dyck@alberta.UUCP (Terry Dyck) (06/14/85)
I suddenly find myself in the position of having to agree with ucla!rick that the NHL has biased officiating. The only difference is that I`m refering to the `officials` in the NHL`s offices. Why is it that whenever a team becomes powerful, the NHL makes rule changes that only make sense when viewed from the angle that it will decrease the strengths of the current champions? I am of course refering to the stopping of 4on4 and 3on3. As well, this mornings paper reports that next years finals will be 2-2-1-1-1 instead of this years 2-3-2, with the team with the highest regular season point total getting home ice advantage. I know this may sound a bit like sour grapes, but it has happened too many times over the years. Instead of the various General Managers doing something about bringing their own teams performance up to the standard of the present champions, they change the rules and try to bring the champions down to their level. It has happened to the Flyers, the Islanders, and now the Oilers. Why? Where is the advantage to the fans? After all, aren`t THEY paying for the game? With both teams playing a man short the game becomes very fast and exciting. A 2-3-2 schedule is supposed to minimize the travelling and allow better rested players, yielding a higher caliber of play. This smacks of the idea of reducing everyone to the lowest common denominator. Maybe I`m overreacting but this seems to happen far to often. Why is it nessesary? Terry Dyck ihnp4!alberta!dyck