Mods, yours to move.
OT: Bear with me.
This is a league office intent on ridding the NHL of any and all physicality or emotion.
We saw a chippy, nasty tilt on New Year's Eve, yes?
We saw multiple scrums, after the whistle business, and Trent Frederic inviting Ben Chiarot to dance immediately after Freddie's goal.
And yet, as has been the case for a decade at least, watching NHL game highlights, or even TSN highlights, you would never know that was the case.
You would see, as I did in reviewing these highlights, goals and saves. That's it. No emotion. No physical play. No scrums, no hate. We're all gentlemen here.
Rather, Goals! Goals! Goals! To a lesser degree, save here, save there.
This is the "product" the NHL has been pushing since Bettman's arrival and the advent of CTE, which has exposed the league to culpability, and therefore financial liability. Hence, the gradual abolishment of fighting and removal of the game's nasty North American roots.
What the league wants is a game entirely drained of genuine emotion, physical play and bad blood. They want fancy Dan's and flashy goals, the more the better. They want European "hockey." Touch football, as it were.
Unless you watch a game, you don't know what actually happened, because everything has been sanitized.
You have to rely on Dafoomie or, if you're lucky, bits & pieces on YouTube.
Endless ticky-tack calls ("Breathing on opponent. Two minutes"); an absurdly tortuous "Coach's challenge" guaranteed to suck the life out of any building; a bad joke known as the "Department of Player Safety," the crass, crowd-pleasing shoot out.
Ladies and gentlemen, your NHL.
Are you not entertained?
All rights reserved. Rebroadcast of NHL games without the express written consent of the National Hockey League (TM) is strictly prohibited.
OT: Bear with me.
This is a league office intent on ridding the NHL of any and all physicality or emotion.
We saw a chippy, nasty tilt on New Year's Eve, yes?
We saw multiple scrums, after the whistle business, and Trent Frederic inviting Ben Chiarot to dance immediately after Freddie's goal.
And yet, as has been the case for a decade at least, watching NHL game highlights, or even TSN highlights, you would never know that was the case.
You would see, as I did in reviewing these highlights, goals and saves. That's it. No emotion. No physical play. No scrums, no hate. We're all gentlemen here.
Rather, Goals! Goals! Goals! To a lesser degree, save here, save there.
This is the "product" the NHL has been pushing since Bettman's arrival and the advent of CTE, which has exposed the league to culpability, and therefore financial liability. Hence, the gradual abolishment of fighting and removal of the game's nasty North American roots.
What the league wants is a game entirely drained of genuine emotion, physical play and bad blood. They want fancy Dan's and flashy goals, the more the better. They want European "hockey." Touch football, as it were.
Unless you watch a game, you don't know what actually happened, because everything has been sanitized.
You have to rely on Dafoomie or, if you're lucky, bits & pieces on YouTube.
Endless ticky-tack calls ("Breathing on opponent. Two minutes"); an absurdly tortuous "Coach's challenge" guaranteed to suck the life out of any building; a bad joke known as the "Department of Player Safety," the crass, crowd-pleasing shoot out.
Ladies and gentlemen, your NHL.
Are you not entertained?
All rights reserved. Rebroadcast of NHL games without the express written consent of the National Hockey League (TM) is strictly prohibited.
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