I liked David's Top Ten Reasons post,  but I think Number 4 should be:
 
        "Fifteen feet behind the goal line instead of eleven."
 
        That makes a *major* difference in the way the game is played.   A lot
easier to cycle down low with all that space.   I think someone wrote here
a few weeks ago that it would be amazing to see Gretzky with all that room
to maneuver.   I agree.   And that is a very attractive part of the game.
 
        Btw,  I am personally not all that offended about the fighting in the NHL
except when it is used as gamesmanship.   A lot of it is boil-over from
stuff which is not called and should be.   I would still go harder on all
the hooking,  holding,  and blatant interference incidents such as
deliberate picks that go on in the pro game (and are creeping into the
college game these days) in order to open things up.   I am always
dismayed,  for instance when I see a blatant hook into a player,  who grabs
the offending stick (which is into his gut) and throws it off him to get
free.   Who gets called?   The guy who holds the stick,  of course:-(:-(
 
        -- Dick Tuthill
 
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