Last year, the National Hockey League modified its rules to foster a more wide-open style of play. The changes resulted in slightly higher-scoring games, but Commissioner Gary Bettman was still unsatisfied.

"I was looking for scores like 15-12 and 17-13," said Bettman. "Along with our longstanding tradition of letting players fight with each other, those kinds of tallies would really bring in the fans."

So starting last week, the official size of the NHL net more than quadrupled. And scoring has increased accordingly, much to the delight of league officials and offensive players.

"I might break some of Gretzky's records yet," said Chicago Blackhawks left winger Rene Bourque. "I've scored seven goals in the first two games alone, and I'm on the third line."

Not everyone is quite so enthusiastic about the new nets.

"This is worse than PlayStation," said Blackhawks goalie Nikolai Khabibulin, owner of a gaudy 12.6 goals against average. "I feel like I'm guarding an open garage."

By George Ellis
Image by Kurtis Evans and George Ellis