1.          Reduce the number of players dressed per game to 18. This effectively removes less skilled players.
2.          Reduce the number of teams to 20. This effectively removes less skilled players.
3.          Reduce the number of games played per week to 3. This effectively allows for better rested players, where games per week are currently 3.5.
4.          Reduce the number of regular season games. I’m flexible with regards to the exact number of games. A minimum of 50 games would certainly let the cream rise to the top without bumping those quality teams that go on a 3 week swoon. The number, however, should not become so high that the outcome becomes too predictable for the majority of the teams. That just might make 70 games the maximum.
5.          I prefer a balanced schedule, although I’m well aware that most enjoy playing local teams more often
6.          Reduce the number of teams that qualify for the playoff to 8, with 3 7 game rounds. 5 games might be sufficient; however I can not get my mind to think of a playoff round being other than 7.
7.          1st seed will play 8th seed, etc…
8.          I prefer that these 8 seeds are the top 8 teams in the NHL with no preference being offered to division and conference. I am well aware that some may lose interest if no one from their region was competing in the playoffs. Perhaps my opinion is one from the east end of our continent.
9.         I should be noted at this point that with a balanced schedule and no seeding preferences the concept of division and conference adds little to our world
10.          No playoff round is to begin before the previous round is complete
11.          Playoff games will be scheduled such that you are playing every 2nd day, where each team is to get at least 1 day off. This last point is important between rounds.
12.          3 week training camp seems sufficient
13.          Time off for Xmas, All-Star break, between regular season & playoffs, for Olympics & World Cup can easily be accommodated
14.          Shut down 11 franchises Atlanta, Phoenix, Nashville, Columbus, Florida, Carolina, Tampa Bay, San Jose, Anaheim, Washington & New Jersey
15.          Add a new and 2nd franchise in Toronto
16.          No expansion to Winnipeg, Québec, Halifax. In the new 20 team NHL teams such as Edmonton & Calgary will be considered weak in many respects. Although I did intend on staying away from any reasoning of this sort.
    •          West division
      •          Vancouver
      •          Calgary
      •          Edmonton
      •          Los Angeles
      •          Colorado
    •          Midwest division
      •          Detroit
      •          Chicago
      •          Minnesota
      •          Saint Louis
      •          Dallas
    •          Southeast division
      •         Boston
      •          New York Rangers
      •          New York Islanders
      •          Philadelphia
      •          Pittsburgh
    •          Northeast
      •          Montréal
      •          Ottawa
      •          Toronto Maple Leafs
      •          Toronto 2nd
      •          Buffalo

What undermines everyone’s effort when entertaining any conversation that puts forth anything resembling the above is the idea that you can sell it. Don’t! You can’t! It’s purely entertainment!

I've been playing for hours every day since Christmas. It's still a great game, but I find it a lot less challenging than the previous years. Now I win 5 of every 6 races and sometimes lap the field by 5+ laps. I play PRO-Legend, the hardest mode. The flaws in 08 game remain. I'm bored.

Major flaws are listed.

• Competing cars employ bad pit strategy. Sixty laps in a race with pits expected every 60 laps, there was a yellow flag and only I pitted. All the other cars pitted in the first 3 laps after the yellow.
• Crashing causes little damage to your car. I run against the traffic and collide head on with other cars, then I'm back to 150 MPH only to hit another head on. Then into the pits and they fix my car in 30 seconds and now I'm going 150 MPH again. I've also flipped my car in last 10 laps. A pit would have eliminated my chances of a win, so I stayed on the track with a car that rolled over and still won.
• If I rub the wall or another car and lose speed, all the other cars in front of me slow down, so that I don't lose any ground.
• I can force a yellow by simply breaking to zero MPH and I don't lose any track position. If I crash and cause a yellow, I don't lose any track position.