Kubo wrote:

Sock wrote: The Devils are fucking annoying because their fans think they're God damn amazing for buying the Cup. And Brodeur is a fucking cocky bitch asshole. He's good, but he could be better if he didn't think he was already the best. The Devils are annoying to you because you're a Rangers fan. And how did they buy the Cup? Lou Lamoriello has historically been known for underpaying his players and still managing to keep them in New Jersey, keeping the Devils competitive year in, year out.

Kubo knows MUCH more about hockey than Sock.

By the way, hockey is awesome in HD. I feel bad because I've been much to occupied with school to keep up completely with hockey, but from what I've watched, it's been a fairly boring season. The oversaturation of interdivisional play really frustrates me; mixing up the schedules really couldn't hurt, y'know? I'm definitely in support of shortening the season from 82 games for the time being, too. It'd be a much smarter move than trying to expand the league to 32 teams.

I think the NHL has a hard time understanding that they did just come off of an entire season off not too long ago. Not everyone is back on the bandwagon, and you can't go back to the way it was in the high times so quickly. They still have a lot of rebuilding to do.

Sock wrote:

Smurf's only a Devil's fan during the playoffs. And if the league moves to 32 teams, there will be less divisional play. Someone proposed six division games a year, then you play two a year against everyone else in the league. I think five per division is enough, but whatever. The schedule isn't the problem, the fact that they're taking physicality out of the game is the problem. The new horseshit rules are the problem. The no fighting with five minutes left is bullshit, the no goalie zone is bullshit, the delay of game when you clear the puck over the boards is bullshit, and this "hooking" malarky is bullshit. They only reason scoring is up is because there's so much power play time. I like the shootout, and I like the two line passing, but the rest of the shit needs to go. They're making this a fucking Euro league.

At least I can stick with a team no matter what, Mr. "I Picked Up the Rangers Because Kasparaitis Went There and My Real Favorite Team Has Blown Goats Since Its Inception".

Don't get me wrong, I can't stand the fact that they're trying to tone down the contact with new rules. Hooking is the worst; they've gotten more leinent on calling it since coming back from the lockout (god knows I'll never forget going to the 'Canes home opener of the '05-'06 season and having to explain to my then-girlfriend that the hooking rule stopping the game every two minutes was bullshit), but it's still a terrible penalty that kills the speed of the game.

As far as expansion goes, there's no need for the NHL to expand or move teams right now. If a team ends up in Kansas City, a town that's NOT a hockey market by any means, then that just goes to show that any fucking town can build a nice new venue that could hold the number of fans for an NHL team and get a franchise. There's a reason that the Scouts only lasted two years in KC in the '70's before moving to Denver and becoming the Rockies: they were $900,000 in debt (about $3.1mil today according to The Inflation Calculator). Of course, there are some markets that would be great for hockey right now...hell knows the league needs more Canadian teams. But for the time being, 30 teams is alright. I'd much rather have it at 28, but if they show they can handle 30, then more power to them.

Intradivisional play...you could easily tone that down without pulling in two more teams. Six games against a team's biggest intradivisional rivals, five against the other two teams (ex.: Devils would play Rangers and Flyers six times, Pens and Flyers five times). Three games against the rest of the teams in your conference, and two games against all of the teams in the other conference. 82 games, every team gets to play every team, rivalries get a little more meaning, and everyone goes home happy. Of course, you'll get people complaining that the Coyotes really don't have two intradivisional rivals...fuck, then pair them up against whoever you have left. Once you form the rival system, you'd be set.

There's just a lot of things about the NHL that frustrate me right now and cause me not to watch. As much as I love the Devils and hate the Rangers, for example, I don't want to see them playing once every ten games. It just wears things out between the two teams when they're playing against each other so often. Add that in with the shitty rule changes, and it's just a very, very hard league to get behind 100% and still be happy about it.

Oh, and there's no apostrophe in "Devils". They're just Devils, as in more than one Devil. The Devil doesn't belong to anyone, Sock. You will learn this one day.