In reply to: Feel like they used to call it all the time in the 90s posted by Boston Domer
One of the biggest changes, as far as slowing play, has been goalies freezing the puck. While this is not a new phenomenon at all, it seems that back in the WCHA days, goalies rarely froze the puck. Shots on net either went in or were blocked back out into open ice or (hopefully) directed towards the corners. So far this year there have been an average of 61 faceoffs per game. I wish I could find statistics to back this up (if they even were kept or still exist) but it seems that when I was a wee lad the total faceoffs per game were more like 50. And this was in an era where 9 or 10 goals a night was common, and the 9 or 10 additional faceoffs those goals generated, versus the 5 or 6 combined goals in a game today.