Ok so lets talk hockey. New details are coming out on a daily basis about “the deal” (by the way, why are their no good hockey blogs that aren’t devoted to a single team?) and nothing I’ve read leads me to believe that hockey will be in any better shape than it was before Bob and Gary decided to glory-hole the game*… And nothing I read today (averaging salaries for cap measurement purposes, increasing salaries for less-talented players, etc. Toss in the shortened free agency period and rushed arbitration process and you can almost guarantee a frenzy of bad contracts and questionable signings. Given the complete lack of willpower demonstrated to this point by owners and GM’s to improve the on-ice program, those efforts also look pretty pathetic.
It’s pretty clear that the easiest way to fix hockey would be to properly call obstruction penalties. Right now the game’s problems are a lack of offense, a lack of offense, and too much defense. Calling shitty players like Micheal Peca (he’s like Bobby Clarke without the skating ability, and he hides his shit better), Bryan Marchment and the endless number of fourth line hangers-on for their continued interference with people skating, passing and shooting (you know, HOCKEY) would go a long way to helping hockey. So why doesn’t it happen? Well that’s simple; right now there are probably about 150 players in the NHL that would become COMPLETELY USELESS if this were to happen. They’d be like Wade Belak without the fighting talent (or commercial acting chops.) This gives the NHLPA a pretty reason to maintain the status quo, and the people running those teams that defend on stifling the game and even better reason. If obstruction was actually called properly Minnesota would have about fifteen wins in their last four seasons.
Sadly, the rule change efforts are designed in the same way as the CBA process. Owners and players have struggled valiantly to restore a sort of balance, but not by fixing any structural problems; merely by creating a new set of checks and balances. They’ve essentially pulled their finger out of the dyke, put talcum powder on it, and plunged it back in rather than actually fixing the whole.
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