wins. Goalies were smaller and wore next to nothing in equipment compared to today. The players were about 2" in height shorter on average and about 20 lbs lighter than today. Put a guy on a stacked team where the dynasties of the Habs and Islanders were pretty much over, voila! 200 points.
The reason for the rise in goals is one thing only and that is the number of power plays. Do a simple of PowerPlay Goals per year.
The NHL makes it is easier to call a power play so the chance of a goal rises.
Good hits are now penalties. Players turning their backs towards incoming hitters. In my day, no one ever turned their back and now you see purposeful turns to get hit so their lips get cut on the glass and 4 min. The NHL is lame this past 27 years. I played with an NHL player and also a current head coach...love hockey, but the NHL has turned lame. Playoffs are where the real game begins; regular season is unwatchable.
There's no goaltender in Basketball and they make tons of bucket per games. Remove the goalie from hockey and you'll have plenty of goals too.
Trivia point; New Jersey Devil took the style from the SHL - from DIF specifically, in the early 90s. Another fun fact. DIF got demoted from the SHL this year.
1 Cable TV taking it away from local TV stations forcing older viewers to subscribe to Cable Sports channels. It used to play on CBC without the need of cable
2 the violence hasn’t translated well among the new generation and today’s modern sensibilities
3 the continuous scandals surrounding abuse that isn’t resolved
4 it’s the least diverse sport out of the Big 4 in North America
5 Least accessible sport to play. There's something about witnessing a basketball or soccer ball... catching or running a football for a touchdown, hitting a home run... no one picks up a hockey stick unless they play hockey so they wouldn't be able to take in the moment. Hockey runs on excitement thats it
Goalies were terrible in the 80's. No one played any sort of schemed defense. Having said that, i prefer 80's hockey.
Man I live in a small town and I have lots of friends that love your content. I am obviously one of them. Your vids are great, keep up the good work
Defensive games where goals are more important are so much more exciting than stupid ADHD 10 goals per game
It was really the 95-96 Panthers that killed hockey for multiple decades. They played Tackle Hockey and got to the Cup finals with their trash roster and got Mario to retire
the only thing the NHL should be concerned about is how bad their marketing is.
Every wings game is a high scoring game for the other team 😭