The Tao of Ken

I recently got into an email conversation with a friend of mine from Drexel, Ken. He's a big Flyers fan and definitely knows hockey well. We were talking about the USA v. Canada game and how much better it was than the average NHL game. The issue of fighting came up and it triggered his thoughts on how to improve the NHL. I'm not going to try to rewrite his thoughts, so here they are:

i dont think eliminating fighting had anything to do with the awesomeness of that game.

the only difference would have been a couple fights would have broken out and the game would have been delayed a bit for the fights.

the real thing this game showed is the need for contraction of the NHL.

you put the best condensed talent on the ice and you just see the amazing results.

here's what happens. you reduce the number of teams -> increase the difficulty of getting into the NHL -> raise skill level of average player -> more skilled player usually = less of a fighter -> reduce fighting in the NHL.

Now this im in favor of... wait what? A flyers fan in favor of reducing fighting you say? You dont want to eliminate fighting, too many cheapshots and slashing and other penalties would happen out of frustration. And it would be very hard to pass a rule that says no more fighting.

However if you do what i said above you will naturally reduce the amount of fighting and eliminate "enforcers". That's the real problem, is that your Riley Cote's of the world are still able to make the NHL. When you have 30 teams and a reduced level of skill to get to the professional level, it opens the door for guys to make the NHL who have just enough skill, but are there to primarily be assholes.

If two skilled tough guy players get into a fight, then fine. But if you got guys out there on the ice that are pretty much paid to fight, thats where your problem lies.

I've wanted for years for the NHL to expand. But Garry Betteman blows giant horse cock, and still wants to expand. He thinks the NHL should be able to compete with the NFL and MLB. Then he wonders why no watches the stanley cup finales when the anahiem ducks and tampa bay lightning are in it.

the bottom line is it's a niche sport, and even though fans of hot weather teams, might act pissed in the end about having their team taken away, it's just too bad, they shouldnt have a hockey team in the first place. and whenever their teams are even mediocre the fanbase deserts the team.

it's ridiculous that a team like the Toronto Maple Leafs hasnt won a cup in 60 years or whatever and the tampa bay lightning, carolina hurricanes, and anaheim ducks have won cups.

what i think should happen is you pretty much knock out all the teams in the southern and western divisions except the Capitals, maybe the Carolina Hurricanes just to keep one kinda mid-south team, the San Jose Sharks (by far the best fanbase of the Cali teams) for all California renamed the California Sharks; possibly merge the NY Islanders and New Jersey Devils into the "Long Island Devils". Keep the Columbus Blue Jackets because they're a northern team. Re-add the Winnipeg Jets and Quebec Nordiques. With the deletion of the Dallas Stars, give Minnesota back its original franchise name - the Minnesota Northstars, and possibly add another big northern american city in the west like Seattle to cover the West besides California.

Re-arrange the divisions into either 2 divisions of 6 per conference awarding only the 2 spots for division winners just to eliminate any chance of a week division. And you get:

Eastern Conference
Atlantic
Philadelphia Flyers
Pittsburgh Penguins
New York Rangers
Washington Capitals
Long Island Devils
Carolina Hurricanes

Northeast
Montreal Canadiens
Boston Bruins
Quebec City Nordiques
Toronto Maple Leafs
Ottawa Senators
Buffalo Sabres


Western Conference
Central
Chicago Blackhawks
Detroit Red Wings
St. Louis Blues
Winnipeg Jets
Columbus Blue Jackets
Colorado Avalanche

Northwest
Edmonton Oilers
Calgary Flames
Minnesota Northstars
Vancouver Canucks
California Sharks
Seattle

boom. 24 teams. just the right amount. more talent. more excitement. better league.

Overall, I like his thoughts on contraction. I'm not sure I agree with all the teams that will be eliminated/created/merged but I think he's on the right track. A month ago I would have said he was crazy to move the Devils, but after going to a Friday night game when they're #2 in the conference and seeing it 2/3 full at most, I might have to agree with him. Either way, I think this is an NHL that could expand its fanbase (though it won't match the NFL or MLB) and produce a quality product (and probably a profit). Most importantly, it's probably an NHL that AK can get behind.