NHL Fixing Goal Scoring: Simple Solution

NHL fixing goal scoring tends to be a heavily talked about topic in the media right now, and it sounds as though the league will attempt to address the issue at meetings in March. The news came on Wednesday on TSN’s “That’s Hockey 2Nite”. A segment was dedicated to NHL fixing goal scoring by former NHL goaltender, and hockey analyst Jamie Mclennan.

NHL Fixing Goal Scoring: Reduce the Size of Equipment

In a segment called “Pad 2 Pad”, Mclennan suggested reducing the size of goaltender’s equipment, while at the same time making safety top priority in the process. Even Mclennan says what many fans have been muttering lately, the technology is there to make the necessary changes.

Oct 28, 2015; Ottawa, Ontario, CAN; Calgary Flames goalie Jonas Hiller (1) stretches prior to the start of the second period against the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre. The Senators defeated the Flames 5-4 in a shootout. Mandatory Credit: Marc DesRosiers-USA TODAY Sports

According to Jamie, the goaltenders pads are fine. The issue comes in with the arm and chest protectors, along with the pants. He suggests a “more formed to the body piece of equipment” for the arm and chest protectors, opposed to the squared off padding they wear now.

Mclennan does claim the pants to arguably be the biggest issue, and that they should be streamlined to the body (goaltenders from the 1980s are an excellent example).

He made the comparison that most experts are making with Ryan Miller and Carey Price. Miller is roughly 5’11 170lbs, while Price is roughly 6’3 215lbs. Yet, when they compare pictures of the two, its pointed out how similar they look, despite a 50 pound difference. There’s something seriously wrong with that logic.

One intriguing suggestion was made by the TSN hockey analyst, in which he proposed the NHL could go back to the old box crease, forcing goalies to play a little deeper in their nets.

Kings goalie Quick Makes Similar Suggestion

Los Angeles Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick had whispered similar remarks recently to the LA Times that echo much of what Jamie Mclennan said.

"via LA Times,“The easy way is, like all right, let’s just make the nets bigger because it’s just saying, ‘We don’t give a crap to try to actually do it the right way and put as many people on the payroll to get it down the right way,'” Quick said. “So that’s the easy way. Make the net bigger and let the goalies do whatever they want.”Quick was well-versed and outspoken when he addressed the issue after practice Wednesday and admitted it has been on his mind after talking to colleagues. The league plans to readdress the topic in March.“If you look around the league and you look at goalies — in their street clothes and then with their gear on — the difference in size, it’s a little too much,” Quick said. “So I’m on board with that…. The biggest difficulty with gear is body size and body type. It’s so hard to get a standard on who can wear what and what size everyone is…. Once guys get gear, some guys make changes and try to make adjustments to make it look a little bigger.”"

Consistency is Key

Media had proposed the question of either increasing the goal size or reducing the size of equipment to two NHL goaltenders, Pekka Rinne and James Reimer. Rinne’s answer was short, simply saying “that sounds crazy to me”. Meanwhile, James Reimer made a comparison to soccer, that “the most popular game in the world commonly ends in 1-0 results”. Typical goalie answer.

It’s not the NHL’s fault that hockey is the only game that seems to be constantly evolving and changing. Soccer has been played the same way forever. If the NBA started seeing results that looked more like NCAA basketball scores, there would be panic, and cause for concern.

In 2005-06, the NHL’s goal per game rate was 6.1, while last season and early this season the rate sits at 5.3. Let’s not forget how high the goal per game rates were back when Wayne Gretzky was accumulating over 200 points in a season. Fans aren’t even asking for close to that.

The NHL should be seeking consistency with its goal scoring rate. Perhaps the goal rate will never again reach the heights of the days when Wayne Gretzky or Mario Lemieux played, but the league should have an idea of where they’d feel comfortable for a goal per game rate.

Players today should have a legitimate shot at all-time scoring records, as there’s no reason why goaltenders should be putting up astronomically good numbers in the post-cap era. For example, if the league says we’d be comfortable between 5.8-6.5 gpg, then you constantly make necessary changes to ensure goal scoring stays in the proper range.

Next: Patrick Kane's 10-Game Point Streak

This isn’t rocket science, it’s rather simple solutions that have been talked about and suggested for several years now, only to be met with resistance from goaltenders. The league has taken extreme steps to help better protects its players, and especially its goaltenders. Unfortunately, goaltenders have taken advantage of that finding competitive edges. But those days are becoming numbered, and we should start to see the necessary changes to increase goal production in the NHL as early as next season.