In my perfect NHL....

[Hockeytown0001 7,652]

- Gordie Howe (or anyone with a brain) would be Commisioner

- No salary cap (sorry to the lower teams; it's sports, there will always be dominant/struggling teams)

- 26 teams (Florida, Nashville, Phoenix, Anaheim) - I don't care if they're good, no team belongs in a city that would rather watch Paris Hilton than the Finals; at least the Kings have good interest)

- NHL average attendance would skyrocket, even for the cellar dwellars

- No forced rivalries with 8 games against division opponents; 5 or 6 at absolute max

- More Original 6 matchups

- Every team must play every team at least once

- Better game promotion

Build on it!

[Winged Scooter 0]

- Gordie Howe (or anyone with a brain) would be Commisioner

- No salary cap (sorry to the lower teams; it's sports, there will always be dominant/struggling teams)

- 26 teams (Florida, Nashville, Phoenix, Anaheim) - I don't care if they're good, no team belongs in a city that would rather watch Paris Hilton than the Finals; at least the Kings have good interest)

- NHL average attendance would skyrocket, even for the cellar dwellars

- No forced rivalries with 8 games against division opponents; 5 or 6 at absolute max

- More Original 6 matchups

- Every team must play every team at least once

- Better game promotion

Build on it!

Sounds good, unfortunately poor Gordie is too old to be Commish, I say dangle MEGA-BUCKS in front of Paul Tagliabue (former-NFL) to fix what's broken.

scheduling ideas-- spot on!

28 teams nix Nashville , Florida, move Phoenix and Anahiem to Seattle( or Vegas) and Hamilton.

Realign divisions (non-geographical) bring back Wales and Campbell conferences.

[Opie 308]

TV contact my man other than that I love the list.

I don't care if hockey is on spike, the travel channel, and nick at night, jus tget it on TV where people can watch it more than one night a week!!!

[Icer 0]

- Gordie Howe (or anyone with a brain) would be Commisioner

If brains is a prerequisite I'm not sure Gordie qualifies. In his autobiography he clearly states he isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer. How about Darryl Sutter? He's done a good job running Calgary. I bet he'd do a good job running the league.

[Hank 0]

Great thread:

1. 20 teams. I'm not going to go into the politics of who'd I eliminate but I'm pretty sure everyone knows of the top 10 that could be diced.

2. Top 10 teams make the playoffs with the #1 & 2 seeds getting a bye.

3. 65 game season. Less games means healthier and happier players as well as more onous on regular season games. Also, the season will have wrapped up by at least May 15th. Hockey should finish when it's still slightly cool outside.

4. reduce rosters from 18 skaters to 15. This would force teams to use only 3 lines of forwards. No more 4th line scrubs. Sorry Sean Donovan.

5. research and develop goalie equipment that is the same size as what Ken Dryden wore. The technologys there. We all know it. Now make it happen.

6. No more instigator rule

5. At least 2000 seats in every building have to be sold for $8 or less. Get the families and the kids back in the arenas.

6. Create an "NHL" station that shows 3 games of the week. This channel will be given out free to all cable and satellite subscribers for the first 2 years to get interest out there in the game. No more need to hear "I can't find the games!".

7. Make Lou Lamourello wear a bag over his head. I'm tired of looking at that Muppet-Salamander looking thing he calls a head.

8. Keep a cap but force teams into a revenue sharing program.

9. Players that you have drafted and developed - their salaries only count 50% towards the Cap. This promotes developing your own talent as well as rewarding teams for good drafting. This includes players that weren't drafted by their team, but were traded for before they came to the NHL (eg. Spezza).

10. Create the Wayne Gretzky Award (or Gordie Howe Award) for the best forward. Dmen and goalies have an individual award, so should the forwards.

11. Make Bryan McCabe apologize to fans during intermissions for suffering through his horrible play.

[Rob the Badger 0]

Sounds like a good start. Brett Hull for commish? I'm sure the media would love that. Sound bytes galore for them, and a sure fire HHOF'er running the show. I'd love to see the teams play every team again. Especially now that we have so many young super stars in the making. A few years ago playing Washington or the Penguins was a yawner, now with the youngsters on those teams, we look forward to those match ups. Keep them coming.

[Winged Scooter 0]

THE INSTIGATOR RULE!! Good one, Hank! yes please make that piece of crap go away!

[Wings_Fan_In_Exile 3]

1. Bannish the instigator rule.

2. Fix the schedule. The forced divisional rivalry isn't working. Play every team at least once. And yes, I agree focus on the Original 6 matchups.

3. No more expansion teams.

4. The next team that moves goes to Hamilton NOT KC or Vegas.

5. Bettman gets hired as the commish for the MLB. Let him ruin a sport I already disklike. We replace him with a HOCKEY mind who also knows bidness.

6. Strong arm the owners of Chicago and Boston out of ownership. They are terrible.

7. Even though their "coverage" of hockey currently sucks, get the NHL back on ESPN. Oh how I miss NHL2nite.

8. Pronger tests positive for steroids, gets a lifetime NHL ban and his name removed from the Cup.

That to me would be a good start.

[Hockeytown0001 7,652]

I probably already know the answer to this, but why no instigator rule?

[Seraph 240]

A thought:

What does it take to get a commissioner fired?

The world may never know...

[Hockeytown0001 7,652]

1. Bannish the instigator rule.

2. Fix the schedule. The forced divisional rivalry isn't working. Play every team at least once. And yes, I agree focus on the Original 6 matchups.

3. No more expansion teams.

4. The next team that moves goes to Hamilton NOT KC or Vegas.

5. Bettman gets hired as the commish for the MLB. Let him ruin a sport I already disklike. We replace him with a HOCKEY mind who also knows bidness.

6. Strong arm the owners of Chicago and Boston out of ownership. They are terrible.

7. Even though their "coverage" of hockey currently sucks, get the NHL back on ESPN. Oh how I miss NHL2nite.

8. Pronger tests positive for steroids, gets a lifetime NHL ban and his name removed from the Cup.

That to me would be a good start.

Same with the Turtle!

[Legionnaire11 0]

My League:

Eastern Division

Raleigh

Charlotte

Charlston

Columbia

Atlanta

Macon

Knoxville

Nashville

Tampa

Miami

Orlando

Tallahassee

Western Division:

Huntsville

Birmingham

Montgomery

Mobile

New Orleans

Little Rock

Memphis

Austin

Dallas

Houston

San Antonio

Jackson

And an operating agreement with the federal government and the united nations that says that no other professional team can operate above the minor league levels. It also gives this league first rights to draft and sign any players they choose. And they have exclusive rights to the stanley cup. Any league or teams who attempt to violate this agreement will immediately be put to death by firing squad!

so which team would yall root for in my new NHL?

[Opie 308]

I probably already know the answer to this, but why no instigator rule?

To prevent cheapshots let the players police themselves. Even guys like hully and other retired players complain about the players out there that are just running around reckless.

Lets say the wings have Probert on the roster this past year (in his prime).

Pronger hits Homer, Probie goes over and beats the ever living s*** out of him (ohh what a sight).

Pronger no longer gets suspended, the only reason he got suspended is because he got away with that hit with no penalty, probie kicking his ass would have been enough penalty in the league and media's eye.

Now Probie is gone for 5 for fighting, 2 for instigating, and 10 minute misconduct. All told the wings get 7 min in penalties and lose probie for 17 minutes, as he cannot start his 10 min until the 5 and 2 are up.

That is a horrible horrible way to stop a guy from standing up for his teammates!!

[JayUp88 1]

1) what about Don Cherry as commissioner

2) Good bye Panthers, Phx,

3) Move Ducks to somewhere north

4) Move Nashville to Hamilton

5) Keep Atl and the Cans (they do have fans)

6) instigator rule (everyone knows this)

7) Teams need to play all other teams. atlest once

8) no need for 8 games in the div. bring it down to 6

9) This should be number 2 but bring us back to ESPN. NHL2nite needs to be back on air.

[eva unit zero 271]

Expand to KC and Las Vegas. Realign into 4 8-team divisions as follows:

Western Conference:

Pacific: Anaheim, Calgary, Edmonton, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Jose, Vancouver

Central: Chicago, Colorado, Columbus, Dallas, Kansas City, Minnesota, Nashville, St. Louis

Eastern Conference:

Northeast: Boston, Buffalo, Detroit, Montreal, Ottawa, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Toronto

Atlantic: Atlanta, Carolina, Florida, New Jersey, NY Islanders, NY Rangers, Tampa Bay, Washington

Schedule the season with 6 divisional matchup games, 3 conference matchup games, and 1 vs the opposing conference for a total of 82 games. Seed playoffs by division.

Alter the instigator rule to allow for policing during the same period or game, but to discourage 'later in the season' incidents like the Bertuzzi/Moore incident.

Secure a TV deal like the NFL's that would pay for all player salaries.

[drwscc 212]

My League:

Eastern Division

Raleigh

Charlotte

Charlston

Columbia

Atlanta

Macon

Knoxville

Nashville

Tampa

Miami

Orlando

Tallahassee

Western Division:

Huntsville

Birmingham

Montgomery

Mobile

New Orleans

Little Rock

Memphis

Austin

Dallas

Houston

San Antonio

Jackson

And an operating agreement with the federal government and the united nations that says that no other professional team can operate above the minor league levels. It also gives this league first rights to draft and sign any players they choose. And they have exclusive rights to the stanley cup. Any league or teams who attempt to violate this agreement will immediately be put to death by firing squad!

so which team would yall root for in my new NHL?

Cool. The Ice Bats become an NHL team? Count me in!

I agree with some of Hank's suggestions, but probably none of them would go through. 10 Owners and cities lose their teams? I don't think that would ever happen, even if Jesus was commisioner. Same with 65 game seasons. The owners would lose so much money on that, they'd never let it go through.

I think both 5's and 6's by Hank are great ideas, and have promise.

Yzerman for Commish!

[kozac 10]

1) what about Don Cherry as commissioner

2) Good bye Panthers, Phx,

3) Move Ducks to somewhere north

4) Move Nashville to Hamilton

5) Keep Atl and the Cans (they do have fans)

6) instigator rule (everyone knows this)

7) Teams need to play all other teams. atlest once

8) no need for 8 games in the div. bring it down to 6

9) This should be number 2 but bring us back to ESPN. NHL2nite needs to be back on air.

#1: Don Cherry would ban all European players from playing in the NHL

#9: Yes, please please please somebody make this happen.

[JayUp88 1]

#1: Don Cherry would ban all European players from playing in the NHL

#9: Yes, please please please somebody make this happen.

well don cherry was more of a joke, but i still love the guy.

[Winged Scooter 0]

Oh, and I almost forgot...nix these stupid form fitting Reebok jerseys before they even get going!

[Hank 0]

Cool. The Ice Bats become an NHL team? Count me in!

I agree with some of Hank's suggestions, but probably none of them would go through. 10 Owners and cities lose their teams? I don't think that would ever happen, even if Jesus was commisioner. Same with 65 game seasons. The owners would lose so much money on that, they'd never let it go through.

I think both 5's and 6's by Hank are great ideas, and have promise.

Yzerman for Commish!

I agree. 10 less teams and a 65 game schedule will never happen. But I think it would be best for the league.

There are days where I think that business group from New Enlgand, that proposed to buy the entire NHL for $3-4B, would have been best for the league.

Rumors circulated that they would have cut loose a number of teams and made the schedule more compact for more excitement.

But who knows? They might have created some retarded things too.

[Wing Nut 19 0]

Sounds good, unfortunately poor Gordie is too old to be Commish, I say dangle MEGA-BUCKS in front of Paul Tagliabue (former-NFL) to fix what's broken.

scheduling ideas-- spot on!

28 teams nix Nashville , Florida, move Phoenix and Anahiem to Seattle( or Vegas) and Hamilton.

Realign divisions (non-geographical) bring back Wales and Campbell conferences.

I've been saying that about the "Non-geographic" conferences going back to Whales and Campbell ever since they changed it in the first place.

I don't care where the teams are located as long as there is a following for them. And YES there are too many teams.

[Cicada 4]

:put teams in Seattle, Quebec City, Winnipeg and Hamilton, either by expansion or relocation

:fix the damn schedule

:put the wings in the east

:sack bettman

:lose the instigator

[DEVILSWATERBOY 10]

My League:

Eastern Division

Raleigh

Charlotte

Charlston

Columbia

Atlanta

Macon

Knoxville

Nashville

Tampa

Miami

Orlando

Tallahassee

Western Division:

Huntsville

Birmingham

Montgomery

Mobile

New Orleans

Little Rock

Memphis

Austin

Dallas

Houston

San Antonio

Jackson

And an operating agreement with the federal government and the united nations that says that no other professional team can operate above the minor league levels. It also gives this league first rights to draft and sign any players they choose. And they have exclusive rights to the stanley cup. Any league or teams who attempt to violate this agreement will immediately be put to death by firing squad!

so which team would yall root for in my new NHL?

None I would probably start watching the Antique Road Show: does any of these towns know what ice is?

[stevkrause 1,247]

Sounds good, unfortunately poor Gordie is too old to be Commish, I say dangle MEGA-BUCKS in front of Paul Tagliabue (former-NFL) to fix what's broken.

scheduling ideas-- spot on!

28 teams nix Nashville , Florida, move Phoenix and Anahiem to Seattle( or Vegas) and Hamilton.

Realign divisions (non-geographical) bring back Wales and Campbell conferences.

I agree on a lot of these points -

DEFINITELY dangle some megabucks out to bring Taglibue, but with a short 2 year contract (he wants to be retired) having Bobby Clarke as Asst. Commisioner, set to be Tags successor and lets Tags select the board around him

Nix NO markets, just relocatation - Nashville, Florida, Phoenix - Portland, forge an agreement with the city to alleviate the crazy tax BS and bring one back to Quebec and one in Kansas City, even though Anaheim is kinda a joke in how serious they take hockey, they are a successful market...

DEFINITE re-alingment, Wales and Campbell would be beautiful again, 4 divisional games, play everyone in the league at least once and regional out of conference opponents at least twice, focusing on original six marquee matchups

bring TSN to the states - They cover hockey like no other - Get them for FREE on all cable networks for at least a 2 year span to build interest and then renegotiate a TV contract

Eliminate the instigator rule

Go back to a 1 ref system with 3 linemen (lets face it, the guys are getting bigger and stronger, we need more bodies to handle when things get out of hand, but we don't need idiots making calls from the other end of the ice when the other ref is right in front of it)

Let the goalies leave their crease again and roam free - also making them fair game if they leave the crease out front or the trapezoid zone behind the net- this will police and protect itself

PROMOTE their marque guys, product placement is huge here... throw Sid in some movies, TV show appearances, etc...

League wide mandated "cheap seats" - I'm not sure who mentioned it, but make each club feature at least 2000 seats for $8 or less - FANTASTIC idea, brings families back

[redwingfan19 293]

Wales Conference

Adams Division

Boston

Montreal

Quebec

Hartford

Buffalo

sens

Patrick Division

Pittsburgh

New Jersey

New York Rangers

Islanders

Philly

Washington

Campbell Conference

Norris Division

Wings

Chicago

Toronto

St. Louis

Minny

Hamilton?

Smythe Division

Oilers

Flames

Nucks

Winnipeg

Kings

dallas

That would be my perfect NHL and canning buttman and the instigator rule. Move Phoenix to quebec, anihiem to hatrford, canes to winnipeg, I suppose the sharks and tampa could stay and axe the rest.