RULES FIRE ENJOYABILITY THROUGH NHL's FIVEHOLE

I used to be an avid St.Louis Blues fan.Then again I USED to be able to occassionally see them on TV.With the NHL clueless in their efforts to sell broadcasting rights the only reason I even know the Blues still exist is through standings printed in the local paper.Not that I'd recognize my favorite team since the strike year shuffle that scattered players to the four winds and left St.Louis permanently in the cellar, closing the door on one of the longest playoff appearance streaks in the NHL. What eases my pain is that hockey has been re-invented in some bastardized version of its former glory.The NHL apparently decided to play European hockey on a rink half the size.They've encouraged cherry picking and penalize teams for playing defense. They chastise goalies for protecting the net.Then there's the nintendo-esque shootouts and the ridiculous OT loss point.I mean WTF! you get a point just for losing?!?!The NHL's goal is to have more scoring with the ideal final being something in the neighborhood of a 12-12 tie ending in a 5-4 shootout.It's amazing all the goalies aren't manic-depressive.Speaking of goalies,why are they allowed to wear mattresses on their legs?Wouldn't it be much simpler to decrease the permitted pad size rather than increase the net size?Everyone in the NHL and the NHLPA needs to watch a hockey game from the '80's and commit themselves to getting American hockey back to what it was meant to be, a high finessed bloodbath.