The second and more controversial option is adjusting the current net sizes. If the league wasn't suffering from enough lack of credibility as is, this idiotic proposal would surely plummet the NHL into the land of ridiculousness and earn the league a spot between the Boston Red Sox being owned by the New York Times and Pizza Hut's (Buffalo Chicken Pizza) and Domino's (Cheeseburger Pizza) ongoing quest to build the first instant heart attack pizza as things that shouldn't be allowed to happen. Increasing the net sizes may be the obvious solution to the NHL's scoring dysfunction but if the NBA followed that same logic when the league was struggling with scoring back in the 50's Dwyane Wade would now be making his acrobatic lay-ups into rims that rival Diego Maradona's waistline. Instead of increasing the size of the basket the NBA instituted a 24-second shot clock, which prevented teams from sitting on a lead and killing time in the second half. The season after the shot clock was introduced scoring increased from 79.5 ppg to 93.1 ppg.

	No, this image isn't stretched. (Source: AP)

If the NHL thinks that increasing scoring alone will win fans back they're being extremely shortsighted. Higher scoring doesn't necessarily translate a sport into more viewers. If this was the case don't you think Arena football and lacrosse would be enjoying greater success? If we're looking at a sport's popularity purely on the scoring system, it's not the volume of points that makes a game more interesting; it's the timing of those points that creates drama, interest and thus increased popularity.

Throughout the course of a basketball game there are endless lead changes but the true drama and time to watch is the 4th quarter. The 3-point basket is a real equalizer because it gives a team a chance to get back into a game. Without the 3-pointer Illinois would have never been able to climb back from a 15-point deficit with 4 minutes to play on Arizona in the Elite Eight. The 2-minute drill in football is exciting because under the guidance of a good QB, a football team can realistically win the game in the dying seconds. In hockey despite having the ability to pull the goalie I'm sure that I speak for many fans when I say that with the advent of greater defensive play and the era of the great goalie I'm really not on the edge of my seat waiting for an equalizing goal when a team like the New Jersey Devils or Minnesota Wild enter the 3rd period with a 2-1 lead because most times that not, that lead will hold up.

So it's not that hockey needs more scoring per se (although it wouldn't hurt) it just needs timelier scoring. And the best way to ensure timely scoring is to enforce the current NHL rulebook. If the rules are actually enforced throughout the entire course of the game i.e. a penalty called in the first minute of play in the first period is still called as an infraction in the last minute of play in the third period then you'll see an increase in the number of scoring chances and thus the outcome of the game will be left in suspense.

	The NFL's crackdown on illegal contact resulted in more scoring. (Source: AP)

You don't have to look any further than the most successful league in professional sports to see the difference the enforcement of the rulebook can have on scoring. This past season the NFL decided to crack down on 5-yard illegal contact by cornerbacks and linebackers. The rulebook states that a defender cannot place his hands on a receiver beyond the 5-yard scrimmage line but for years the league never enforced the call and much like obstruction in the NHL the referees let the play go. This past season the penalty was called and teams responded by scoring in droves led by the play of Indianapolis Colts who boasted three 1,000-yard receivers and a QB who set the all-time record for TDs in a season.

The NHL has tried on a couple of occasions to enforce the obstruction calls, the latest of which was at the beginning of the 2002-2003 season. Scoring was up as a result, at one point Mario Lemieux was averaging over 2 points per game but by the midpoint of the season things settled back to normal and by the end of the year the Stanley Cup final pitted the Devils vs. the Ducks in a 7-game trap fest.

Before the NHL experiments with nets that look like they've been contorted in a Strongman competition they may want to just look at their rulebook and enforce it, although that might be too easy for a league that complicates the easiest of things including the decision to even play.