We will never stop fights occuring out of scrums in the net, or out of cheap shots. However, I am done with the staged fights, like the Maclaren fight.
Or do they? Probert was diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy from repeated brain trauma. If he hadn't tragically died at 45, he'd be a vegetable by his 60s. Same with Derick Boogard.
Boxing and football are exceedingly violent by nature. It's sad to see a non-core area of our sport harm our athletes.
Bob Probert made his living in the NHL by being a feared enforcer. There without a doubt will be ramifications from repeated blows to the head, not to mention his non hockey activity that got him pinched at the Detroit/Windsor border. Both are surefire ways to accelerate the failure of the human body.
Boxers, football players etc etc have all shown brain damage from their actions. We know all this. Nothing new.
Its part of the allure of sport. Watching these millionaires inflict bodily harm upon one another. Danger pay.
I know I prefer the current strand of hard hitting, hard fighting hockey to the hack and skate version we saw not so long ago.
We will never stop fights occuring out of scrums in the net, or out of cheap shots. However, I am done with the staged fights, like the Maclaren fight.
I don't get this. The tough guys get out there and do their jobs first thing in the game. Saw it a lot in the Pitty/Philly series that was one of the most enjoyable playoff bouts that I can remember.
Does it not seem kind of ridiculous to micro manage when you can and cannot fight? Either have it or don't.
I am sick of the nany state bs. Hockey is a violent sport, if you dont like violence then dont play or watch hockey. You can bring up any stat to show its more "dangerous" but I am willing to bet that playing sports in general causes more injuries then not playing them, does that mean we should stop playing sports all together? Athletes in the NHL are being paid millions of dollars in compensation and can not have it both ways, if you want the $ you take the risks.
Now when it comes to amateur hockey, I have no problem with outlawing fights since they are not professionals.
Author Roy MacGregor has worked for the Ottawa Citizen and currently resides in Kanata ONT. Seems like someone is upset their boy got KO-ed.
Majority of Canadians outside of the Capital Region don't want to see Ratboy Alfredsson's antics in hockey either I would imagine. How about a poll on that?
Or do they? Probert was diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy from repeated brain trauma. If he hasn't tragically died at 45, he'd be a vegetable by his 60s. Same with Derick Boogard.
Boxing and football are exceedingly violent by nature. It's sad to see a non-core area of our sport harm our athletes.
Lets be honest here, it is the athlete's choice of whether to fight or not to fight. Many of the fighters that we discuss in this thread are only in the NHL today or were only in the NHL because they can or could fight. Do you honsetly think that the talent level or an Orr or a Boogard would have been enough to for them to make it into the NHL if fighting were not a part of the sport? The fact is that fighters chose to become fighters in a bid to make it to the NHL. They are being paid big dollars that they otherwise would have never made to fight. In other words, the fighters who you are trying to protect would be out of a job if fighting were not a part of the sport.
Personally I don't care about fighting one way or the other. Boxing or "sports" such as that created by the UFC never appealed to me. My choice of career as a Registered Nurse should tell you that I am personally not particularily supportive of hurting others for the sake of the act. That said I also value the rights of people to make their own choices in life. If an athlete choses to put his health at risk with another consenting individual for the sake or making money, I recognize that it is their decision to do so. I may not agree with it but the choice is theirs.
Should hockey fans care what non hockey fans think? I know that soccer fans would not be interested in hearing my opinions on how to improve their game, I know I don't want to hear theirs on hockey.
I agree with you on a certain extent. But does that mean it's okay for them to change the culture of hockey, even though they have no affiliation with it?
When is it acceptable to change another culture that may not be appropriate from your POV?
I don't get this. The tough guys get out there and do their jobs first thing in the game. Saw it a lot in the Pitty/Philly series that was one of the most enjoyable playoff bouts that I can remember.
Does it not seem kind of ridiculous to micro manage when you can and cannot fight? Either have it or don't.
But that doesnt fit the logic of how fighters entered the game in the first place.
The role of a fighter began when coaches didnt want to send star players to fight in response to a big hit / cheap shot by the other side.
But these staged fights are just a way for the guys to make an "impact". I dont blame the players. If your that Ottawa kid, just called up and you get challanged by Mclaren, you go for it, but its pointless.
The energy your team gets from a staged fight is usually not the same
Lol that percent of Canadians is under 0.01, but yes the majority. definitely biased also, right after D.D got knocked out a hometown reporter does this.
polling a little over 1000 people is mathematically all you need to make conclusions as long as the polling is done right. I question they polled a good sample of people, but the number of people polled is fine.
polling a little over 1000 people is mathematically all you need to make conclusions as long as the polling is done right. I question they polled a good sample of people, but the number of people polled is fine.
That's only valid if the poll is unbiased and there's a fair distribution in the people polled. For some reason, I feel like there wasn't when there was a thousand people from a non-hockey related forum and 500 'self proclaimed hockey fans' (not sure what that infers).
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"Majority of Canadians" The online survey was conducted between Feb. 22 and 26. It involved 1,013 Canadian adults who are Angus Reid Forum panelists and an additional smaller sample of 502 self-described hockey fans
Thats a joke of a survey.
Lets survey people who are leaving games, at pubs and watching on TV. No one cares what some random person thinks, as those who are actually watching and contributing to the profits.
What I don't get is these same "journalists" who go on about this aren't more for the end of dangerous checking like what we saw from that poor sod in the Swiss league last week.
Fights don't put guys in wheelchairs, reckless hitting does.
Goes to show how little they know about the game.
and one could argue fights keep reckless hitters on there toes.
The boys in the locker room would probably say quite different. After McLaren KO'd Dzuirsdfsadfas the boys seemed ALIVE and what do you know they put up a 5 spot
and one could argue fights keep reckless hitters on there toes.
Absolutely agree with this.
I have always believed that a "staged fight" keeps the rats in check.
There is no doubt in my mind that the Leafs are not being pushed around as much this year due to the use of such "goons"
Would Cam Janssen have layed out Kaberle the way he did if Orr/Mclaren/Fraser were on the team/being used the way they are right now?
Kadri is flying all over the place being highly effective. This would not happen with the team we iced last year, we would be blasted out of the rink nightly, just like last season.
Being tough isn't going to eliminate the other team playing physical, but it will certainly make them think twice about taking liberties on your teams star players.
Dave Semenko and Marty McSorley sure helped a certain player with the number 99 do what he wanted on the ice without fear of being injured.
An informal poll consisting of myself and all others who think the same as I do indicates the Globe and Mail can shut the hell up about fighting in junior hockey and leave it alone. It's bad enough Dave Branch is turning the game into ringette already, we don't need unscientific polls (that Ken Campbell probably voted in about 10,000 times alone) to chart the course of our great game.
definitely biased also, right after D.D got knocked out a hometown reporter does this.
