Quote:
Originally Posted by scuffleball
I've been a hockey (and NHL) fan for 25+ years now. Love the game. Used to love it a lot more, back in the 80s and early 90s. But still love it today. The overall skill level from top to bottom on a roster today is amazing.
Fighting is a part of hockey, for sure. I can understand the spontaneous fights and the fights that break out to protect a teammate who isn't a fighter or who was roughed up unnecessarily by the opposition. But the so-called "staged" fights? That's crap, plain and simple. A staged fight has absolutely nothing to do with playing hockey. It's akin to two MMA fighters coming into the ring and before they fight, they play badminton.
I've watched a lot of NHL games, and to be honest, most of the fighting today is border-line staged material. It's just two "tough" guys yapping and then thinking they need to stand up to one another so they personally don't appear weak or scared. Most of it nowadays has nothing to do with standing up for teammates or trying to swing momentum. That still happens, sure, but most fights happen today for fighting's sake.
I'm an advocate for getting rid of fighting. That being said, the NHL does a horrible job on the ice of actually officiating a game. If you brought the hammer down on players for certain cheap shots and stick work, it would go away, and the game would be smoother and cleaner for it. Look at the broken stick rule. Any player will immediately drop his stick the moment it breaks to keep from getting penalized. So it can be done. Players can adapt and learn.
I don't think the NHL will ever seriously enforce the rules and break the culture as it is now, though. They cherish this "tough" image, players with missing teeth, shoving and acting tough after a whistle, all the while waiting for the officials to slowly move you away when you have no real intention of doing anything. That stuff is, frankly, frustrating and takes away from the game.
The NHL should start penalizing players for scrumming around after whistles just so they can look like they're tough and brave in front of 18,000 people. That being said, players should quit acting like children when they take a check and get all pissed off like someone has to get paid back. HITTING IS PART OF THE GAME. Take the hit. Deliver clean hits. That is HOCKEY.
The argument is that skilled players would get destroyed if there was no fighting. Not if the rules were actually enforced. Starting imposing actual fines and penalties for stick work. Players can control their sticks. Fighting exists basically because the league doesn't stand up and protect the players, so they do it themselves. And again, don't see it happening with the culture as it is now in the NHL.
All of that being said - fighting and physicality can't be ignored in a hockey sim. It was -- and is -- part of the game. IMHO, fighting today doesn't have the same affect it did 20-30 years ago, because players who fight act more like MMA fighters and fight for reasons other than the traditional ones.
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AMEN.
I'm tired of that crap too.
And agreed on all account on how poorly the NHL and it's official police the game.
Goons pretty much no longer exist at the NHL level. They're employed in lower-leagues only as a way to sell tickets.
It was different in the 70's and 80's when guys like Shutlz, Probie or McSorley could keep up and take a regular shift.
But today, Boogard, and now Scott, look like a bus on a racetrack full of Ferrari's.
And they refuse to fight non-fighters too. Probert wouldn't have thought twice about popping a non-fighter if they looked sideways at Steve Yzerman. Same with Semenko.
But in today's NHL, if a rat does something, then the goons fight each other.
Tell me where the Rat learned his lessen in all of that?
Besides, fighting really doesn't prevent the stick work. Look at Matt Cooke. He ended Marc Savard’s career and all he had to do was fight Shawn Thornton. A fight he didn’t do poorly in.
He continued acting like an idiot despite getting in multiple fights – even getting KO’d by Evander Kane.
He didn’t stop being Matt Cooke.
So what stopped him? A 17-game suspension from the NHL. Now he’s a different person.
There is so much money in being an NHL regular that there are thousands of guys willing to wrestle with a bear in order to keep that paycheck.
And GM’s are more than willing to employ rats knowing their dangerous to the sport. Just look at Detroit? They just signed Steve Ott, one of the biggest scumbags in the game.
He doesn’t even know there’s a puck on the ice. Holland can say he’s there to keep guys honest but that’s bunk. He’s not an enforcer. What he’ll do is spear someone in the eye the minute the refs aren’t looking. He’s usually the REASON for fights breaking out – not to deter them. Or to deter dirty play.
But a guy like Ott would GLADLY have to fight the John Scott’s or Milan Lucic’s of the NHL in order to stay in the league and make the money he has.
That’s why it’s up to the NHL to get rid of all that crap. Start calling every single stick infraction. It’s usually a spear or slash that gets guys ticked off.
I’ve never understood why officials let players get away with constantly whacking opponents over the hands. The stick should be used for passing, shooting, deflecting, blocking passes or lifting a stick.
Not as a baseball bat. The minute the blade of the stick touches any opponents body, it’s a stick infraction. Done.
Now we don’t have to worry about idiots like Ott, Marchand, Torres, Tom Wilson, etc, etc.
I don’t mind a good fight. I’ll watch it. Most human beings would. But I wouldn’t cry one iota if the NHL banned fighting and removed it from the game entirely.
The best hockey any fan will see all year is in the World JR championships and Olympics. And there is zero fighting in those tournaments.
The real reason fighting still exists is because the NHL knows its product is so crap they need to have a side-show to sell tickets and pump TV ratings.
That’s why I don’t understand why they won’t force the officials to call the game as it’s written so that the star players can shine.
Crosby won the Conn Smythe despite scoring 0 goals in the Final. That’s not his fault Nobody worked harder or generated more scoring chances. It’s just too friggin hard to score with arms and sticks wrapped around your body for 6 games.
If Lebron James averaged 8 points a game in the NBA Finals to win the MVP, you’d bet your arse the league would force changes.
They know that fans want to see the best players shine on a nightly basis. And their ratings prove it’s working.
Can the NHL say the same? Not when when the Art Ross winner is the only one to score more than 100 points. That didn’t even happen in ’14-’15. And yet, the NHL did what it always does. Nothing.