The aesthetic decline of the NHL has become a near-pathological obsession among hockey writers, especially those in Canada. Every day, some veteran crank or crusading reformer lets loose with a spirited denunciation of the league; today’s pro hockey is dismissed as uneventful, predictable, drained of speed and ingenuity. A bore.
Everyone enjoys a good rant, and your average media type relishes the role of no-nonsense iconoclast. But the “Whither Hockey?” columns are all starting to look the same, as if everyone is working from the same template. The reformers make some good points. But the herd mentality is not a sign of quality journalism. When so many experts agree on something, it is cause for suspicion.
The Toronto Globe and Mail has lately been on the front lines of the campaign. “He Doesn’t Shoot! He Doesn’t Score!” ran the headline of its November 1 sports section, introducing a lament for the game that ran almost two full pages. “Where is the art? Where is the creativity in the NHL today?” enquired one subhead. A team of writers compiled the damning numbers, showing that three weeks into this season, scoring was down, shutouts up and comebacks rare.
On the same day this carefully groomed argument appeared, four NHL teams sacrificed leads of at least two goals, and four of 11 winners had to come from behind for the victory. In the week that followed, nine teams managed to blow a lead of two or more goals, a handful of others came back from one goal down, and the 45 games averaged 5.28 goals per game, well above the season average.
At the risk of sounding unfashionably positive, perhaps NHL hockey is not so horrible after all. The critics, knee-deep in their chosen agenda, would never admit as much. Those who use miniscule statistical samples to rail against the game would likely dismiss a week of great hockey as an anomaly.
Granted, there aren’t many fans who would vote to retain the NHL’s status quo. Most of us have had the eye-glazing experience of watching a Jacques Lemaire team protect a lead, have seen giants like Joe Thornton and Peter Forsberg hacked and tackled and mauled by assorted third-line drones. Everyone agrees that ideas to improve the spectacle and its mystifying officiating are worth a look.
But anyone who watched much hockey in the early days of November - anyone who witnessed one of several comebacks by the Thrashers or Avalanche, anyone who saw the Flyers’ bone-jarring 2-1 victory over the Rangers or the Blues’ frenzied 3-2 win against the nearly unstoppable Canucks - all those people must be wondering what games the media malcontents are watching.
Perhaps it is an occupational hazard of watching games for work instead of for fun. Perhaps too much bad press box food poisons the mind and blunts the senses. Whatever the reason, many of today's hockey reporters display the same hidebound, narrow-minded qualities they are so quick to criticize in NHL executives.
A few points the NHL reformers should at least consider:
- Statistics are not the truth.
Truth can sometimes be gleaned from statistics. But as often as not, numbers are manipulated in the service of misrepresentations, oversimplified arguments or hopeless logical fallacies. -
Whatever happened to anecdotal evidence?
Wasn’t there a time when a hockey writer’s most important tools were his eyes and ears, not a calculator and a stack of ledgers? -
More goals equals better hockey?
Sometimes yes, sometimes no. On the day the Globe And Mail articles appeared, The Philadelphia Flyers did their bit for the precious goals-per-game standard by caning the Maple Leafs 7-1. But their 2-1 win over the Rangers a week later was a far more entertaining game. -
Were the 1980s great for everyone?
The Noddynuff Goals Gang longingly recalls the eighties, the highest-scoring decade in NHL history. It was a unique period, when the NHL expanded much faster than its talent pool and the Edmonton Oilers took spectacular advantage. But the Oilers - and before them, the Islanders – had few serious rivals and racked up many a dreary blowout against unworthy opponents. Ask Leafs' or Devils' fans how they enjoyed Edmonton's great 1985 season. -
Fans are not running from the game in droves.
Most cities with poor NHL attendance can blame a team that has been too awful for too long. Losing teams will always have trouble selling seats, no matter how many goals are scored. Canadian television ratings remain consistent (sports writers prefer “flat”), while Americans have never watched hockey in large numbers, not when Gretzky was scoring in droves, not when Mario was at his peak, not now, not ever. The style of play has nothing to do with it.
