Across the SB Nation blogging network today, you're going to see most hockey sites come up with different ways to 'enhance the experience' of hockey. Some are talking NHL hockey, some hockey in general, some... are probably going pretty far out. It's all part of a campaign SBN is doing in partnership with Samsung.


Blades of Steel is, by far, the greatest hockey game ever made.  NHL '94 may get hype because of the film Swingers, but the truth is that Blades of Steel will always be superior because it distills hockey down to its empirical level by capturing the three purest fundamentals:  Shooting, passing, and fighting. 

The designers of Blades of Steel understood that these three things were the essence of what made hockey fun, and everything else about the sport was simply some kind of extension of one of those three areas.  And if you doubt the awesomeness of Blades of Steel, consider this:  The NHL has already implemented shootouts to decide tie games, a rule pioneered by the video game.  It's time to implement the rest.

Fighting
Currently, after a fight, both players go to the box for five minutes.  This can sometimes create an imbalance between the teams, as a low-minute pest might instigate a more skilled opponent into a scrap.  But that's no fun, and it only encourages the role of pest in today's game.

Instead, consider the rules of Blades of Steel:  You lose the fight, you sit in the box.  Winner stays on the ice.  This is how it should be.  Losing a fight is now the penalty.  Since real life players don't have hit points, the loser will be declared as the player who hits the ice first.  This means fewer pests and fewer meaningless fights.  The league is already trying to legislate out premeditated scraps -- this change will make fights more meaningful, and that should mean players only dropping the gloves when they're serious.

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Across the SB Nation blogging network today, you're going to see most hockey sites come up with different ways to 'enhance the experience' of hockey. Some are talking NHL hockey, some hockey in general, some... are probably going pretty far out. It's all part of a campaign SBN is doing in partnership with Samsung.

We all watch the Timbits hockey during intermission at games. Seeing the little kids skate around, tripping over their own feet, and occasionally seeing that one kid whose parents obviously put him on the ice as a ten-day old skate circles around the ice is almost as exciting as the real game.

So you know what we could do? Let's try and make the excitement of Timbits hockey reinvigorate NHL hockey by including at least one Timbits-eligible player on the ice at all times.

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Across the SB Nation blogging network today, you're going to see most hockey sites come up with different ways to 'enhance the experience' of hockey. Some are talking NHL hockey, some hockey in general, some... are probably going pretty far out. It's all part of a campaign SBN is doing in partnership with Samsung.

Let's be honest with each other for a second.  You know what's bullcrap?  Not knowing if a goal has been scored or not.  This is the 21st century, and yet we still have to put up with annoying video reviews where we wait through agonizing television replays as announcers debate whether or not they can see the puck.  And what's maddening is that you know the same exact conversation is going on in the so-called "war room" in Toronto.

"Uh, I don't know.  Can you see it there?"

"No.  Let's try another angle.  How about that?"

"Nah."

"What do you want to do?"

"I dunno.  Coin Flip?"

Yep... bullcrap.  Luckily, there's an easy solution: Put a quarter-inch green line in the goal.

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Across the SB Nation blogging network today, you're going to see most hockey sites come up with different ways to 'enhance the experience' of hockey. Some are talking NHL hockey, some hockey in general, some... are probably going pretty far out. It's all part of a campaign SBN is doing in partnership with Samsung.

My suggestion? Let's take the best of bubble-top hockey, and unite it with the best of the on-ice game. It would be awesome.

Think about it: We all remember playing bubble-top hockey as kids. It was awesome. Sure, the long-sticked defenceman had a hard time turning, but that just added to the realism--most NHL teams have a defenceman with limited mobility. But the best part? The flow to the game (when the puck wasn't stuck in a corner). The fact that the puck always remained in play was great, so why not bring that forward into the professional leagues?

So here's how we can enhance the experience of a pro hockey game: Install a glass bubble top over all arenas.

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