Fighting in the NHL

Slinky · Minors Joined: 17 Feb 2009 Posts: 471 Location: Canton, GA

Should it be banned? Very simple. There's all the talk about it around the game of hockey, but I really don't see it happening.
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Because it hurts so good.

Arthriticbutterflystyle · Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2009 3:38 pm Post subject:

You know what I don't get? 95% of hockey "fans" only watch the game for the fights...including my girlfriend who promptly got the silent treatment the rest of the game for saying that. I can't see why they'd do all this stuff in hockey to "increase the fan base" and then almost completely ban fighting.

I personally (most of the time) won't throw down. I don't see a point to it...but it is fun to watch some of the greats go at it...Downey from the Wings is a fun one to watch throw down...

Slinky · Minors Joined: 17 Feb 2009 Posts: 471 Location: Canton, GA

i remember seeing a poll, recently, said that women between the ages of 18 and 30 are the most likely to support fighting in the NHL
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Because it hurts so good.

Arthriticbutterflystyle · Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2009 3:43 pm Post subject:

She's 29. Makes sense.

I've seen a lot of guys (my step-dad included) that love the fights the most.

puckstopper135 · Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2009 12:59 am Post subject:

Being a goalie, I enjoy the big saves more than anything else... and then come big hits, and then fights Very Happy

Doosh27 · Minors Joined: 05 Aug 2008 Posts: 165

I think fighting still serves a purpose in the game. If two guys go at it in the heat of the moment or you are defending a teammate then i think it is fine. But those "staged" fights that happen right off the faceoff between the two heavyweights are stupid. Those kind of fights don't do anything for the game

canadian_man_44 · Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2009 7:39 pm Post subject:

Staged fights are definitely something that isn't as exciting as the spur of the moment fights.....like last night when Savard dropped them with Nash. I mean really Savard. Take a look at the size difference before doing something like that. Laughing

Seriously though, fighting still has it's place in hockey. Just having the big guy on the bench that can throw them can deter "dirty" players from doing stupid things like running the goalie or blindsiding your star player. For my Habs, I've noticed that the games when Laraque is just sitting on the bench, people respect the goalie and star players space. On the other hand, when Laroque isn't on the bench, the "dirty" players take a look at Kostopolous, think about it, grin and run the goalie through the back of the net.

Besides that, if you watch the highlights from the nights games, the fights are shown just as much as the goals and big saves. That just shows right there that people enjoy watching the fights.
When I take my wife to a Moncton Wildcats game, she's just going to basically eat the Colliseum poutine....until the gloves get dropped....then there isn't anyone in the arena that's paying more attention then her.
Everyone likes fighting....except for the weak kneed little pansies....like Bettman. Laughing

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Doosh27 · Minors Joined: 05 Aug 2008 Posts: 165

Ya everyone likes to watch a good scrap. Like the two in the Capitals and Preds game last night. Belak's KO of Brashear was sweet. Toronto was dumb to get rid of him. Tootoo filling in Bradley was a good tilt too. Bradley ended up with a broken nose and he was leakin pretty good

Arthriticbutterflystyle · Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2009 10:08 pm Post subject:

I don't like getting INTO fights...I think they're somewhat pointless. That's what I have Defense for. I do like watching fights though.

Slinky · Minors Joined: 17 Feb 2009 Posts: 471 Location: Canton, GA

Goalies... we generally don't fight. So it is a bit of a strange poll for the Goalie Forum, I'll admit that. I've been in 1 fight, 1 almost fight. 1 was a full bench clearing brawl + parents throwing punches in the stands. Good stuff. The almost fight was a player that slashed me well after the whistle, and i punched him in the chest with my blocker and knocked the wind out of him (good time to be close friends with the refs, hell they both owed me from that weeks poker game).

I don't like the staged fights at all. I think the game would be better served if Laraque, Brashear and co would spend more time working on skating and use their insane size and weight to deliver a devastating hit on an offending player, not dirty, just through the glass. If a fight ensues from that, all the better.

The last thing we need is to lose what fighting offers. The NHL never wants to turn into the NBA where a defender stopping the opponent is an automatic foul. To avoid that means physicality. In a physical game with the emotions that it brings, 2 minutes, 4 minutes or 5 minutes isn't going to be a deterrent to running a goalie, a dirty slash, or hitting Draper into the boards. Having Laraque jump the boards to introduce your face to his fist, a little more effective.

Last note: Anyone else hear Barry Melrose and Teddy Atlas on ESPN podcast talking about the connection between fighting, self respect and responsibility? Listening to Teddy Atlas is like listening to W. Bush try and explain Plato, and Barry Melrose can't help but conclude with, "Hockey good. Sissies bad."... but if you can connect their ideas for them, it actually turns into a coherent argument and some very good points. I highly recommend it.
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Because it hurts so good.

Gonz · Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2009 7:27 pm Post subject:

I'm with the school of thought that fighting in hockey serves to deter cheap shots and other BS that might get out of control if the players were not able to "vent" a little.

I can't stand people who think fighting is the best part of the game or those who go to games hoping to see a fight. That's just not what hockey is about and those folks just don't get it.

As for goalies fighting? I've been in more than I'd care to admit, but I used to be a little thin skinned and short tempered. The thing about hockey fights that some don't understand is this: I was in a bench clear once where the other goalie and I ended up going at it. About three weeks later I ran into him at the rink and we joked and laughed about it like it was no big deal.
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