It was a duel between two of the more talented teams in the NHL.
The Stanley Cup champion New Jersey Devils played the Colorado Avalanche to a 1-1 tie Nov. 30 in Denver. Martin Brodeur and David Aebischer matched each other save for save as the teams engaged in a tight-checking game. Despite all of the offensive wattage on the ice at various times, there were few scoring chances and not much excitement.
“One of the 10 most boring games I’ve ever been a part of,” Colorado forward Joe Sakic said after the game.
So imagine what fans in Raleigh and Washington and Pittsburgh and Miami and Phoenix endure each night. It’s no wonder Joe Thornton, one of the game’s rising stars, was openly talking about retiring earlier in the season.
At about the midpoint of the NHL season, the league isn’t giving fans much reason to watch. Thanks to the success of the defensive-minded teams such as the Devils, offense is discouraged and goal scoring is down.
Fewer 50-goal scorers
That’s been the trend for years. In 1992-93, there were 14 players with 50 or more goals. In the last eight seasons, there have been 15 with 50 or more goals.
The average goals per game is 5.1, down from 7.2 in ’92-93. That season 15 teams scored 300 goals or more, while the Red Wings led the league with 269 last season and there are no teams on pace to reach 300 this year.
And it’s not that the players are less skilled.
“They’re actually bigger and more skilled than when I was breaking into the league,” said ESPN analyst Ray Ferraro, who debuted with the Hartford Whalers in 1984. “We just don’t give players a chance to showcase their talent.”
Last season, the league attempted to address the offensive dip by shrinking the size of goaltender equipment and directing referees to enforce obstruction penalties.
As the season wore on, the obstruction calls wavered. And the change of equipment did nothing to help scorers. Dallas goaltender Marty Turco had 1.72 goals-against average, the lowest by a starter since 1940.
This season, Brian Boucher of the Coyotes set a modern shutout record by going 332 minutes 1 second without allowing a goal. And Brodeur has nine shutouts, six shy of Tony Esposito’s post-expansion record of 15 set in 1969-70.
The assault on scorers frustrated Thornton so much that he caused a stir with an offhand comment on TSN in Canada earlier this season. Thornton, who was third in scoring with 101 points last season, said he was frustrated by the lack of calls.
“This might be my last year,” he said. “It’s not worth the pain.”
The next day, Thornton said he had no plans to retire and he was merely frustrated because has nagging back pain.
But Thornton’s whimsical response was telling. Some of the biggest names in hockey say the game needs an adjustment. Mario Lemeiux and Brett Hull have said the game is too restrictive for skilled offensive players and officials must call tighter games.
But that leads to more penalties and even less flow. That’s what happened when the obstruction calls were whistled early last season.
Players need more space
Mark Messier, who played on some of the greatest offensive teams in history with the Oilers in the 1980s, said there needs to be more room for players to roam.
“I would go back to the way the games was played in the ’80s,” Messier said recently. “The offsetting penalties would create more room on the ice … and I think that alone would open the game up, make it more exciting. I don’t know if we’ll ever get as many goals as we scored in the ’80s because the goaltenders, I think, are much better nowadays but I think it would create a little more excitement.”
Commissioner Gary Bettman has been saying the game is in fine shape, although the league has asked general managers and players for input into how the on-ice product can be improved.
Hall of Famer Guy Lafleur, an offensive star from the 1970s, had a different take.
“I’m not a fan,” Lafleur said. “Too many teams. The talent is so diluted. Teams in the NHL today win the Stanley Cup by playing the trap. It’s a good way for coaches to keep their jobs. But for the fans, I don’t think it’s interesting.”
Wayne Gretzky, who set scoring records in the ’80s, said the game goes in cycles and he expects a more wide-open style to return. But with a possible lockout after this season, the NHL could be desperate.
Attendance is down in several markets, most notably Chicago, Carolina, Pittsburgh, Long Island, Nashville and Boston. Last year five teams–the Blackhawks, Nashville, Atlanta, Buffalo and New Jersey–averaged less than 80 percent of their capacity. This year nine teams–the Hawks, Washington, Florida, New Jersey, Atlanta, Islanders, Nashville, Pittsburgh and Carolina–are below 80 percent.
Call for radical changes
Ferraro is a proponent of radical changes. Maybe a shootout if overtime games end in a tie. Perhaps the elimination of the red line to open the neutral zone. Or maybe, he says, the league should move the nets back so there is less room for clutching and grabbing behind the net. Remember, Ferraro says, the NBA once had no three-point shot.
“Change is good,” Ferraro said. “I think the league is scared of change. It’s foolhardy to deny that the sport is in a little trouble as far as the product is concerned. We have to adapt.”
Messier, 43, is more of a traditionalist. He says the need to create more room on the ice is even more necessary now, since players are bigger and quicker than ever before. But he resists the calls for radical changes.
“When you start tampering and changing too many things, it hurts the credibility of the game and what’s gone on in the past, records and things like that,” Messier said. “I don’t think the game needs a lot of changes.”
Dwindling offense
1982-83: Led by Wayne Gretzky’s 71 goals and 196 points, the league had eight 50-goal scorers and 11 players with 100 or more points. Games had an average of 8.6 goals.
1992-93: The season before Jacques Lemaire took over the New Jersey Devils and implemented his defensive system, the league had 14 players with 50 or more goals and 21 with 100 or more points. Goal average: 7.2.
2002-03: There was one 50-goal scorer, Milan Hejduk, and three players with 100 points–Peter Forsberg, Markus Naslund and Joe Thornton. Goal average: 5.30.
This season: Rick Nash of Columbus and Markus Naslund of Vancouver are tied for the lead with 25 goals, a pace of only 46. Points leader is Naslund with 53, projecting to 94. Goal average: 5.1.
