I’m talking more about the style of play. I know:
I’m watching the 1987 Stanley Cup Finals and it definitely seems like a slower game, but I’m not sure if I’m biased because of the older TV coverage, it’s a much easier sport to follow in HD.
Reported for forum change.
How the heck did I do this? Yes, I meant it for the game room. Sorry, growing pains from the new format
Moved to the Game Room.
Well, goalie pads got significantly bigger by the time the early 90’s rolled around–that helps explain how save percentages have gone up, goals down.
Things are much less freewheeling-the time of the daring & dashing offensive defenseman going end to end for a tally are pretty much over; most defensemen who score now typically do so on the power play.
Removal of the “two-line pass” rule
The modern Butterfly style of goaltending really came into being in the mid-80s with Patrick Roy. Now, pretty much every goalie uses butterfly or hybrid style, with almost no pure standup goalies left.
The biggest change I’ve noticed is the near elimination of fighting. Fighting was a big part of hockey and I know it isn’t completely gone, but it pretty much is.
I kind of miss it.
Goalies are much, much better than they used to be. It’s not the pads for the most part; it’s that the butterfly and profly styles of goaltending are much more effective. That revolution was as big a change in the sport as any change in any major team sport.
Hockey players are, in general, more skilled and athletic than was the case in 1980.
Goalies are also much bigger. 20 years ago they averaged 5 foot 10. Now they average 6 ft 2 with many 6-5+ now. They simply cover a hell of a lot of the net with body occupancy.
Also related to goalie pads, they are much lighter than they used to be.
Sticks have gone from wood to composite materials. Big shooters are still big shooters but stick tech has improved the speed and ‘weight’ of average shooters.
Another change, in addition to all the rule changes is the addition of rinkside advertising and now even on-ice ads.
Yeah, in relation to the speed of the game, I think this one makes the biggest difference. When they dropped this rule, it quickly became easier to move the puck out of your end and into your opponent’s end, with fewer plays being stopped up in neutral ice.
they’ve also changed the goal crease several times since the '80s (and don’t get me started about that idiotic rule in the '90s where even if the tip of an attacking players skate was on the crease, the goal was waved off.) There’s now the “trapezoid” behind the net where the goalie can handle the puck. Plus I believe the goal lines and blue lines have been shifted towards center ice a bit.
here’s a site with a good history of ice layouts since 1917:
https://www.thefaceoff.net/2000/02/nhl-rink-history-part-1.html
I’ll gladly put up with that so long as they don’t plaster the players uniforms with ads and sponsors like in Europe. Kind of like football over there where the primary logo on the jersey is of the sponsor, and not the team.
Actually there’s been a slight resurgence of that in the past couple years, which, indeed, contributes to more freewheeling optics. The legacy of Orr/Coffey isn’t quite dead yet! 
Which will be imminent in NA, sadly, infuriatingly, within next couple of years.
Coach’s Corner’s production values went up (well, the opening theme) over the years. 
Fox getting slapped hard in the face for not just the Foxtrax goofiness of their 90’s coverage.
Coach’s challenge. (to what end fullly fledged VAR might enter into the game, eventually, is anyone’s guess. Has already been used in the NHL, to mixed reviews, and there’s still always the War Room in Toronto, which is used, correct me if I wrong, only for goal reviews.)
The horrible advent of Gritty.
The only slim hope I have for the NHL jerseys not
being covered with ads is that they do sell a lot of jerseys and at $200, that helps revenue. It’s not really a thing to wear team jerseys in Europe.
it’s not cropping up in any pro league here, and I don’t see it happening any time soon. like dalej42 says a lot of team fans buy jerseys and I really doubt they’d continue to do so if they’re plastered with ads. I know I sure as hell wouldn’t.
Well, call me a Debbie Downer, (and I’m not saying it’s gonna all change over next season), but with those small ad patches already on NBA jerseys for the past three years (always two different ones, above the crest), and on all NHL practice jerseys for the last four, I’d be super-duper surprised if it’s stopping just there. Elated beyond words, yeah, if it did stop there, but even the hallowed Habs crest could get supplanted by something edgy like Geritol or Hello Kitty (Hey! Remember the initial gut-punch of “The Mighty Ducks”?) within the next ten to twelve years, easily. The revenue stream would be too silly for the league to look past, especially if a decline in interest in the game (somehow, inexplicably, of course) arises.
Hoping it’s more like several decades from now (yeah or preferably never) they’ll go down that road, goes without saying.
Just missed edit:
Ok - maybe the not best equivalence in humiliation, on my part, viz. the unveiling of The Might Ducks being compared to Hello Kitty replacing the CH.
I just don’t see it, at least not in the NHL. there’s no way the players/PA or fans would put up with anything like this.
It has become the Ice Capades. Modern hockey is nothing like the days of the Broad Street Bullies.
