from Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe,

My recent chat with Mike Milbury about dwindling NHL goal scoring regenerated one of my old ideas about how to pump up the scoring volume.

At even strength, five-on-five, teams in their defensive end always have an advantage because they are defending their net with six bodies (five skaters and one goalie). Seems to me, the obvious way to open up the game in those situations would be to prohibit teams from having five skaters in their defensive end.

Ergo, the team with the puck would attack in the offensive end with five skaters and be resisted by five defenders: four skaters and one goalie. What of that fifth “defensive’’ player? He would be forced to remain outside his own blue line, in the neutral zone.

The immediate effect would be attacking teams having significantly more room to create in the offensive zone. The hidden benefit, and perhaps the most exciting, would be that teams skilled in puck repossession in their own end (hello, Bruins) would develop a knack for wiring breakaway passes to that one player outside the zone. During a 60-minute game, we might see a handful of thrilling breakaways.

So sign me up. Anyone else on board?

many more hockey topics...