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Sunday, December 30, 2001

By Dejan Kovacevic, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

Scoring in hockey is plummeting to depths not seen since Elvis was strumming his first guitar and they were still referring to Gordie Howe as "Kid." Goals per game have fallen to a grisly 5.16, down two full goals from just eight years ago, down four from when those great Oilers were daring everyone to play the game right.

One would think such a startling development would serve as a siren for the NHL, hungry for improved television ratings, to take action. But like most red lights these days, nothing is coming on.

It is the general managers who make the call on governing the game's rules, and to talk with any of them, you realize quickly no changes will be made.

Not now, not anytime soon.

"I know fans want to see more goals," the Hurricanes' Jim Rutherford said when his club passed through town this month. "I'm sure we'll discuss it, but I'm not convinced it's a problem in our sport. I actually think the game of hockey is better now than ever."

He isn't alone. Doug MacLean of the Blue Jackets expressed a similar view upon a recent visit.

"I like the game, especially since we put the two referees in a couple of years ago," he said. "You don't see any of that B.S. behind the play you used to see all the time, and that's really changed things for the better. More flow, more action."

Even so, each man offered one intriguing idea for how to increase scoring, which has dipped to its lowest point since 1955.

Rutherford's was a rule change, something the NHL has been loath to do since instituting sweeping reforms two years ago that sparked only a mild scoring spurt:

"I'd like to allow a team to ice the puck from its own blue line. You look at the trapping teams in this league, and that's where they get you, right between your own blue line and the red line. That's why so many teams are so cautious, just because of that area. This would essentially end the trap, and there would be a whole lot less neutral-zone play in general. The moment you're out of your zone, the other team's D have to turn around and go back in a hurry."

MacLean's proposition had more to do with attitude:

"One thing we as GMs can do is dictate what type of teams we have. When I brought in Dave King, he had a reputation as being a pretty defensive coach. But when he saw the type of players we brought in, trying to work with speed and skill, he went with the flow. Sometimes, when I've looked around the league, I've been frustrated by the coaching I see. Some of them have killed the game. But I think that's slowly changing. You're starting to see some of those coaches that the game has passed by aren't around anymore."

Both ideas clearly have merit, if only because both take different routes toward making the game immune to the sort of tedious, tentative strategies that have afflicted the NHL since the Devils turned trapping into a craze by winning the Stanley Cup in 1995.

But the only way to produce any meaningful, lasting solution to defense-first hockey is for the league to get involved. Not at the general managers' level, but at the top, where Commissioner Gary Bettman continues to insist that too much fuss is being made of the current goal drought.

And, judging by comments he made recently to reporters in Calgary, don't expect his tune to change soon, either.

"Goal scoring is down, maybe 80 or 90 goals over the last season. We're losing one goal every three or four games. I don't view that as that big of a deal. Do we want 7-1, 8-2 games? Seventy-plus percent of our games are two-goal decisions. Our fans are seeing an exciting product. I think the game on the ice has been good. Really good. We're having a very competitive season, and that's exciting."

Dejan Kovacevic can be reached at dkovacevic@ post-gazette.com.