He is correct. Just about every sport wants more offense, one reason MLB played dumb when hitters were suddenly developing WWE-ready physiques through their local drug labs.
Football is always tweaking rules with the idea of getting more touchdowns on the scoreboard. The old Steelers were so good at mauling receivers downfield that no contact is allowed now beyond five yards.
Then there's hockey. The sport had a chance to reinvent itself after losing the 2004-05 season to a work stoppage, and the NHL took full advantage. It pledged to take obstruction out of the game, to let the stars shine.
The league followed through, too. Referees were told there was a zero tolerance policy on holding and hooking, and they got in trouble when they let things go without a whistle. It got ridiculous at times, with teams sometimes getting as many as 10 power play chances in a game.
But it worked. The players adjusted, and the game was better. Somewhere along the way things changed again, and not for the better. Obstruction made its way back into the game, and now anyone who watches the NHL realizes that 2005 was a long time ago.
Whoever leads the league in scoring this season has a chance to post the lowest points total in more than 50 years. Given the skill level of the current players and the strategic advancements over the past five decades, that should be impossible.
Goalies are better than ever, and that's part of it. They're more acrobatic and almost every team has a quality goaltender. Dunc Wilson and Pat Riggin couldn't play in today's NHL.
Shot blocking has also become a bigger point of emphasis. Skating lanes are clogged by bigger, quicker players, but there's also less room to shoot because of players who throw themselves in front of shots.
The correctable element is to get back to calling all obstruction. It's not being done consistently, and the game suffers.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman came from the NBA and has no great attachment to hockey. His idea of a fan-friendly concept is the shootouts that quickly became passe.
Hockey doesn't need rules changes. It just needs diligent enforcement of the existing rules.
Let the stars shine.
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--PERFECT TIMING
One of the tenets of Neal Huntington's tenure as Pirates GM is his belief that relief pitching is a fungible asset.
It's a juggling act, trying to weigh a reliever's value against his salary and his contractual leverage. The stakes are higher, but it's the same concept as trying to time the ripeness of bananas. Keep them too long, and it's a bad investment.
He'll probably never be as right as he was about Joel Hanrahan, who was traded to Boston after the 2012 season. In the last two seasons, Hanrahan's major league work has been limited to the seven and 1/3 innings he spread over nine appearances for the 2013 Red Sox.
He's been injured since then, and recently learned that he needs a second Tommy John ligament replacement surgery, which will sideline him for at least another season.
Huntington not only moved on from Hanrahan, he used him to acquire the closer replacement, Mark Melancon.
Melancon has saved 49 games for the Pirates over the past two seasons while Hanrahan has been flipping through magazines in Dr. James Andrews' waiting room.
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--PROSPECT TO SUSPECT
There was a time when people raved about the potential of Simon Despres, one of several young defensemen in the Penguins system.
His stock fell to the point that he was dealt even-up for Ben Lovejoy, who figures to be on the team's third defensive pairing. Lovejoy fills a role for the Penguins, but he's not the kind of player who should net a former first-round draft pick -- unless that player has some holes in his game. Despres apparently does.
It's reminiscent of Ryan Whitney, another highly-regarded defensive prospect who fizzled. The long-standing belief that Whitney was a victim of then-coach Michel Therrien's rough treatment was disproved when Whitney went elsewhere and played himself out of the NHL.
After leaving Pittsburgh, Whitney was with three clubs in seven seasons. Unwanted as a free agent, he now plays in Russia.
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