Tale of two games, two eras

First off, god bless Canadian television for playing hockey games on the tube. It was that or "Will & Grace" and I know I would have thrown a brick at the TV.

Anywho, I was watching TSN and the St. John's Maple Leafs were playing the Binghamton Senators. The AHL had put rules into play which would.....I guess you could say, redefine the game as we know it. They have wider lines and markings where the goalies can't play the puck. Frankly, I'd like to see the goalie tether put into play and have that work as a restriction to the goalies wandering. Of course, we could only hope for that.

You can't really notice the difference of the lines on the fly. You have to wait until the play stops to see that the players look like shrimps out there compared to the lines. I don't know how they've been working so far, but I haven't heard much bitching yet. Of course, the other things the people aren't too fond of:

1. The Shootout: People don't like it because they'd rather see a tie to end a game. Now I'm not saying that it should be used all whilly nilly, but I think it's a good way to end a game. The thing the AHL and all leagues that use a shootout need to do is to extend the overtime period. Five minutes isn't enough to decide a winner in a tie. Make it 10 or even 15, then go to a shootout; it'll be appreciated more.
2. Automatic Icing: Now here's one for the people who don't want to see someone break their ankle. As much as it's a good safety rule; it will kill the flow of a game in the long run. Plus, it could slow a game down which, to that point, was nice and exciting. Call me crazy, but I'm not sold on it yet.
3. The Goalie Boundry: If you haven't seen it, the basis of it is that there are two lines caddycorner from the net and that's where the goalie can play the puck. Anything outside that would be 2 minutes for delay of game. This brings me back to my goalie tether idea; it'll cut down on the roaming of the goalies and create excitement and anticipation for the goalie to bust their ass.

Now, that's just what I'm thinking-- you can make your own assumption.

After that game was done on TSN, I flipped to Sportsnet to see Game One of the 1990 Stanley Cup Finals between the Edmonton Oilers and the Boston Bruins from Boston Gardens.

Talk about the return to bliss. The Gardens was probably the most unique arena of its decades and decades of standing. Not to mention, the small ice and all the atmosphere that comes with it. But that was not the only thing I saw and loved:

• The small neutral zone
• The tag-up offsides rule
• Small goalie equipment
• Andy Moog and Bill Ranford's mask
• Cam Neely in a Bruin's jerseys
• Zdeno Ciger's space helmet

All of that was golden back in the day. The whole world seemed right. Then the NHL got too technical for its own good and then they put the cart before the horse and it's a crap product now. If that can be changed either one way or another, the the sport could become a "major" sport again.

But, you can't live in the past and with this case-- you can hope it repeats itself for the betterment of the game.

This has been ScottyWazz. Take care of yourself and someone else. PEACE!!