Even complainers happy

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/08/2010 (5727 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When the longest-serving member of the local and well-established Curmudgeon Club doesn’t have a problem, what’s the sense in an overhaul?

The condition of the National Hockey League — on the ice — is just fine.

The odd tinker? Sure.

But professional hockey in North America, being played at the highest level, has never been better.

That was the thought of my father, a guy who’s been ready with a critique since watching Teeder Kennedy patrol the ice at storied Maple Leaf Gardens in the late 1940s and ’50s.

His reaction to last season was, essentially, don’t change a thing.

And NHL commissioner Gary Bettman was (gasp) correct during the 2009-10 playoffs when he tried to steer CBC’s Ron McLean away from talking negatively about the state of the sport, and focus on the spirited, entertaining spectacle going on the ice. (Although, it’s always fun to watch Gary’s hackles rise).

It doesn’t take an octogenarian to understand that the National Hockey League’s game is on solid ground. In a large way, we can thank the NHL Network for that one.

Part of the network’s programming package includes televising “classic” games from the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s.

Honestly, I thought my Sony had swallowed sleeping pills.

The pace of play is not — let’s keep this kind — up to snuff compared to what we’ve witnessed the past few winters. This is certainly not news. The athletes are (as has been stated dozens of times) faster, stronger and more skilled.

The better the player, the better the game?

Apparently so.

However, there are changes that could be made to make the game even better. Here are a few thoughts:

Ban excessive long-term deals: OK, we all sat and grumbled through a hockey-less season in 2004-05 to essentially get the out of whack financial picture in line. I really don’t blame New Jersey for throwing all those clams at Ilya Kovalchuk and keeping him happy until he’s 44, just because the trail had already been blazed. The NHL should have stepped in when Chicago and Detroit were co-abusing the system with equally ridiculous contracts for Marian Hossa and Henrik Zetterberg. Hey, anybody remember Rick DiPietro?

Once and for all, stop wasting time with an all-star game: Honestly, what this trade show has to do with selling the public on the NHL’s greatest stars, is more than a little puzzling. What it has to do with the game-on-the-ice and selling that product to a national audience, is baffling. And think about this: if the all-star weekend gets guzzled, doesn’t that shave a few precious summer days off the end of the season?

Bring in no-touch icing; dump a specific delay of game penalty: Don Cherry’s tombstone is eventually going to have to feature: “Some day some poor defenceman’s gonna’ get killed, I tell ya!” The longtime (and I mean, long) proponent of no-touch icing is right — hockey is a far too dangerous battleground forcing defencemen to fend off flying bodies while going for the touch. And continuing on the case for the defencemen’s union, can we trash the ‘puck-flipping’ penalty over the boards in the defensive zone? Or at least, make it up to the referees to determine if there was intent?

(Last one, promise) Loosen the engagement rule in front of the net: After semi-slamming the hockey in the ’70s and ’80s, one element that should return is allowing the battle for position in front of the goal. Those knock-down (literally) wars were the essence of grit and gumption. Watching guys like Esa Tikkanen, Yvon Lambert, Dave Andreychuk and Tim Kerr battle for position was, gulp, a beautiful thing.

— Postmedia News

Summit agenda

“Ø Monday — Hot stove sessions on contracts, agents and the state of the game

“Ø Tuesday — Q&A with IIHF president René Fasel

“Ø Wednesday — Vancouver 2010 evaluation and Q&A with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman

“Ø Thursday — Hot stove session on women’s hockey after the 2010 Olympics.