"The end zones became so big that coaches said, 'OK, we can not cover everyone in this big space anymore, so we'll collapse everyone down low and turn them into shot-blockers,'" said Bowman, who had his day with the Stanley Cup at his Buffalo, NY, -area home on Friday. "If you take out the four feet in each end zone, now the blue line is closer to the goal and I think you'll have defensemen able to get more shots through from the point and more goals on rebounds and deflections."

Bowman thinks another problem with today's game is goalies being able to pass the puck out of their zone too much, leading to too-easy tip-ins and line changes for teams.

"If they handle the puck, I think the rule should be they have to make a play inside their own blue line otherwise it's a violation," Bowman said.