The Death of Hockey, or, How a Bunch of Guys with Too Much Money and Too Little Sense are Killing the Greatest Game on Earth

by Photographs (Illustrator), Karl-Eric Reif

Book by Jeff Z. Klein, Karl-Eric Reif

Genres: Hockey, Sports, Nonfiction

234 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[Mark Geise · Rating 3 out of 5]

“The Death of Hockey” is a pessimistic, though ultimately more right than wrong, look at the state of hockey in the late 1990’s. The ‘90s were a time of declining scoring and declining ratings for the NHL. Despite having two of the best players in the game’s history active for much of the decade, the league’s product deteriorated on the ice and in the eyes of the public. Clutch-and-grab tactics and the neutral zone trap dominated the day as expansion diluted the talent pool and the league hesitated to enforce the rule book as it had in the past. Also, the goaltending equipment ballooned in size during this time, creating a perfect storm where scoring became almost nonexistent. Many of these same problems exist in today’s NHL, but things have certainly improved.

Coming out the 2004-05 lockout, the league actually took obstruction seriously and began to call the game tightly. Like the authors of this book said, scoring opened up and the game rapidly recovered from the damage done by the lockout (having marketable stars like Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, and Evgeni Malkin all starting their NHL careers in the first post-lockout season certainly helped, too). The importance of fighting declined as a premium was placed on speed and skill. The size of goaltending equipment was still an issue (and still is to this day), but this issue did not matter much when the actual on-ice product was so much improved. The league did not do everything right, though. The shootout has been an unwelcome addition, in my opinion. The league moved away from its crackdown on obstruction after a couple years and went back to calling the game more like it had in the ‘90s. The trapezoid rule was put into effect, which did little more than make it easier to dump and chase (something that the league should not encourage) and take away much of the value of puck-handling goalies.

Expansion has been put on hold for the last 15 years, but a new team is coming to Las Vegas in 2017-18 and other cities have been talked about as potential expansion sites. I still do not believe the league is ready for expansion with several teams teetering on the brink of failure. However, we should at least give the league credit for tempering its previous expansion fever over the last 15 years. In my opinion, the 3-on-3 overtime has been a welcome addition, allowing speed, skill, and creativity to be on display more than ever. Fighting has continued to decline in importance; most teams do not employ an enforcer any longer. In this book, the writers advocated for a ban on fighting, but I believe they would say that a ban is no longer necessary in 2017. Staged fights are virtually nonexistent in the game today, and the instigator rule has helped to eradicate targeted violence. Winnipeg got a team back after losing the Jets to Phoenix in the 1990’s, which was one of the biggest sore spots of the writers. Quebec City also looks poised to get a team back with an NHL-ready arena and corporate support in place.

All is not rosy, though. The writers advocate for an embrace of international play, particularly the Olympics, by the NHL. As I write this review, Gary Bettman and the NHL are threatening to not allow NHL players to play in the Olympics because it breaks up the NHL season. If the league takes a long-range view, it should realize the marketing potential of a competitive Olympic Games in which its players are present. The league continues to push expansion in the southern United States, which I do not believe is sustainable in most markets. Scoring is still low, though it is at least slightly higher than it was when the authors wrote this book. Obstruction and goaltending equipment remain big issues, in my opinion.

Many people may not like this book because of the tone of the authors. I certainly rolled my eyes a few times while reading. I am a big fan of tradition, but these guys take it a bit too far on occasion. However, I generally agree with most of their points. The game was broken in the late 1990’s and is still unhealthy today. However, things have gotten far better, so I am at least appreciative of those improvements. Hopefully we can continue to move in the right direction. If you can get past the sometimes condescending tone of the writers, this book contains a lot of good ideas and is still relevant to hockey fans today. If you are from Buffalo, you may be able to connect more with the writers than others due to some anecdotes they include in here (I am from Buffalo and found this book in a thrift store in Buffalo).

[Matt · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book looks at some of the problems in the NHL as perceived by the authors as of 1998, and offers some suggestions on how to fix it so the game is more enjoyable for everyone. Some of them are quite valid (revenue sharing, enforcing the rules as written, emphasis on the international games), but others are weaker (critiques on team names and uniforms, location of cities, a general complaint of the Sunbelt). And the overall argument comes across as rather weak, as they don't fully expand on their issues in a strong way, instead coming across as whiny and entitled. Written before the advent of internet commentary, it reads very much like someone posting online about the NHL, complete with the same level of elaboration or structure, and that really detracts from their point, which was solid at the time (and as would be seen, became much worse before it got better).