**The column below represents the personal views of the student journalist.
The Golden Age of Hockey is a term that shouldn’t be thrown around lightly; however, with that being said, I am blessed enough to have witnessed it. I watched as the Oilers were in the Cup final, and their superstar was making the other team’s defense look like peewee players; his jersey number in the high 90’s is something to be worn with pride, and I watched as he completed the assist to break the record for the most in a single playoff. This whole time, you’d think I’d be describing Gretzky in the 80’s, but that’s not the case because he was not part of the golden era. McDavid and the entire league now is the true best that it’s ever been.
There are many ways to prove that the NHL is in its prime right now without just subjective stats.
Objectively, the NHL is experiencing its highest average viewership ever, with 2023-2024 seeing an average increase in viewership of 8% to 504,000 a game, according to TNT. Also, in that same season, rookie Connor Bedard’s first game drew in 1.43 million viewers.
Subjectively, however, the league is truly in the best shape that it has ever been in. For one, concussion protocol has saved so many players’ careers. Scott Lindros was a sensational player who played through the 90’s for the Flyers. However, repeated concussions and no action from the league caused his career to be cut sickeningly short; he truly would have been one of the best we’d ever seen.
The Lindros incident would never happen today; the stars are protected in the sense that they don’t have to worry about goons head-hunting them.
Outside of improved medical protocol, the offensive talent and variety of players with incredible skillsets is better now, too. There are insanely talented playmakers like Kucherov and Draisatilho who pass the puck like they can see 10 seconds into the future, McDavid can skate faster WITH the puck on his blade then the fastest skater in the 90’s could skate without it, Auston Matthews has the most twisted shot release the league has ever seen and can put the puck literally where ever he wants it to go. William Nylander plays like the puck is on a string and has the most creative thought process the league has ever seen, with Hockey IQ rivaling Gretzky’s. Mackinnon is a force that seems to be unstoppable at times. This distribution of high-end talent makes The League a special place today.
With all of this being said, I think the most important innovation that makes hockey what it is today is the post-lockout rules. In the 2004-2005 season, or what was supposed to be that season, the players’ association and the league were unable to reach terms, resulting in no hockey that year. When the NHL came back in 2005-06, there was a host of new rules. These included getting rid of the two-line pass, which prevented long passes that allowed faster breakouts (when one team rushes to the other side), and they also added the much-needed salary cap. The salary cap put a limit on how much each team could spend on its roster. This allowed smaller market teams to be competitive because the more established teams used to always have more money available for players, which means they could attract many more of them.
The lockout propelled the league into its golden era, because it almost directly led me to my final point, the destruction of the two-line pass, which allowed defensemen (two are on the ice for each team at all times, as opposed to three forwards) to contribute to the offense. Because of that, the number of offensive defensemen exploded. Players like Cale Makar, whose defensive talent can not be overstated, are even better at contributing to their team’s offense. His skating is some of the smoothest ever. Quinn Hughes is the best puck carrier in the entire league and does it all as a defenseman. This was simply not seen in the 20th century outside of Bobby Orr.
Some would argue, however, that the time of the late 80’s to 90’s was the best era of the National Hockey League. To be fair, Gretzky and Lemieux were incredible players to watch, but the disproportionate distribution of talent made the league an overall worse product back then. Outside of the top 10, many of the players simply weren’t that good when compared to players outside of the top 10 today, which made for a less entertaining product.
The NHL is in the best shape that it has been in since its inception. I believe this era of the league will be looked back on as the best era by a pretty wide margin.