Yardbarker
x
Fixing the NHL: From music to five for fighting
Calvin de Haan of the Islanders and Ryan Callahan of the Lightning dropped the gloves in a November contest. Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

Fixing the NHL: From music to five for fighting

The NHL is great — full of fast action, physical play and exciting players, including recognizable faces and lesser-known talents fans are dying to see. There's plenty to love about the league and the sport. However, that doesn't mean everything is fine and dandy on the ice, which is where we come in.

Welcome back to the Yardbarker NHL roundtable. We dropped the puck on the roundtable on a positive note, but today we look at a couple things we'd change in the NHL, playing commissioner and audio-visual director for a day. We asked our panelists two questions on changes they'd make in the NHL. Here's what they said: 

If you could change one team's goal song, which would it be and what would you change it to?

Chelena Goldman: Never mind song — the cannon that the Columbus Blue Jackets use drives me bonkers. Anything so loud that it messes with the radio stream for the game has got to go.

Laura Saba: The New York Rangers' goal song to literally anything else. 

Joe Boland: The Blackhawks' song because I still have Michael Leighton flashbacks from 2010. I think this version of "Funky Cold Medina" should be the song — preferably with Jeremy Roenick forced to sing it live every time.

Jason Clinkscales: Chicago's use of "Chelsea Dagger," no question. With the exception of the Minnesota Wild paying homage to Prince and the Buffalo Sabres’ use of "Let Me Clear My Throat," there isn’t a goal song I particularly care for, so for me, a song is either tolerated or, in one case, strongly disliked. "Chelsea Dagger" is the absolute worst of them all, so if the Blackhawks are truly a team of the people, they would save us all. I don’t care what it’s replaced with. Plus, since this is Chicago, there are quite a few native artists who would be happy to lend a song, though the in-arena hockey crowd probably won’t veer much toward non-mainstream rap. Just anything with rhythm, anything not from Jock Jams, and anything BUT "Chelsea Dagger." 

Sarah Sprague: How is it that I love Gorillaz so much and want nothing but good things for Damon Albarn, but the second I hear THE GOAL song "Song 2" by his other band Blur, I wish a pox upon his house? (And let's not kid ourselves, even when it's not the goal song being played, it's really the goal song everyone is hearing in his or her head.)

My real answer is the Kings' because it's just their usual goal song with a "50th Anniversary" logo slapped on it for 2016-2017, and it is quite possibly one of the least L.A.-sounding songs to be played over the PA at Staples Center. You are relieved when they play "I Love LA" because then you can imagine you're at Dodger Stadium instead and not looking at rafters celebrating T-Swift sellouts.

If you were NHL commissioner for a day, what one rule would you change and/or implement (and why)? 

Chelena Goldman: I would work on expanding the concussion protocol. A colleague and I were discussing after a game in October how some players don't show symptoms of being concussed until the day after taking a big hit, sometimes making it hard to determine during a game how seriously a player is injured. I would want to have an in-depth discussion with league doctors to determine the best way to go about expanding the process. That probably isn't going to all get done in just one day, is it? Maybe I should be commissioner for a little longer just to make sure this gets taken seriously. 

Laura Saba: There are oh-so-many rules to choose from. The puck-over-the-glass delay of game penalty is usually at the top of the list of fan pet peeves, so I'd start with that one.

Joe Boland: This is where I'm going to lose most of you. I know it. But if I was commissioner, I'd eliminate fighting from the game completely. I know, I know: tradition, policing, blah, blah, blah. But given all we know about head trauma, why in the world is fighting still just a five-minute penalty in hockey? You can't fight in baseball. You can't fight in football. You can't fight in basketball. Hell, you can't even fight in pee wee hockey and other levels of the sport. It doesn't take anything away except a sideshow — albeit an entertaining one — and leads to damage down the line for combatants. Plus, eliminating fighting would eliminate whatever few leftover "goons" still reside on NHL rosters, allowing more skilled players and more beautiful play. Out with fighting, in with skill.

Jason Clinkscales: It’s not an on-ice rule, but it’s something that the league should talk with its local affiliates about. Gary Bettman came from the NBA, and while the league has taken this stance against marketing individual rivalries and matchups, he could borrow something from his former employer that can enhance the NHL Network. NBA TV has Fan Night where fans can vote on which game it’ll show on the network Tuesday night. NBA TV basically picks up the local home broadcast, bringing it to a national TV audience. The NHL could copy the same exact concept, which would give fans a greater chance to see some of the best teams and players in the league, especially the wunderkinds that play outside of the northeast and Chicago bubble NBC is obsessed with.

Sarah Sprague: When a goalie has the puck in the glove and you can clearly — CLEARLY, NO BIAS HERE — see the puck is over the line but not the entirety of the goalie's glove is over the line, it should be a goal. If I'm being completely honest, I wish the NHL looked at the goal line like the NFL when the puck is on the ice: Any part of the puck is over the slightest bit of line it's a goal. You want an increase in scoring? There you go. Alter the rules for what is and isn't a goal slightly.       

Can you name every NHL player to win the Calder Trophy?

This does not include the original Rookie of the Year winners, so sorry to Carl Voss, Russ Blinco, Sweeney Schriner, and Mike Karakas.

SCORE:
0/82
TIME:
10:00
1936-37 TOR
Syl Apps
1937-38 CBH
Cully Dahlstrom
1938-39 BOS
Frank Brimsek
1939-40 NYR
Kilby MacDonald
1940-41 MTL
John Quilty
1941-42 NYR
Grant Warwick
1942-43 TOR
Gay Stewart
1943-44 TOR
Gus Bodnar
1944-45 TOR
Frank McCool
1945-46 NYR
Edgar Laprade
1946-47 TOR
Howie Meeker
1947-48 DET
Jim McFadden
1948-49 NYR
Pentti Lund
1949-50 BOS
Jack Gelineau
1950-51 DET
Terry Sawchuk
1951-52 MTL
Bernie Geoffrion
1952-53 NYR
Gump Worsley
1953-54 NYR
Camille Henry
1954-55 TOT
Ed Litzenberger
1955-56 DET
Glenn Hall
1956-57 BOS
Larry Regan
1957-58 TOR
Frank Mahovlich
1958-59 MTL
Ralph Backstrom
1959-60 CBH
Bill Hay
1960-61 TOR
Dave Keon
1961-62 MTL
Bobby Rousseau
1962-63 TOR
Kent Douglas
1963-64 MTL
Jacques Laperriere
1964-65 DET
Roger Crozier
1965-66 TOR
Brit Selby
1966-67 BOS
Bobby Orr
1967-68 BOS
Derek Sanderson
1968-69 MNS
Danny Grant
1969-70 CBH
Tony Esposito
1970-71 BUF
Gilbert Perreault
1971-72 MTL
Ken Dryden
1972-73 NYR
Steve Vickers
1973-74 NYI
Denis Potvin
1974-75 ATF
Eric Vail
1975-76 NYI
Bryan Trottier
1976-77 ATF
Willi Plett
1977-78 NYI
Mike Bossy
1978-79 MNS
Bobby Smith
1979-80 BOS
Ray Bourque
1980-81 QUE
Peter Stastny
1981-82 WIN
Dale Hawerchuk
1982-83 CBH
Steve Larmer
1983-84 BUF
Tom Barrasso
1984-85 PIT
Mario Lemieux
1985-86 CGY
Gary Suter
1986-87 LAK
Luc Robitaille
1987-88 CGY
Joe Nieuwendyk
1988-89 NYR
Brian Leetch
1989-90 CGY
Sergei Makarov
1990-91 CHI
Ed Belfour
1991-92 VAN
Pavel Bure
1992-93 WIN
Teemu Selanne
1993-94 NJD
Martin Brodeur
1994-95 QUE
Peter Forsberg
1995-96 OTT
Daniel Alfredsson
1996-97 NYI
Bryan Berard
1997-98 BOS
Sergei Samsonov
1998-99 COL
Chris Drury
1999-00 NJD
Scott Gomez
2000-01 SJS
Evgeni Nabokov
2001-02 ATL
Dany Heatley
2002-03 STL
Barret Jackman
2003-04 BOS
Andrew Raycroft
2005-06 WSH
Alex Ovechkin
2006-07 PIT
Evgeni Malkin
2007-08 CHI
Patrick Kane
2008-09 CBJ
Steve Mason
2009-10 BUF
Tyler Myers
2010-11 CAR
Jeff Skinner
2011-12 COL
Gabriel Landeskog
2012-13 FLA
Jonathan Huberdeau
2013-14 COL
Nathan MacKinnon
2014-15 FLA
Aaron Ekblad
2015-16 CHI
Artemi Panarin
2016-17 TOR
Auston Matthews
2017-18 NYY
Mathew Barzal
2018-19 VAN
Elias Pettersson

More must-reads:

Customize Your Newsletter

+

Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Emailed daily. Always free!

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.