actually, i don't think there's anything wrong with hockey that removing the instigator penalty wouldn't solve.
the only other thing i could think of would be removing the red line and letting the fastest players run up and down the ice like hooligans on speed. barry melrose says that the game is better with the red line, so what do i know?
i do think the rushed expansion was detrimental to hockey and heavily diluted the quality of players, thus leading to the current clutch-and-grab style of hockey that the 1995 nj devils popularized. whenever i watch old games on espn classic i can't believe how much more open the game was in the past.
with the speed of today's players and no muggings each trip down the ice nhl hockey would be just fine. that and about 10 less teams.
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