In his Sunday notebook, the New York Post's Larry Brooks has some harsh words who tried to mitigate the terms of Alex Ovechin's guarantee of winning against the Rangers, but his most intriguing topic involves obstruction, which we're seeeing at unprecidented levels--since the 2003-04 season, anyway--during this year's playoffs:
In 1995, when the Devils were ruining the sport with the trap while on their way to the first of three Cups in nine years, an average of 6.4 goals were scored in playoff games. Two decades later, entering Saturday’s opener of the Eastern Conference finals at the Garden, the average is 4.9 per.
Somehow, over the past 20 years, and allegedly operating under rules meant to open the game, the NHL has lost 1.5 goals per playoff game.
This is what you get when, a) goaltenders’ equipment continues to be oversized and increasingly is worn by athletes who are supersized; b) every team in the league focuses on back-pressure, and, c) the rules aren’t enforced.
It’s been a rodeo out there. It’s more than a return to the bad old days of obstruction. Defensemen routinely grab sticks, put their sticks between attackers’ legs around the net and bury their mitts in opposing sweaters. Slashing is on the rise. It’s not as if all these infractions simply are being missed. They simply are being ignored.
Modal TriggerIn 2004, when the game had slowed to a crawl, an average of 8.5 power plays per game were awarded in the playoffs. In 2006, after instituting new-age rules that were a byproduct of the canceled season Shanahan Summit, the average number of power plays per game rose to 11.6.
This year, half as many: 5.8.
Brooks continues at extended length, and I wouldn't call it a rodeo as much as I'd call it wrestling on ice.
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