While I would hardly agree that the Goalie exerts
more influence on a Team's Fate than the QuarterBack or ~ in a single Game ~ the Pitcher, he is certainly on the same level.
Indeed, I find that to be Hockey's
least attractive Attribute.
Nobody's been more contemptuous than I of Major League BaseBall's disgusting & despicable efforts to inflate Statistics since 1987 ~ yes, it's been 26 Years since Wade Boggs hit those 24 Homers!!
But ~ at the risk of being perceived, despite my previous statement, as a fan of Point Inflation ~ I believe that Hockey would dramatically benefit from either greatly enlarging the Net or shrinking the Goalie's Stick ~ or
both.
Of course there's no way that that happens: The Goalie having such an enormous influence on things presents an X Factor that produces random and sometimes shocking Upsets ~ which not only infuses the PlayOffs with added Drama, but also levels the playing field
considerably, the combination of which makes the entire Regular Season more interesting, simply because You Never Know: "Maybe
our Team will be the one who's Goalie gets hot!!"
But when a significantly better Team ~ and all too often even a
great Team, an exciting,
entertaining Team ~ loses a PlayOff Series because the inferior Team's Goalie Got Hot at the "right" time, it kind of
sucks.
The dramatic increase in scoring that would result from the changes I'm proposing would of course not
eliminate the powerful influence that Goalies have on their Team's Fates, obviously.
Furthermore, the Game, as it is now, is burdened with a Scoring Pace
far too similar to European FootBall.
Speaking for myself ~ and billions of others, I suspect!! ~ I don't have that kind of Attention Span.
A much larger Net and smaller Stick for the Goalie, resulting in far more 9-8 Games and ~ far more importantly ~ the constantly high possibility of an imminent Score for the entire 60 Minutes, the Game would suddenly transform into 60 minutes of fast-paced, dramatic, Edge Of Your Seat
Mayhem!!
Viewership, I believe, would absolutely
explode.
Hockey, in fact, might very well pass BasketBall and even
BaseBall in viewership in the Years ahead.
Much More Scoring = Much More Interesting = Much More Viewership = Much More Money!! :rocker:
Those fools running the Game are leaving
Billions on the Table.