I'm not saying they don't happen. Maybe more on some teams than others. I go to a lot of Colorado Avalanche games and there's hardly any fights, and if there is one, it aint like the fights of yesteryear. I'm guessing it's more of the NHL coming down hard in the name of "player safety". Unless it's a Flyers-Penguins game... I think that's always a bloodbath due to the huge rivalry.
shareFighting isn't permitted in college and many minor leagues, and you'll get tossed out of the game or tournament, so most players who actually want to play get used to not brawling. Plus NHL teams are replacing the fighters (aka goons) with more talented players. They don't see the point of having a guy on the bench who just fights anymore when they could have another good defenseman or goal scorer instead. It's really only a matter of time before fighting disappears, but we shall always remember the olden days when it occurred regularly.
In other news, I'm glad they're making a sequel :)
I think it's more of an NHL thing than hockey as a whole.
Look at just the exhibition games for the world cup. They mean literally nothing yet everyone in the USA vs Canada game Friday couldn't stop trying to *beep* each other up.
Yeah it's a shame. In a few years fighting will be all but gone from the NHL. All we'll have left are memories and old videos. Hockey used to be the most exciting team sport by far but they've really ruined things. There is hardly any physical play anymore and rivalries are pretty much a thing of the past.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBYznVnNTI4 RIP Bob Probert
They don't see the point of having a guy on the bench who just fights anymore when they could have another good defenseman or goal scorer instead.How can they not see the point? With a bunch of lenient refs who lets lots of things slide, it's a deterrent to prevent players from getting overly aggressive and playing dirty with sticks, sharp blades and boards. But I guess, these days, they just use criminal charges to penalize players who do something dirty. share
It's far too detrimental to the team to have a goon in the NHL. What you just described are called penalties, which results in a power play for the other team. Every time a goon steps foot on the ice, they will either immediately get a penalty and give the other team a power play, or the other team will expose the weak player and score a goal.
As we see in games this year, tensions will occasionally flare and two elite players will get into a scrap, but you can't have a player whose main skill is fighting and playing dirty because they simply can't keep up with the star players nowadays. And if you have a goon and you send him out there and tell him to immediately pick a fight, what happens when the opposing team declines? ...Power play.
There are some teams who are wiling to take a penalty to hurt a good player. This was the whole goon dynamic. Teams go after the speedy scorer to hurt and slow them down, and the goon protects that teammate.
What you are describing is OBVIOUS and nothing new. If penalties were enough, Goons would have never existed in the first place.
The type of hockey you're describing never did exist. No one in any sport would tolerate a player who only plays a game with the intention of taking out players and inflciting career-ending injuries. They would be suspended from the league. Even in the olden days, the tough guys would duel with the other tough guys to fire up their team; not attack the star player. How many goons beat up Gretzky, for example? If your view were correct, he would have been hurt and knocked out of every game. They also had to be capable of playing on the same level as the other pros, and nowadays the goons simply can't keep up.
shareWhen I miss the fights. That's when SlapShot finds my BluRay player. Yeesh they beat the crap out of each other back in the 70s and 80s!
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