Six years removed from an ugly lockout that cost the NHL an entire season and who knows how many thousands of casual fans, the League, thanks to stellar Cup Finals match-ups the last three years, has started to raise again in popularity and has started winning back some of those casual fans. And with both the NFL and NBA facing possible labor issues in the near future, who knows what exposure the NHL could be getting soon.

Regardless of other leagues' situations, it's time for the NHL to look at the changes made six years ago and reevaluate some of them and certain avenues they affect. Namely the points system, shootouts and the trapezoid.

Let's start first with the trapezoid because it's the easiest to talk about. To help open up offense, the NHL decided to pain arbitrary lines on the ice below the red line to create a trapezoid shape where the goalies could play the puck. Thanks to goalies like Rick DiPietro, Martin Brodeur and Marty Turco, guys who could really handle the puck in the corners, the NHL wanted to limit goalies handling the puck. Too many times in the old NHL would a team try to dump and chase, just to have the goalie skate out to the corner, stop the puck and lob out back into the neutral zone. The hope was that limiting goalie play in the corners would give offenses better shots and successfully deploying the dump and chase and increase scoring. no comments

[daysoforr] We know every other Bruins blog out there has already done a post on this, but whatever. We think Matt Kalman over at theBruinsBlog.net had the first post about it -- least the first one we saw. So thanks to him for pointing this out to Bs fans.

Last night Don Cherry called Andrew Ference out for calling out (?) Daniel Paille's bad hit. And by called out we mean Grapes ripped Ference a new asshole. no comments

Only once a year do the Boston Bruins and Dallas Stars get to renew acquaintances in today’s NHL. But you wouldn’t know it watching them.

Steve Ott and Gregory Campbell dropped gloves one second into the night’s action, and although Campbell left the ice bloodied, his actions bolstered his teammates to get behind him. Shawn Thornton and Krystofer Barch went at it only a second later, and after a dearth of action in the two seconds following that fight, Adam McQuaid absolutely destroyed Brian Sutherby. 

When asked if the fights were carryover from the last time Dallas visited TD Garden, not one Bruin said that they were. “There’s a place for fighting in our game,” Blake Wheeler said, “I don’t think any of them were premeditated, but you saw what they did. The place was rocking.” no comments

 A few weeks ago, my buddy Jared Aulin invited me to join a group he had started on Facebook.  I clicked the link, and became wrapped up in a story so powerful that I couldn’t resist wanting to share it with the world.  He formed the group to support his friend, Tommy Frew, in pursuit of his dreams; mainly a dream to make an epic comeback to the sport he loves so much.  You may already be familiar with Tommy’s story, as Justin Bourne reintroduced him to the hockey world this past fall.  You can read Justin’s insightful account of Tommy’s story here. 

I asked Jared for a little more on Tommy’s story.  I was intrigued, and I wanted to know more.  Jared was kind enough to oblige, and share his impressions of Tommy with us to show the world what they’ll in get in return simply by investing support in this most persistent of hockey warriors:

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The first ever NHL All-Star Fantasy Draft is officially over and both team rosters are set. I will get to the draft picks in a second but let’s look at the overall production and entertainment value of this whole thing.

Prior to the start I was very curious to see how the NHL would have the stage set up, how the convention would be set up, how it would be hosted and so on and so forth. The stage, as the Daily News’s  Jesse Spector pointed out, was very reminiscent of the set up they had on Double Dare or similar to a game show setup. Two podiums set up on the left and right of the stage with the team names on front and the three captains standing behind it. My initial guess would have been that the stage would have looked more like the traditional entry draft stage. no comments

Congratulations to all Bruins Fans, and members of the Media for having another opportunity to dust off your favourite draft pick jokes. The draft had some marginal appeal as the rounds went on and the teams began to take shape, but there were a few flaws in the presentation. Here's a couple of quick thoughts:

- There is no need for a panel, these are teams for an All-Star game, it requires about as much analysis as roster selection for the World Hockey Championships. Just quietly let the chips fall and get ready to watch meaningless hockey

- No everyone needs to be interviewed. Patrick Kane made it interesting with his Toews snub, and Eric Staal making his brother sweat had some entertainment value, but as usual the majority of comments were bland and lopping half an hour off the run time would have been appreciated no comments

 

It was January 27th, 1996. 15 years ago today. The Los Angeles Kings were coming off an 8-2 drubbing by the hands of the Hartford Whalers and headed into this game against the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim with a 16-22-11 overall record. The Kings would go on to finish that season 23rd out of 26 NHL teams while missing the playoffs for the 3rd consecutive year since making it to the Stanley Cups finals in 1993. Over the course of the 1995-96 season, the Kings would trade away such fan-favorites as Rick Tocchet, Pat Conacher, Darryl Sydor, Jari Kurri, Marty McSorley and yes, even Wayne Gretzky. But when talking about that game on January 27th 15 years ago, none of this is important. For this was the game where it was unveiled.

Hypnotizing, isn't it?

That's right, 15 years ago today, the 3rd jersey affectionately referred to as "The Burger King Jersey" made its Hollywood debut at the Great Western Forum. And in a Royal Half Investigative Team Exclusive.. we take an in-depth look at how this logo came to be… how it came to be worn on a jersey… and how it went away, just as soon as it arrived.

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Welcome to the Days of Y'Orr Round Table discussion. This is a new, semi-regular feature we're going to try out in which the DOY crew discuss important -- and sometimes trivial -- matters of hockey.  [daysoforr]

This first edition of the DOY Round Table discusses whether or not Marc Savard, after receiving his fourth concussion and second in 10 months, should hang up his skates and retire. Leave your thoughts in the comment section. no comments

I'm a little puzzled at how some fans and media members aren't making a bigger deal about Ryan Miller's performance this year. Maybe people aren't making such a big deal about it because Miller is well liked by the press and by the fans. It's kind of like Lindy Ruff in a way. God forbid anyone call out the coach because he's a quote machine and a hero to some in Buffalo. As for Miller, sometimes, when a franchise gets a star, the city (Including press and fans) can either be extremely hard on him for not achieving expectations or they can treat him with kid's gloves because they really want the guy to succeed. In a city like Buffalo, which for the most part, is a city that wants its players to love the region more so than love the team, maybe, getting on Miller would rock the boat on his opinion of the city. "Hey, he's a star! Lets be happy that he choose to stay here instead of going to Detroit."  

By far, he's had the biggest drop of any Sabres player from last year. For the season, Miller has a 19-14-4 record and has GAA of 2.69, which ranks 27th in the NHL. Miller, has had 18 games this year where he's given 3 goals or more, and by comparison to last year, the number was at 24.

So, what's wrong with Miller? I know some may believe that it has to do with the defense and that the lost of Hank/Toni are a big part of it, but I don't buy that. How many games last year did Miller steal? Way too many. Sure, there were some games where he let in just one goal on 22 weak ass shots, but for the most part, he was our backbone. Don't tell me that Tyler Myers was the team MVP and he was the reason Miller played so well. Miller was in the zone last year. 
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Here’s the ugly truth of being a referee:  No matter how well you do your job, you’re going to piss someone off.

It’s going to happen at every single game you ever officiate, and sometimes it’s going to get nasty.  Whether you’re reffing the NHL, AHL, ECHL, Juniors, mites, or beer-league, one team is going to walk away from a game unhappy.  Period, the end, no debate necessary.  In most leagues, the players don’t even have the option of a tie to soften the blow.  One team is going to lose, whether in regulation or sixteen rounds into a shootout, and there’s always someone for whom that doesn’t sit well.  Often, there’s a whole lot of someones.  They’re going to be understandably upset, and it’s natural to want to cast blame as far from home as possible.  It’s easy to look back and say “if this call had happened” or “if they hadn’t called that penalty” and blame an outcome on the referees.  Sometimes that blame is deserved; often it isn’t (a topic for another day, or possibly a half-dozen op-ed compilation books).

After the jump, more on both sides of the blame game.... no comments