Wow you get really petty and vindictive anytime anyone dare challenge your opinion. One thing to argue back and forth but quite another to go on a smear campaign with childish name calling. I've lost a lot of respect for you it seems you have to be the voice of reason or it's "mindless and pathetic" to think different from the all knowing.
It didn't work in the 90s and doesn't work today. More likely that the fighters get CTE and die young and others get hurt as part of the antiquated circus you're asking for than somebody gets protected by intimidation
Nobody is afraid of the players you listed and wont hit hard because a couple 32yr olds in Petrovic and Mckenzie are on the team. Might as well list all the 6ft 2 Abby Canucks?
Bischel? Pettersson? are the Swiss more intimidating than the Swedes? Odd that Desharnais Myers Soucy Miller didn't intimidate Jeannot and prevent Garland from getting beat up by Haula?
It's sad given the plight of fighters like Rick Rypien and many others that someone would be demanding they hire a bunch of fighters or as you put it "fear" players to risk themselves for others. Time to put down the rock em sock em videos. No one player is worth more than another when it comes to health.
The more likely issue here is that AHLers are a more transient group looking to get noticed unlike the fraternity of the NHL under a code and that players like Podkolzin Rathbone and others play with their heads down and got smashed (right or wrong) because of it. Our management group has obviously chosen not to give valuable ice time to these types of tactics/players and the game is trying to phase out past thuggery without stamping out fighting completely.
I'm saying your
arguments are pathetic and wrong. You're the one engaging in ad hominen attacks and you continue this in your last post by saying I'm trying to be God-like and are too thin-skinned. I address what you argue and you address some thing about another person's character. Why don't you stick to addressing what the person is saying.
The central argument here is : Do you need enforcers on your AHL team to protect, in particular your younger prospects, and, in general, the team. And, second, does Abby need some tougher players to provide a deterrance against having our team run and badly hurt?
You argue that they don't need this. As an argument for this, you say players were badly hurt with many suffering long term injuries b/c of things like fighting. This is no doubt true, but it has little to nothing to do with the argument whether enforcers are necessary. It is, instead an argument for outlawing completely fighting and malcious dangerous hits.
While many might agree with this, it is
irrelevant to the question of whether teams presently need enforcers to protect their players. Given that the AHL nor the NHL (let allow the thugery in the ECHL), has not outlawed, or even done anything significant to stop fights and dirty hits, I'd say teams need to do their own policing. While some may dream of some mystical Eden were fighting and head shots are somehow removed, the reality is that they remain an on-going basis.
Given that fighting, head shots and other forms of initimitation are still permitted or, are not effectively elimated, we need to deal with the situation as it is. And given that the Leagues have not done this, teams need to seek out other alternatives to protect their players. Right now, the way they do this is to have certain players around to retaliate if the other team tries to hurt your players. It may not be what we want, but it is what is being done. This is how the game, in reality, is policed. Teams balance the situation by each team having some players designated to step in and even out the situation when a team mate is abused.
I am not af arguing for more fighting or violence but only that we live in reality and do more to protect our players in Abbotsford.
You also argue that you don't need enforcers since Texas/Dallas did well without enforcers. That just is not true. They were and are one of the biggest and toughest teams in League. Beyond that, stating that Petrovic (actually 6'5" ) and MacKenzie can't be effective enforcers b/c they are 32 and only 6'2" is IMO silly. Reaves is 37, Deslauriers is 33, Dillon is 34 and again you could on and on. There are any number of players beyond the age of 32 that enforce at the AHL and NHL level. And you bringing up Rypien should be enough to tell you guys 6'2' and smasller can be enforcers. Any analysis of the facts would prove your suggestions are just flat out wrong.
Then you say Pettersson provides the same level of toughness as does Bischel before adding on some nonsense about the Swedes and the Swiss. Even if I concede Pettersson is the equal to Bischel (which I don't think this is true), Bischel provides a secondary type toughness. He has around him players that bring a higher level of initimation. And do you want a youngster like Pettersson taking on the role of enforcer in a League that has much bigger and experienced fighters than him??? Guys like Gallant, Imama, Howe, Douglas, Neuber, Mckay, Viel, MIddleton, Harpur, Geersten, Watson and on, and on, who, at this point, would beat him up. And, we have no one else to step in for Pettersson if he was confronted.
And funny thing is that by suggesting Pettersson is able to provide toughness you are actually admitting that toughness is needed. Why talk about Pettersson providing toughness if it unnecessasy? Defeats everything you saying you don't need toughness.
And finally, the most troubling part of your arguments is the suggeston that players like Podkolzin, Rathbone, Friedland and the many others that have been concussed or badly hurt, deserved it because they didn't keep their heads up. In many of these cases these player were run from behind or totally blind sided. Go look at the video of these hits and you'll see it's true.
In the end, it comes down to one central point - Should the Abbotsford Canucks get more deterrance into their lineup? My contention is that b/c of the way the game is played in the AHL (maybe not the way we would like it played) you do need such players. Another point to support this is that every other team in the AHL has at least a couple of enforcers. I would also say that the number of serious injuries to Abby players testifies to the need for protective players. I would content, in the end, that if want to err on the side of caution you should at least consider this.
