Michael Griffiths
Rock n' Roll Doggie
Here's the problem: The NHL should not have moved the nets forward an extra 3 feet from the back boards a few years ago. This did two things: 1) it created much more of a cycle game down low, which I personally find boring. Even Gretzky said he preferred less room behind the net, as it helped him (and others) retrieve the puck there and make plays more easily. There's just waaaay too much room back there now. Players cannot use the net as a decoy as much anymore to protect the puck because there's much more room for checkers to surround a player back there now. And 2), perhaps the biggest problem of all (yet perhaps the most subtle) with having the nets an extra 3 feet from the boards, is there's less room in the neutral zone. Consequently, it's easier for teams to trap. We all know the trap isn't a recent invention. It's just much easier to employ now, and the rule changes in the mid 90s are a big reason for that. With less room in the neutral zone, players have less space to build an attack, forcing them to dump and chase as soon as they hit the red line.
It's no coincidence that scoring in the NHL went down tremendously as soon as Gary Bettman introduced the 3 extra feet behind each goal.
It's no coincidence that scoring in the NHL went down tremendously as soon as Gary Bettman introduced the 3 extra feet behind each goal.
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