If you were in charge, how would you change...

[Guynemer]

...(insert your choice of league or sport here)

...the NHL?

First, I would contract, move, and realign the teams. The NHL expanded too rapidly into areas that just aren't suited to supporting a hockey team. Phoenix would move back to Winnipeg. Florida and Atlanta, gone. Tampa Bay, Carolina and Nashville head west to cities that could actually support hockey: either Seattle, Portland, another Bay Area team, or Salt Lake City. And while Columbus can support a team, I'd strongly consider moving them to Quebec.

There would be 2 conferences of 2 7-team divisions (we could even go back to the old names). Pacific: Vancouver, San Jose, LA, Anaheim, Seattle, Portland, SLC. Mountain: Edmonton, Calgary, Colorado, St. Louis, Dallas, Winnipeg, Minnesota. Central: Chicago, Detroit, Columbus, Toronto, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Ottawa. Atlantic: New York x2, New Jersey, Montreal, Philadelphia, Washington, Boston.

The season would be slightly shortened to 78 games; this would shave about 2 weeks off the season. Teams would play other division foes 6 times, conference teams 4 times, and other conference teams once. Old rivalries amongst the Original Six would be reborn, as all would be in the East Conference. Playoffs would be old school--top four in each division have a divisional playoff, fostering rivalries.

I would have a minor league experiment with fulltime 4-on-4 play. This would have several theoretical benefits: more open ice, emphasizing skill; improving average skill league wide by making rosters smaller; less cash devoted to salaries makes the league more economically viable, allowing ticket prices to fall and therefore expand the fanbase. It used to be 6-on-6 back in the day, so there's nothing sacred about 5-on-5...

Goalie equipment would be severely shrunk, especially leg pads and jerseys. Skaters jerseys would be shrunk as well.

That would be a start...

So, what changes would you make to the league or sport of your choice?

[Lord Avalon]

NHL
Rather than taking a player off, why not make the rinks bigger?
Also, get on a real TV channel.

NFL
Improve helmets & mouthpieces to help prevent concussions. Better pension fund.

[Asher]

NHL:

1. Move much of the American teams north to real hockey cities.
2. Kill instigator penalty
3. Move to Olympic-sized rinks
4. Adopt an NFL-style play review system
5. Install HD cameras at many angles pointed at the net
6. Place sensor inside the puck so its position can be known at all times, even if it's covered by pads for the purposes of play review

MLB:

1. Disband the league

NFL:

1. Play 82 games a year, like hockey.
2. Ban overweight players

[Thedrin]

EPL (and other football competitions)

Remove the referee's ability to punish diving and set up a panel to investigate the practice with the authority to award yellow cards to all offenders (red cards when appropriate) and all the bans that go with those cards.

[b etor]

Originally posted by Asher
NHL:

2. Kill instigator penalty
5. Install HD cameras at many angles pointed at the net
6. Place sensor inside the puck so its position can be known at all times, even if it's covered by pads for the purposes of play review

MLB:

1. Disband the league

[Asmodean]

Whoa...you have really lost a European like myself.

In Europe, professional sports (almost all of it) if based on clubs, not teams. Meaning that while it is still big business, there isa club culture (and a very strong one at that) that permeates the entire club. Making each club unique in terms of almost everything.

A very large part of that is where the club is geographically located. To even suggest a wholesale move of teams like that in Europe, based on whatever arbitrary criteria would be heresy, to say the least.

Professional sports
The American model of same

Asmodean

[Lord Avalon]

Well, as far as hockey goes, a number of teams are fairly recent expansions - either completely new, or teams that left their old towns. There may not be enough fan support to sustain them (no culture), in contrast to places where teams have a long history (i.e., culture). IMO hockey in warm American cities doesn't do as well - people in general aren't playing the sport there. Whereas in places with real winter, there is hockey being played.

It's easier to get fan support for (American) football or basketball, because people are involved in those sports. (Though it's not always succuessful.)

[Sava]

disband the league and start from scratch

[Imran Siddiqui]

MLB:

1. Eliminate the Designated Hitter
2. Remove Interleague Play, and institute a (more) balanced schedule
3. (perhaps) Remove the Wild Card and instead give the #1 seed a bye to the LCS while the #2 and #3 play a LDS
4. Move Tampa Bay, keep the Marlins as "Florida's team", perhaps to Northern New Jersey or North Carolina (keeping it in the East)
5. Move Milwaukee back to the AL (in the Central), drop Kansas City to the AL West, and thus have each division with 5 teams

[LordShiva]

Cricket:

1. Get rid of that retarded substitute rule.
2. Set up an annual Twenty20 tournament.

[notyoueither]

Originally posted by Asmodean
Whoa...you have really lost a European like myself.

In Europe, professional sports (almost all of it) if based on clubs, not teams. Meaning that while it is still big business, there isa club culture (and a very strong one at that) that permeates the entire club. Making each club unique in terms of almost everything.

A very large part of that is where the club is geographically located. To even suggest a wholesale move of teams like that in Europe, based on whatever arbitrary criteria would be heresy, to say the least.

Professional sports
The American model of same

Asmodean

Guy is advocating fixing the worst problem with treating teams as commodities to be shipped around to consumers.

I don't necessarily agree with him about moving out of some of the newer markets. I note there was a time not too long ago that Denver and the Bay area couldn't support teams, while now they can.

As for the club culture, it is here and is getting stronger. It would be inconceivable to move any of the original six teams as well as some of the newer ones like Philly, Vancouver and a few others. Assuming an owner were idiot enough to want to give up on those markets, the governors would never OK the move.

[Ninot]

NHL:
1: Take out the Instigator
2: Make referees accountable for bad calls
3: Change the Puck over the glass rule from a delay of game penalty to the same ruling as icings.
4: Move alot of teams out of warm weather states back to hockey towns.
5: Either mandate smaller shoulderpads or penalize headhunting

MLB:
1: Some kind of salary cap, to lower spending by the Yanks and Sox, and increase spending by teams like the Royals
2: Reduce the season by a dozen games or so, increase the size and length of the playoffs
3: Put a team back in Montreal.

[notyoueither]

OK.

NHL, not in order of importance.

1. Larger ice surface.

2. Puck over the glass the same as icing (no line change) and add goalies freezing the puck when it gets near them to the category.

3. No-touch icing.

4. Get rid of the instigator penalty, or heavily modify it to eliminate automatic game misconducts and suspentions.

5. Find an ad agency with a younger, agressive style. Ads like the ones mixing 300 and the Stanley Cup are the right idea. Speak directly to the target audience of new hackey fans (young males in American markets).

6. Expand slowly into traditional hockey markets that are missing teams. 2 teams every 4 or 6 years. Make sure that people know it is coming and is only a matter of time. First two teams in the West (Portland and Winnipeg) so Chicago or Detroit can go to the Eastern Conference.

7. Every NHL franchise must maintain a team in a minor pro league. Farm teams should be close geographically to the club's home city where possible and team swaps should be made to help establish this.

8. Puck sensing technology in the goals as well as video review. There should be no question if the puck crosses the line, but it may need to be called back.

9. 3 points for a win in regulation time.

10. Every team has to play every other team at least once a season.

[Lord Avalon]

NHL
Original Six teams in different conferences play each other twice a season.

[The Emperor Fabulous]

Originally posted by Asher
NHL:

1. Move much of the American teams north to real hockey cities.

MLB:

1. Disband the league

NFL:

1. Play 82 games a year, like hockey.
2. Ban overweight players

So you want to remove one sport, eliminate another, and totally ruin the last.

You want us to be stuck watching Basketball and NASCAR?

NFL:

Expand to Canada
Incorporate NFL Europe

MLB:

Lower salaries
Lower ticket prices