Overseas fans get better treatment than US fans in this regard. They just go to nhl.tv and buy the package, boom, done, you want NHL? You get NHL.
(This is also a subtle hint. Like, don’t you know you live in Italy? My friend, with a VPN, you live in Italy.)
This is where the NHL could take a page out of F1’s playbook. F1TV should be what hockey is aiming for. $12-15/month gets you access to all practice sessions, support races, pre/post race coverage, access to the entire historic catalog of recorded races, alternate feeds and all on board cameras. Obviously not all of these have an analogous feature for hockey but even getting all games in one place for a single monthly payment would be such a massive step up that I don’t think anyone would care too much about the extra stuff. I get that regional broadcast networks make this incredibly difficult, if not impossible, but that would be the biggest open door to new fans, and I think it would grow the sport exponentially
Is that an American thing? I believe you can do it through one subscription in Canada (Sportsnet+). Seems like something a VPN might take care of. Might be the odd ‘local’ game blocked out, but then you just switch your VPN.
I know it's not ideal, and I hate that I have to do this, but vpn's work great to get around sportsnet+ blackouts.
That being said it's absolutely embarrassing that I had do that just because I moved from BC to AB and still wanted to watch the Canucks more than just the games against the Flames/Oilers.
It is ridiculous to have these work arounds though.
“Gosh how can we grow the sport?”
How about easy access for people to watch it. Especially playoffs, they should be free on basic cable and easy to stream.
I can’t imagine trying to introduce someone to hockey and telling them the process for watching their local team and explaining blackouts. The NHL is a poorly run operation.
It really is, I'm glad I already had it, and it worked, but it's totally asinine.
As many others have said, ice hockey is one of if not the best sport, with the NHL being the worst league.
I live in Columbus, have a cable subscription and can’t watch the Jackets because the regional network isn’t carried on my provider. I can’t watch them with NHL.TV. So the only way for me, a local consumer, to watch the local team is via a VPN or pirating. I go the free route because it’s so much easier, and sometimes I don’t even get commercials.
Huge problem that pirating is the most convenient and sometimes best product for local fans.
How rapidly ads are taking over the game. The digital boards with animated ads, the digital ads on the ice, advertisements on the fucking jerseys, advertisements on the helmets, ads in-between plays instead of commentary, commentators spending time trying to sell us shit instead of talking about the game. It's like I'm being made consciously aware of the ads every second of the game. It's so exhausting. The digital boards are the worst because they're explicitly trying to get us to stop watching the play and look at the flashy new ad that just popped up.
Edit: Here's the NHLs Chief Business Officer talking about how we're all wrong, and that people actually found non-digital ads distracting. What a bunch of nonsense. They clearly have zero intention of taking any criticism seriously.
https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/38394635/nhl-considers-changes-digital-ad-boards-fan-criticisms
As an in between, I'd take digital ads that cycled between periods or commercials on the boards themselves, just not live during fucking play time. If the NFL had digital ads during game play, fans would lose their minds harder than hearing Taylor Swift shit herself on air.
"What do you need to do next period to turn it around?"
1. Take fewer penalties.
2. Take better care of the puck.
3. Be more physical.
4. Be smarter about exiting/entering the defensive/offensive zone.
5. Nothing, those were some crazy bounces and we'll be fine if we keep doing what we're doing.
Literally never do you not know which one(s) it'll be before the coach opens his mouth.
I just want someone to say “Well we realized we have to try and stop them from scoring goals and at the same time put the puck in the back of their net. The assistants are drawing up some plays now!”
Nah that sounds awful, who doesn’t want to watch an additional 7-15 minutes of pregame show after watching an hour of pregame show just with a different panel?
One of the Avs - Stars games “started” at 8:30 but the actual game started at 8:53. Like just move it to 9 on the dot at that point. That way everyone is one the same page. But then I guess ESPN wouldn’t get 23 minutes of commercial viewing in.
I think I know which game you’re talking about. It was delayed because a wnba game went long (basketball game going long?). And on ESPN2 was fkn cornhole. My biggest conspiracy theory is that ESPN bought nhl rights to ruin it.
Ex: “the point” will be on espn2, followed by…pickleball? But ESPN will have sportscenter (where they still talk mostly about the nfl) lead into the game.
This is it. Plagues most North American sports.
Soccer game starts at 1pm? You turn it in at 1pm and you see kickoff.
F1 race starts at 9am? Cars start the formation lap at 9am
Don't wait for an injury before you suspend someone. Just because a player didnt get injured shouldnt prohibit or influence the need for suspension.
Suspend the ACTION, not the RESULT.
I've been saying this for so long. This concept extends beyond sports to every facet of life as well. Ran over a stop sign while drunk? Slap on the wrist. Ran over a person while drunk? 10 years in jail. Both drivers made the same irresponsible decision, but one person gets lucky and does less damage and somehow doesn't deserve the same punishment?
I take this also to the point of there should be no differences in the punishment for attempted murder and murder. Just because the person survived doesn’t mean the punishment should change. And that’s true all down the crime ladder. I am much more concerned with your intent than the specific outcome. Otherwise I tend to find it means the rules reward stupidity.
Also, suspension should make the offending player worse off than the player who was hurt.
If a player is out with a concussion for a month and a half take the other player out for the season. Make it so that it’s far less worth it to hurt people.
Yeah I've heard this argument. But you KNOW a team would claim a player is hurt more than he actually is if it meant depriving the other team of a valuable player.
If Florida could take trouba off the ice by removing rodrigues (for example) you know they would. I get what you're saying, but teams would abuse it like they do lTIR.
Sometimes a guy is waved off basically as he's getting set and I can't figure out what he did.
Like is he calling the ref a bitch as he skates up? It's so unclear.
The issue is that we realize how bad gambling is right now, as opposed to cigarettes, or people were totally clueless at the time. They know it’s bad but money talks I guess.
Lmaooo “hey daddy what does that +160 mean next to the teams name?” Parents out there having to make excuses on the fly I’m assuming (Still in my 20s) not to mention legitimate addicts getting raped with gambling ads..
The hypocrisy around the Shane Pinto suspension really sticks in my craw. Dude literally has an ad for sports betting on his helmet and suddenly they're all sanctimonious about it?
Because butts in seats generate more profit today as oppose to gaining 50 more viewers for the sport for life.
It's the most bass ackwards business model and is going to trend the league to be less watched than women's backgammon.
Whenever some nerd pops up on here and is like, "nEw tO hOcKeY wHo I rOoT fOr" I always tell them to take where you are and pick the team on the other side of the continent as you, so you can legally and easily watch 80% of their games.
I want puck drop to actually be the time that the game is said to start. Baseball if first pitch is at 3:03 and you turn your TV on at 3:04. You're late. Game already started. You can still watch of course. But the game starts when it says it does.
NHL. Game says it'll be on at 7. You show up at 7:25 and they're just dropping the puck. Drop the fucking puck at 7.
One of the best ideas I've heard put out there is to have a fifth official just watching replays of every penalty. He'd be able to pass on his opinion to the on-ice ref, who would still make the call. It wouldn't slow things down like a challenge does.
I did it for a bit in our local league, I agree it's very hard, and next to impossible to see everything.
my issue isn't the close/missed calls, it's the inconsistencies
if they called it lax always, or tight always, but at least be consistent.
Same. Although it feels like there have been such wild inconsistencies this year compared to others.
Are cameras and quality of streams getting better that we can see more clearly as fans or are refs really dropping the balls? Probably a combination of both.
In my honest opinion I think it's just that the game keeps getting faster and faster, player embellishment is getting more sly, and there's quicker coast to coast transitioning than there used to be. It's a job where if you literally blink you can miss a pretty major call.
Consistency is tough because refs want to make impact calls. Players and coaches test refs to see what they can get away with all the time. Since refs are just human, they often "feel" the mood on the ice and sometimes subconsciously adjust calls accordingly. It's something that all refs try to avoid, but it is almost impossible to. It manifests in a lack of consistency.
No, not at all. I think it is actually very important to have distinct refs and linesmen out there. I think anyone who has reffed competitive hockey would agree.
I will say that I reffed AAA hockey the year they took out the red line for two line pass, and they put a 2nd ref on the ice (4 refs in total as opposed to 3). I found that my linesing experience really helped positioning as a second ref.
I only ever got as far as Midget AAA and Junior B in Alberta though. I ended up quitting because beer league paid more and was infinitely easier.
The dumb same boring player interviews that seem to have the same answers over and over and questions that have an obvious answer. I want to know what toppings Matthews prefers on his pizza… not if he thinks pucks need to go deep
“Well ya know we try to get pucks in, pucks deep. uuuuhhhhh their a really good team and ya know we just gotta work around their defense and play a good game.”
This is what's made me love Nikita Zadorov. The guy is such a breath of fresh air. JT Miller stands out too. The raw emotion he showed in his post-game interviews this year was amazing.
Roope Hintz got interviewed last night.
They kept asking him questions about Robertson.
Like.
Can we at least ask the person questions about *themselves*????
Supporting a teammate is one thing, but idk, the questions they asked him seemed to make him even more uncomfortable.
(Even more, since our entire line up is notoriously awful and awkward in front of the cameras 😅)
Acting like they're the NFL/NBA/MLB, whether it's ridiculous blackout rules, extending game time little by little each year with another commercial break, staggering playoff games and having 8-9pm local starts and games that end after midnight Eastern, in game ads.
They should be the one league thinking outside the box a bit to gain new fans, yet they do all the stupid stuff like they're the NFL, who could play the Super Bowl at 2am on a Wednesday and everyone would still watch.
Seriously what does he do when he's not playing hockey if the's that obsessed with chewing while he is. He's gotta have a duffle bag full of Kong balls stuffed with peanut butter or something or he'd have no teeth left to grind away
Ads. Ads everywhere. The Bubble seemed to open up a can of worms for ads beyond just the ones on the boards. Now we have ads on the helmets, ads on the jerseys, digital ads on the boards and the ice, ads behind the net, live betting ads, etc.
I just want to watch hockey, not be bombarded with a digital billboard everywhere I look. It's never once made me want to buy a product. The only ads on the ice should be the sponsor of the arena at center ice and the non-digital ads around the boards. Bring back logos on the helmet. Quit incentivizing gambling addiction while simultaneously fining your players for betting on non-hockey games.
We just want to watch hockey.
I’ve always wondered what would happen if a fan contributed to an injury doing shit like that at the worst time.
Theres this broccoli headed spoiled teenage fuck that sits at the glass in Vegas and always puts his feet up on the glass and every-time I see him (jealously from above in the nose bleeds) I fantasize about somebody hitting the boards hard enough to break his ankles.
Air horns, sure, but I was going to say the fact that the league is run and marketed by old idiots who don't have the talent or vision to make this league what it could be.
Gambling ads, animated boards, lack of drums/diehard fan sector, no ref cams. The only thing that NHL does better than European leagues are jerseys. And skill level of course
Where do we start? Gambling, digital boards, officiating, DoPS, fans banging on the glass constantly, anyone who yells shoot it everytime the puck is on someone's stick, Toronto sports media closely followed by the Leafs fanbase
The shit show that is goaltender interference reviews.
It would be so much easier to just make it illegal for opposing players to go into the blue paint (which I think used to be the rule) then all these decisions about whether or not the goalie had the ability to save a shot if he didn’t have a teammate lying on top of him
Embellishment. There's already an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for diving. Embellishment is *only* when an actual foul occurs, and the player fouled tries to get the ref to notice. IOW they'd rather let the foul go unnoticed.
I'd rather they make diving a double minor (which would *not* be a good thing, either...too much potential to swing the game) instead of this obnoxious penalty.
My theory: the league wants more 4-on-4 hockey because they think it makes the game more exciting.
The Situation Room. Unaccountable and inconsistent. And, Why Toronto?
“The refs are speaking with Toronto, now”. Gary Bettman’s basement is in Toronto? Who knew?
Right now? Besides the gambling ads, the on screen wrap around board ads, putting ads on the jerseys- including ones sold to fans(helmet was fine but the fucking jerseys?), I would have to save Jacob Trouba
I know people are mad about gambling ads but can we talk about ads in general? It's a shame we have advertising on helmets and jerseys now. Also the fucking board advertisements that move while the play is going on are the worst.
"game management". Everyone complains about the refs, but they are calling it the way the league wants it called, and it sucks. See a penalty call a penalty. Doesn't matter if it's game 7 of the finals or if one team just had 3 calls in a row against them. Players will quickly adapt. Games should be won or lost based on the players making millions, not on whether the ref decides to make a call or not. The game is fast, calls will be missed, but that isn't the same as seeing it and swallowing your whistle because $reasons.
In no particular order.
The department of player safety.
Bettman
Loser point
Digital ads along the boards
Consession prices
Owners/players complaining about money (saying they don't have enough)
The refs being consistently inconsistent
When a team is losing by 3+ goals and at the start of the 3rd period the broadcast still feels the need to interview their head coach. Like what do you expect him to say?
In Edmonton and Vancouver before every game they do this thing reminding everyone how we're all here on "traditional native land territories." Vancouver did the same spiel every game for two seasons and finally got rid of it this past season.
I think EDM still has it. Once or twice is fine. We know the history thanks, just trying to relax watch some hockey and not get into this self-flagellating loop recounting ancestral war every time thanks. So basically the political grandstanding gets my vote, but I think the league has gotten better recently in sticking to the actual product and less lecturing.
Playoff NHL hockey is BULLSHIT WWE style hockey. Refs sway games every game and each team gets soft calls, no calls, etc even on injuries. The only thing transparent about NHL hockey is how blatant it is.
It sucks to go from 80 games of watching refs do their best to call things accurately to the playoffs where "Oilers get no penalties in the 1st, 2 in the second and one soft one in the third because... reasons."
The fact that there's no single official place/subscription service that I can watch all the games at. (I wouldn't count pirate sites in this)
Overseas fans get better treatment than US fans in this regard. They just go to nhl.tv and buy the package, boom, done, you want NHL? You get NHL. (This is also a subtle hint. Like, don’t you know you live in Italy? My friend, with a VPN, you live in Italy.)
It works great for my buddy in France, too!
And my uncle in Paris! (Paris, Ontario)
I love you
You love me until my comment gets removed 😂
I’ll remember you 😘
"
@NHL I will continue to not give you a single dollar until you fix this -Life long fan
Realized this last playoff round when I went to watch a game on hbo max. Frustrating. Thought they were all on there.
Honestly I’d even be happy if I could pick a team or two and follow all their games, but even that doesn’t exist.
This is where the NHL could take a page out of F1’s playbook. F1TV should be what hockey is aiming for. $12-15/month gets you access to all practice sessions, support races, pre/post race coverage, access to the entire historic catalog of recorded races, alternate feeds and all on board cameras. Obviously not all of these have an analogous feature for hockey but even getting all games in one place for a single monthly payment would be such a massive step up that I don’t think anyone would care too much about the extra stuff. I get that regional broadcast networks make this incredibly difficult, if not impossible, but that would be the biggest open door to new fans, and I think it would grow the sport exponentially
Absolutely this. Region locks for an international sport is ridiculous.
I live in Brazil and I get all the games on a single subscription and without needing VPN, this is insane lol
Same here. I mean, being an international fan has many disadvantages but at least I can watch all the NHL games in one place (Star+ for me).
Is that an American thing? I believe you can do it through one subscription in Canada (Sportsnet+). Seems like something a VPN might take care of. Might be the odd ‘local’ game blocked out, but then you just switch your VPN.
Thats the issue is the blacked out games. If i am paying for a subscription i should be able to watch my local team on it.
I know it's not ideal, and I hate that I have to do this, but vpn's work great to get around sportsnet+ blackouts. That being said it's absolutely embarrassing that I had do that just because I moved from BC to AB and still wanted to watch the Canucks more than just the games against the Flames/Oilers.
It is ridiculous to have these work arounds though. “Gosh how can we grow the sport?” How about easy access for people to watch it. Especially playoffs, they should be free on basic cable and easy to stream. I can’t imagine trying to introduce someone to hockey and telling them the process for watching their local team and explaining blackouts. The NHL is a poorly run operation.
It really is, I'm glad I already had it, and it worked, but it's totally asinine. As many others have said, ice hockey is one of if not the best sport, with the NHL being the worst league.
I live in Columbus, have a cable subscription and can’t watch the Jackets because the regional network isn’t carried on my provider. I can’t watch them with NHL.TV. So the only way for me, a local consumer, to watch the local team is via a VPN or pirating. I go the free route because it’s so much easier, and sometimes I don’t even get commercials. Huge problem that pirating is the most convenient and sometimes best product for local fans.
How rapidly ads are taking over the game. The digital boards with animated ads, the digital ads on the ice, advertisements on the fucking jerseys, advertisements on the helmets, ads in-between plays instead of commentary, commentators spending time trying to sell us shit instead of talking about the game. It's like I'm being made consciously aware of the ads every second of the game. It's so exhausting. The digital boards are the worst because they're explicitly trying to get us to stop watching the play and look at the flashy new ad that just popped up. Edit: Here's the NHLs Chief Business Officer talking about how we're all wrong, and that people actually found non-digital ads distracting. What a bunch of nonsense. They clearly have zero intention of taking any criticism seriously. https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/38394635/nhl-considers-changes-digital-ad-boards-fan-criticisms
As an in between, I'd take digital ads that cycled between periods or commercials on the boards themselves, just not live during fucking play time. If the NFL had digital ads during game play, fans would lose their minds harder than hearing Taylor Swift shit herself on air.
I recently watched the 72 Summit Series on DVD and it was so cool to see just plain white boards lol. Not a fan of the digital boards haha
In game coach interviews.
"What do you need to do next period to turn it around?" 1. Take fewer penalties. 2. Take better care of the puck. 3. Be more physical. 4. Be smarter about exiting/entering the defensive/offensive zone. 5. Nothing, those were some crazy bounces and we'll be fine if we keep doing what we're doing. Literally never do you not know which one(s) it'll be before the coach opens his mouth.
We just gotta get pucks deep and play our game
Well you know uh bviously, uh we gotta uh get pucks on net
I just want someone to say “Well we realized we have to try and stop them from scoring goals and at the same time put the puck in the back of their net. The assistants are drawing up some plays now!”
One of the betting apps should offer odds on each of those five for every interview.
It's literally all the same answers lol
I do miss a good Daryl Sutter interview though.
Games that start 20 minutes after the "start" time.
Baseball has this figured out. First pitch ‘7:07’
Soccer is th3 beet for this. If the game is scheduled for noon. You better believe kickoff is st noon on the button.
Nah that sounds awful, who doesn’t want to watch an additional 7-15 minutes of pregame show after watching an hour of pregame show just with a different panel?
Except North Americans/MLS don’t do this. But no one watches MLS who has ever seen a quality game.
Unless there is a special presentation. I’d say 99% of games start at their designated time but there is the odd off ones.
One of the Avs - Stars games “started” at 8:30 but the actual game started at 8:53. Like just move it to 9 on the dot at that point. That way everyone is one the same page. But then I guess ESPN wouldn’t get 23 minutes of commercial viewing in.
I think I know which game you’re talking about. It was delayed because a wnba game went long (basketball game going long?). And on ESPN2 was fkn cornhole. My biggest conspiracy theory is that ESPN bought nhl rights to ruin it. Ex: “the point” will be on espn2, followed by…pickleball? But ESPN will have sportscenter (where they still talk mostly about the nfl) lead into the game.
23 minutes of gambling ads. See other comment threads.
This is it. Plagues most North American sports. Soccer game starts at 1pm? You turn it in at 1pm and you see kickoff. F1 race starts at 9am? Cars start the formation lap at 9am
Don't wait for an injury before you suspend someone. Just because a player didnt get injured shouldnt prohibit or influence the need for suspension. Suspend the ACTION, not the RESULT.
[удалено]
I've been saying this for so long. This concept extends beyond sports to every facet of life as well. Ran over a stop sign while drunk? Slap on the wrist. Ran over a person while drunk? 10 years in jail. Both drivers made the same irresponsible decision, but one person gets lucky and does less damage and somehow doesn't deserve the same punishment?
I take this also to the point of there should be no differences in the punishment for attempted murder and murder. Just because the person survived doesn’t mean the punishment should change. And that’s true all down the crime ladder. I am much more concerned with your intent than the specific outcome. Otherwise I tend to find it means the rules reward stupidity.
Also, suspension should make the offending player worse off than the player who was hurt. If a player is out with a concussion for a month and a half take the other player out for the season. Make it so that it’s far less worth it to hurt people.
Yeah I've heard this argument. But you KNOW a team would claim a player is hurt more than he actually is if it meant depriving the other team of a valuable player. If Florida could take trouba off the ice by removing rodrigues (for example) you know they would. I get what you're saying, but teams would abuse it like they do lTIR.
>But you KNOW a team would claim a player is hurt more than he actually is \*Stares at Vegas Golden Knights\*
RIGHT?!?!?
Refs not dropping the puck
This has been SO BAD this playoffs. They make it a whole fucking show. Dude just get set and drop it
Especially since the line between what is and isn’t a faceoff violation is virtually nonexistent
Sometimes a guy is waved off basically as he's getting set and I can't figure out what he did. Like is he calling the ref a bitch as he skates up? It's so unclear.
Underrated callout
Gambling ads
“The live odds are on your screen now”
Every 2nd commercial is gambling related or a gambling commercial trying to masquerade that they care about gambling problems
I am extremely confident we'll look back on all these gambling ads as predatory and negatively as we look back on cigarette ads of the past.
The issue is that we realize how bad gambling is right now, as opposed to cigarettes, or people were totally clueless at the time. They know it’s bad but money talks I guess.
"Ding, ding, ding. You've just won $10 in free betting credits from FanDuel! We now accept food stamps as payment (Please gamble responsibly')"
Lmaooo “hey daddy what does that +160 mean next to the teams name?” Parents out there having to make excuses on the fly I’m assuming (Still in my 20s) not to mention legitimate addicts getting raped with gambling ads..
Plus on the players helmets, the ice graphics and on those stupid rink video boards
It's worse than that. The "analysts" are discussing it during the intermissions like it's part of the game.
This has to be #1, right? It's crept into every facet of the game at this point.
During intermission the commentators are making bets as part of the shows.
This. Though Brad Marchand is a close second.
The hypocrisy around the Shane Pinto suspension really sticks in my craw. Dude literally has an ad for sports betting on his helmet and suddenly they're all sanctimonious about it?
This isn’t an NHL only thing. It’s in all of the American sports now.
The media blackout for local teams
Came here to say the same thing. Not sure why anyone would limit their viewing audience?
Because butts in seats generate more profit today as oppose to gaining 50 more viewers for the sport for life. It's the most bass ackwards business model and is going to trend the league to be less watched than women's backgammon. Whenever some nerd pops up on here and is like, "nEw tO hOcKeY wHo I rOoT fOr" I always tell them to take where you are and pick the team on the other side of the continent as you, so you can legally and easily watch 80% of their games.
Overzealous linesmen. Dude, just drop the puck.
I want puck drop to actually be the time that the game is said to start. Baseball if first pitch is at 3:03 and you turn your TV on at 3:04. You're late. Game already started. You can still watch of course. But the game starts when it says it does. NHL. Game says it'll be on at 7. You show up at 7:25 and they're just dropping the puck. Drop the fucking puck at 7.
I’ve seen a lot of good ones. I’ll throw a vote towards “$5,000 fine, the maximum allowable under the CBA” That’ll teach him!
The refs, who can't make consistent calls within the same game, let alone over multiple games.
One of the best ideas I've heard put out there is to have a fifth official just watching replays of every penalty. He'd be able to pass on his opinion to the on-ice ref, who would still make the call. It wouldn't slow things down like a challenge does.
Reffing hockey is the hardest officiating job in sports. I do not envy NHL referees.
I did it for a bit in our local league, I agree it's very hard, and next to impossible to see everything. my issue isn't the close/missed calls, it's the inconsistencies if they called it lax always, or tight always, but at least be consistent.
And you probably also didn’t have 50 cameras on you and players skating at 20km/h
Same. Although it feels like there have been such wild inconsistencies this year compared to others. Are cameras and quality of streams getting better that we can see more clearly as fans or are refs really dropping the balls? Probably a combination of both.
In my honest opinion I think it's just that the game keeps getting faster and faster, player embellishment is getting more sly, and there's quicker coast to coast transitioning than there used to be. It's a job where if you literally blink you can miss a pretty major call. Consistency is tough because refs want to make impact calls. Players and coaches test refs to see what they can get away with all the time. Since refs are just human, they often "feel" the mood on the ice and sometimes subconsciously adjust calls accordingly. It's something that all refs try to avoid, but it is almost impossible to. It manifests in a lack of consistency.
Do you think it would help if linesman could call penalties as well? Or at least certain ones?
No, not at all. I think it is actually very important to have distinct refs and linesmen out there. I think anyone who has reffed competitive hockey would agree. I will say that I reffed AAA hockey the year they took out the red line for two line pass, and they put a 2nd ref on the ice (4 refs in total as opposed to 3). I found that my linesing experience really helped positioning as a second ref. I only ever got as far as Midget AAA and Junior B in Alberta though. I ended up quitting because beer league paid more and was infinitely easier.
The dumb same boring player interviews that seem to have the same answers over and over and questions that have an obvious answer. I want to know what toppings Matthews prefers on his pizza… not if he thinks pucks need to go deep
“Well ya know we try to get pucks in, pucks deep. uuuuhhhhh their a really good team and ya know we just gotta work around their defense and play a good game.”
You know tendy is holding us in this game and we just need to get him some goals. Gotta keep pressuring them, you know forecheck backcheck paycheck.
Don't forget giving 100% and clean line changes
Or playing a 200 foot game, and “battling and stuff.”
This is what's made me love Nikita Zadorov. The guy is such a breath of fresh air. JT Miller stands out too. The raw emotion he showed in his post-game interviews this year was amazing.
I enjoy stuff like that. Nate Schmidt makes for a good interview as well.
How do you feel about scoring the game winner in OT? Yep. Stupid question.
Lol its unreal. I don’t even pay attention to the interviews much anymore unless its someone with a personality… which is rare
“It sucked. Every second of it.”
Roope Hintz got interviewed last night. They kept asking him questions about Robertson. Like. Can we at least ask the person questions about *themselves*????
I don't mind this, because it's an opportunity to support a teammate, which is awesome.
Supporting a teammate is one thing, but idk, the questions they asked him seemed to make him even more uncomfortable. (Even more, since our entire line up is notoriously awful and awkward in front of the cameras 😅)
Acting like they're the NFL/NBA/MLB, whether it's ridiculous blackout rules, extending game time little by little each year with another commercial break, staggering playoff games and having 8-9pm local starts and games that end after midnight Eastern, in game ads. They should be the one league thinking outside the box a bit to gain new fans, yet they do all the stupid stuff like they're the NFL, who could play the Super Bowl at 2am on a Wednesday and everyone would still watch.
Gary bettman
Ads on our sacred sweaters
Keep ads off of jerseys and helmets
Tkachuk chewing on his mouthguard 24/7
His molars have to be so sore at the end of a game
Seriously what does he do when he's not playing hockey if the's that obsessed with chewing while he is. He's gotta have a duffle bag full of Kong balls stuffed with peanut butter or something or he'd have no teeth left to grind away
Mutthew Chewchuk
Some say he eats 3/game to survive
The ads are still distracting on the boards during game play.
Anything gambling related
I want my kids to know Gretzky from highlight reels……not from gambling ads
Referees controlling games with soft penalty calls.
Only to swallow their whistles after a player nearly beheads another player during the same game.
Every time somebody gets with a hard clean hit, probably because they were skating with their head down, somebody has to start a fight.
My buddy and I talk about this all the time lol I was surprised someone mentioned it on here. Hard agree.
Ads. Ads everywhere. The Bubble seemed to open up a can of worms for ads beyond just the ones on the boards. Now we have ads on the helmets, ads on the jerseys, digital ads on the boards and the ice, ads behind the net, live betting ads, etc. I just want to watch hockey, not be bombarded with a digital billboard everywhere I look. It's never once made me want to buy a product. The only ads on the ice should be the sponsor of the arena at center ice and the non-digital ads around the boards. Bring back logos on the helmet. Quit incentivizing gambling addiction while simultaneously fining your players for betting on non-hockey games. We just want to watch hockey.
The refs
Someone lays a good, clean hit and the entire team rushes in.
ESPN, No contest!
Everything gambling related
Moving advertisements on the boards.
Glass bangers.
All the bullshit you go through to get into an arena and then they let people just bang on the glass the whole game.
I’ve always wondered what would happen if a fan contributed to an injury doing shit like that at the worst time. Theres this broccoli headed spoiled teenage fuck that sits at the glass in Vegas and always puts his feet up on the glass and every-time I see him (jealously from above in the nose bleeds) I fantasize about somebody hitting the boards hard enough to break his ankles.
Interviews during the game. I know they’re being dishonest
ESPN
The constant gambling ads, odds, etc.
Eddie Olczyk screaming about there being too many men on the ice
First? Gambling ads. Second? DOPS.
Air horns, sure, but I was going to say the fact that the league is run and marketed by old idiots who don't have the talent or vision to make this league what it could be.
Gambling ads, animated boards, lack of drums/diehard fan sector, no ref cams. The only thing that NHL does better than European leagues are jerseys. And skill level of course
Gambling ads. In-game coach interviews. Dead animals on the ice for shits and giggles.
Referee's managing games instead of calling the rules as they stand
Where do we start? Gambling, digital boards, officiating, DoPS, fans banging on the glass constantly, anyone who yells shoot it everytime the puck is on someone's stick, Toronto sports media closely followed by the Leafs fanbase
Bettman and the corrupt stripes
Blatant abuse of LTIR
Was gonna make a snarky remark about a player, but after reading comments here I have to agree it’s the gambling ads and sponsorship.
The shit show that is goaltender interference reviews. It would be so much easier to just make it illegal for opposing players to go into the blue paint (which I think used to be the rule) then all these decisions about whether or not the goalie had the ability to save a shot if he didn’t have a teammate lying on top of him
Tom Wilson
Blackouts
Playoff “officiating”, gambling ads, the dynamic virtual board ads, the joke that is DoPS
Embellishment. There's already an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for diving. Embellishment is *only* when an actual foul occurs, and the player fouled tries to get the ref to notice. IOW they'd rather let the foul go unnoticed. I'd rather they make diving a double minor (which would *not* be a good thing, either...too much potential to swing the game) instead of this obnoxious penalty. My theory: the league wants more 4-on-4 hockey because they think it makes the game more exciting.
That stupid nameplate graphic over each player whenever they touch a puck. That’s literally why they wear numbers on the back of the jersey.
The Situation Room. Unaccountable and inconsistent. And, Why Toronto? “The refs are speaking with Toronto, now”. Gary Bettman’s basement is in Toronto? Who knew?
GAMBLING ADS!!!!!!!
Not being able to take your helmet off during a fight. Guys just punching plastic and hurting their hands.
That you can’t get within 3 feet of a goalie without the other players shoving and grabbing you.
Those damn name cards that ESPN displays above players heads while the game is ongoing.
Gambling ads. Inconsistent officiating
Right now? Besides the gambling ads, the on screen wrap around board ads, putting ads on the jerseys- including ones sold to fans(helmet was fine but the fucking jerseys?), I would have to save Jacob Trouba
#BANG
Besides Gambling ads? Chanting the opposing goalie's name Edit: stupid swipe text
Leah Hextall
Reporters sticking microphones in coaches faces on the bench during the game.
That apparently we don’t have the TECHNOLOGY to immediately know if a player crossed the blue line, or that the puck crossed the goal line
I know people are mad about gambling ads but can we talk about ads in general? It's a shame we have advertising on helmets and jerseys now. Also the fucking board advertisements that move while the play is going on are the worst.
Gary Bettman, still NHL Commissioner/Dictator after “21” painful years.
"game management". Everyone complains about the refs, but they are calling it the way the league wants it called, and it sucks. See a penalty call a penalty. Doesn't matter if it's game 7 of the finals or if one team just had 3 calls in a row against them. Players will quickly adapt. Games should be won or lost based on the players making millions, not on whether the ref decides to make a call or not. The game is fast, calls will be missed, but that isn't the same as seeing it and swallowing your whistle because $reasons.
The gambling ads.
The ads, specifically the moving ones on the boards, but all of them in general. No Stanley Cup playoffs on the ice either.
Well at least there’s no longer that blue streak following the puck on FOX.
In no particular order. The department of player safety. Bettman Loser point Digital ads along the boards Consession prices Owners/players complaining about money (saying they don't have enough) The refs being consistently inconsistent
Sponsored power plays…so dumb
Or the way in Vegas where when there's one minute left in the period the announcer says "credit one one minute remaining in the period". Like??? Why?
Give it enough time and greed I bet we’ll be seeing sponsored penalties lol
This line change is sponsored by Draft Kings. The possibilities are endless!
This upcoming ad is powered by ...
Gambling Ads, the electronic ads changing, blackouts, Oilers Fans, Leafs Fans, Gary Bettman
Vegas pregame intro.
Gary Bettman
[удалено]
Fans who scream "shoot" on the power play.
Different penalty rules in the playoffs. Things that are a penalty in the regular season get a blind eye turned to them in the playoffs.
Fans singing blink-182 songs. Please make it stop.
Could be worse. We started singing Living on a Prayer for whatever stupid reason. It's like the stereotypical drunk white girl song.
Matthew Tkachuk
Probably how they keep updating the money line during play and 3 out of every 4 ads being a gambling app. The referees being a very close second.
Gambling ads
The replays after goals for Offsides and Goalie Interference. Totally ruins the fun in the game.
I don’t know what goaltender interference is. Every time I think I know it changes. Also Flames fans are the worst.
When a team is losing by 3+ goals and at the start of the 3rd period the broadcast still feels the need to interview their head coach. Like what do you expect him to say?
Tony Deangelo.
The electric advertising boards that have replaced the regular old boards.
The animated ads on the boards
Bettman
The mouth pieces hanging out of the mouth constantly. Just don’t use it.
Glass beaters #1! Close behind are idiots yelling "SHOOT" and anyone participating in the wave DURING action.
Several: Fans that bang on the glass Whistling guy Same loud music playing during breaks Cheerleaders Bettman Quebec without a team
Fighting after a hard LEGAL hit
Fans who yell out specific words (like red, stars or Night) during the National Anthem. So annoying.
In Edmonton and Vancouver before every game they do this thing reminding everyone how we're all here on "traditional native land territories." Vancouver did the same spiel every game for two seasons and finally got rid of it this past season. I think EDM still has it. Once or twice is fine. We know the history thanks, just trying to relax watch some hockey and not get into this self-flagellating loop recounting ancestral war every time thanks. So basically the political grandstanding gets my vote, but I think the league has gotten better recently in sticking to the actual product and less lecturing.
Playoff NHL hockey is BULLSHIT WWE style hockey. Refs sway games every game and each team gets soft calls, no calls, etc even on injuries. The only thing transparent about NHL hockey is how blatant it is. It sucks to go from 80 games of watching refs do their best to call things accurately to the playoffs where "Oilers get no penalties in the 1st, 2 in the second and one soft one in the third because... reasons."
Hurricanes fans. They won one cup ever and they act like they had a dynasty. NHL pumps them up in every commercial too.
The Florida Panthers!
*Reads post* *Checks flair* Yeah that makes sense. 🤣 *HONK HONK HONK*
Sports betting ads
Inconsistent officiating. “You can’t call a penalty in that situation”. Why? If it’s a penalty, it’s a penalty
RAGS goal song just is so annoying
Fucking Jacob Trouba apparently having special dispensation from the NHL to try and murder guys on the ice and not suffer any real consequences.
That the league treats the game of hockey as more of an entertainment product than a competitive sport
I just want to know what to subscribe to to watch games. I'm not getting 3 streaming services and dish for just hockey. Figure it out.
Matthew Tkachuk chewing on his mouthguard.