Quote:
Originally Posted by spinncognito
I would thing increasing rink size would lead to more playoff style hockey. With more room to skate you see more offense. Think 4 on 4 for overtime periods, more ice, more offense and more excitement. Think Olympics too, wide open up and down the ice action.
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I guess it depends on what “Playoff Hockey” means. It would be more wide open from a skating perspective but it would be much less physical from a checking and tight game perspective. Less room = more physical, more room = more skating. You could also argue that there would be more injuries as when there is a hit, as the impact would be greater due to the increased speed of the game with more room to line someone up.
I’m one for a more tight physical game vs wide open. One thing to consider is the last Olympics had great games and they were played on an NHL ice surface. Put that on an Olympic sized rink and it is a very different style of game. Watch a hockey game played at UNH vs at another Hockey East rink. UNH has a large surface and the others are more the size of the NHL.