8. Enlarge the ice surface
The ever-increasing size of the NHL player and the propensity for obstruction have combined to shrink the size of the ice surface, even though the standard 200 foot by 85 foot rink remains intact. How many times in recent years have you heard a player complain that there’s no room out there. Ever heard that complaint from a player at the Olympics?

No, because the 200 foot by 100 foot dimensions give the skill player more room to work with and make the poor-skating obstructer’s life a nightmare. The pace of the hockey was electric in 2004 at Salt Lake City. Sure the talent of the elite players was part of the reason for the increased excitement level, but so was the larger rink supplied to be utilized by these artists of the ice. “I think the league really missed the boat in the last few years when it built all of these new buildings, but didn’t have them install the capabilities to have a larger ice surface,” said former NHL goalie and current hockey broadcaster John Davidson. “That was a real opportunity that was missed there.”

With 21 new NHL arenas having opened since 1990, as much as the bigger ice would have a positive impact on the pace of the game, unfortunately, it isn’t likely to be a change implemented anytime in the next 20-25 years.

9. Make Brett Hull commissioner
Brett Hull is passionate about hockey and he loves to hear himself talk. He thrives on telling everyone what’s wrong with the game and he’s happy to inform you how he’d repair the damage that has been done, if only he was given the chance.

Future Hall of Famer Brett Hull is never shy about saying what he thinks about the state of the NHL.

Hull has told Ken Hitchcock and Scotty Bowman how to coach and he never shies away from the chance to offer his assessment of anything to anyone who will listen. He’s the closest thing hockey has to Rush Limbaugh. So why not put him in charge of running the game? No more lawyer speak from the top. Imagine how entertaining Hull’s press conferences would be. Talk about must-see TV. Sure, it sounds crazy, but it just might be a Hull of an idea.

His father, Hall of Famer Bobby, has signed on as the commissioner of the reorganized World Hockey Association, so why not give the sport its first father-son commissioner act? You know what? If nothing else, it’d sure be a lot of fun, watching the Golden Brett actually have to put his theories into practice.

10. Do nothing radical
Remove the center red line. Make the blue lines wider. Curve the blue lines. Make the nets bigger. Play four-on-four all of the time. You’ve heard all of these outrageous ideas and then some more. Everybody’s got an solution to make the game better, but there are very few bits of tinkering worthy of consideration.

One change that the owners are right to be in favor of is putting the nets back where they were. Since they pulled the goals a further two feet from the boards, leaving them 13 feet out, too much of the game is being played behind the net, with two or more players wrestling for the puck. It’s also had the effect of reducing the size of the neutral zone. With even less room there, the task facing the obstructers is much easier.

For the most part, though, it’s time to leave the standards of the game alone. Stop moving lines. Don’t make the crease any larger. Leave the nets be. “Sometimes, I think the people who run the game are so obsessed with doing things to attract new fans, they have forgotten about the hard core, traditional fans who have always loved the game,” Boughner said.

Stop playing Russian Roulette with the rules and regulations of hockey. The solution isn’t all that complicated. Enforce the laws already in place to the letter and that will take care of most of what ails the game today.

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