I believe the return to soccer on ice is due to two things.

One, the padding these guys have now is made with a thick, hard plastic shell. If you bang an elbow or shoulder pad designed for hockey these days on another hard surface it sounds like you are beating a stick on a drum.

This has undoubtedly aided in the head injuries and concussions we’ve been hearing about ad nauseum in the NHL (and the NFL, too).

However, this also has meant that, unlike hockey years ago where the actual padding was made of a sponge like material, you can dive for pucks moving at 100 mph, now, because unless the puck hits you in the face, vegas odds are you won’t get seriously hurt.

25-30 years ago and before that, there weren’t many players that blocked shots, and even the players, like Ken Morrow, who were good at it chose their spots very carefully because there was a strong likeliood that could end your season.

However, it’s the NHL’s stubbornness and misguided thinking about the size of their nets and the refusal to enlarge them even slightly that has spawned a defense-first style. The goalie pads are much, much, much bigger than in days past and most pro goalies take up 80% of the net just by cutting down the angle of a shooter. The nets need to be slightly bigger, and it will increase overall, median shooting percentages throughout the league, which will increase offensive risk-taking and creativity, which will mean that Ovechkin can resume getting top-line minutes in the playoffs.

Every other sport has made such adjustments (see how often and when MLB has adjusted the height of the pitchers mound, for example), but the NHL has tried every other band-aid solution instead of just getting to the heart of the problem.

You want to increase scoring? Make the nets bigger. It’s as simple as that.