Some of it is because of the helmet rule, and some of it is because of the anti-fighting political correctness. A lot of it, though, is because the league expanded too fast and spread the talent too thin - - to cities that don't even get natural ice in the winter? (/facepalm) But mainly, the league just doesn't seem to have the character it once had - - the names flow like water from my memory: Guy Lafluer, Mike Bossy, Borje Salming (who drove teams nuts with that high pop flip thing he used to do to clear the puck), Brian Trottier, Tim Kerr, Bobby Clarke, Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito, Denis Potvin, Ken Dryden... on and on and on. You knew all the players, all the stars back then.
One of my favorite memories from back in the olden days was going down to the Spectrum to see the Flyers take on the Whalers. There were Gordie, Marty, and Mark Howe, all playing hockey, live, right before my eyes. It was a cool thing.
the game now ,to me, is simply unwatchable. After seeing those great Oiler teams from the 1980’s..its just too defensive now. Teams started using these “defensive systems” in the mid 90’s to try and keep up with the more talented teams and to me,ruined the game. The stars cant do what they do best. Now, they got all these crazy rules to try and open up the scoring, and its just not working. Goalie pads are just ridiculously big...i dont know..all the games look the same to me now. 2-1...3-2...awful. A scrambled mess..shoot outs...2 line passes are allowed now. Its a mess.