Thanks for the clarification. All of that sounds welcome, because one of the reasons I stopped watching much hockey was the (NHL) game had become pretty dull. It was more than a lack of scoring. There isn't much scoring in soccer, either, and soccer is a beautiful game. NHL hockey had become far less than beautiful. In response to sagging defenses (which clutched and held, as you say), offenses resorted to the lowest common denominator -- dump and chase.

I was fortunate enough to grow up in New England during the heyday of the Bruins. My dad would take my brother and I down to see them play once a season at the old Boston Garden. After the game the three of us would stay overnight at a semi-fleabag hotel near the Gahden called the Madison. (Since demolished, I believe). A real adventure. I have been to lots of sports events, including dozens if not hundreds of Bulls games during the Jordan era, and would have to say the loudest noise I have ever heard at a sports event (other than the Indy 500, which is not a fair comparison) was the Garden when Bobby Orr would take the puck and jet past the red line, a place defensemen didn't normally even venture until Orr came along. The crowd noise in that old barn at that moment was deafening. There was a sense that we were in the presence of greatness, of genius. As indeed we were.


>Used to when a team got the lead, they would clamp down on the defense and prevent the other team from getting quality shots. These tactics including grabbing, shoving, hooking with the stick, and otherwise obstructing players who did not have the puck. While all those tactics were technically illegal, they were rarely called unless the offended player got high-sticked, obviously tripped, cross-checked or boarded. So once a team got the lead, it made it difficult for the other team to come back to win.
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>Now, if a player does not have the puck, opposing players can not do anything to obstruct unless they want to sit in the penalty box for 2 minutes of game time. The new rules are working, and the skill players actually get to flaunt their skills.
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>>Why is that? I read an overview of the rule changes when they were announced but don't follow hockey much so have forgotten most of it.
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>>>I also like the fact that a team that scores first no longer has a "90%" chance or greater to win. No more scoring first then bogging down the game with clutch-grab-obstruct tactics until the final horn sounds. A team can get down 2, 3 or more goals and still have a good chance to come back to win. Games are no longer "over" once one of the teams is up by 2 or more goals.