GDT: Around the League 2023-24 I : "Wake Up. September Has Ended!"

[TheNumber4]

For sure. We can catch the Nucks. We can't realistically catch ( I don't think) the Knights.

Good to see the Nucks getting kicked in the junk again. Canadas legend team was down 4-zip I see. Being outshot something like 45-20 I see. Good times.

Besides the Bettman effects, I would love another shot at the Champs* too.

 

[Stoneman89]

Besides the Bettman effects, I would love another shot at the Champs* too.

We lost to the eventual cup champs in Colorado 2 years ago, then to Vegas last year. Who will we lose to this year that we can say, "but we lost to the cup champs?"

 

[Stoneman89]

Best game of the year for the team, not even close. Beat a top 3 goalie, and was impressed with the way they kept coming and kept shooting and it finally paid off. Nurse with another great game, seems to not be trying to do too much. That has a lot to do with coaching, IMO. Ekholm and McDavid are both back, baby.

 

[TheNumber4]

We lost to the eventual cup champs in Colorado 2 years ago, then to Vegas last year. Who will we lose to this year that we can say, "but we lost to the cup champs?"

Dallas or whoever can say that about us this year

 

[Stoneman89]

Dallas or whoever can say that about us this year

That would be nice for someone to finally say that about us.

 

[joestevens29]

Best game of the year for the team, not even close. Beat a top 3 goalie, and was impressed with the way they kept coming and kept shooting and it finally paid off. Nurse with another great game, seems to not be trying to do too much. That has a lot to do with coaching, IMO. Ekholm and McDavid are both back, baby.

I thought the consensus was the puck to Nurse's head changed his game?

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Dallas goes as far as their goalie takes them. They’re nothing as far as I’m concerned.

 

[Jimmi McJenkins]

This is unbelievably sad and hard. I hope they get all the support they need

 

[Mav3rick07]

Looks like Vancouver is coming back down to earth haha

I wonder how much the Zadorov trade was a panic move by Vancouver because the Oilers are finding their mojo. Could be unrelated but the West knows we're coming.

 

[joestevens29]

Looks like Vancouver is coming back down to earth haha

I wonder how much the Zadorov trade was a panic move by Vancouver because the Oilers are finding their mojo. Could be unrelated but the West knows we're coming.

They seem to have been in on him for awhile though. Seems to be a replacement for Myers long-term.

Price was actually pretty decent, I just wonder how bad the extension is going to be.

 

[K1984]

Looks like Vancouver is coming back down to earth haha

I wonder how much the Zadorov trade was a panic move by Vancouver because the Oilers are finding their mojo. Could be unrelated but the West knows we're coming.

They perceive themselves as contenders. They think they're loading up (lol).

 

[Behind Enemy Lines]

Battle of Future NHL Management Jeff Jackson v Scott Mellanby and a head coach Rick Tocchet dustup.

 

[mkatcherin00]

Looks like Vancouver is coming back down to earth haha

I wonder how much the Zadorov trade was a panic move by Vancouver because the Oilers are finding their mojo. Could be unrelated but the West knows we're coming.

If their PP isn't going, they don't look too good. Also if Demko looks ordinary.

#1 still in PDO

They have Pui Suter out. Soucy was a big loss for them. He looked good on that 2nd pair.

Kuzmenko regressing hard. Ep40 looks like a ghost for the last 2 weeks. He isn't injured.

They are regressing to the mean. Hopefully they fall straight flat on their face

I hope we kill them in the last game (2nd last of the year I think). Go up like 7-1 and keep that #1 unit on like they did

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

He’s not wrong.

 

[Behind Enemy Lines]

He’s not wrong.

Fully and completely agree with Fonzie.

The modern game is fast and skilled. However it has crushed the physical contact aspect that is another incredible part of this sport. Overall there's too much subjectivity within the rule book which erodes consistency in calls being make (tap on gloves, sneeze on light contact, etc.) and today's generation of players growing up with little hitting and no idea of how to protect themselves when it happens. A goofy consequence is a higher number of fake tough pillow fights where a teammate feels compelled to stand up for his deer in the headlights buddy who's caught with his head down on a clean hit. The game is becoming too soft.

 

[Fixed to Ruin]

He’s not wrong.

I watched the play again. The linesman royally messed up. He's barely in the zone when the puck crossed the goal line and he called it as Hughes is getting lit up by Hathaway.

Amateur hour.

Blew the whistle here...

 

[Drivesaitl]

Fully and completely agree with Fonzie.

The modern game is fast and skilled. However it has crushed the physical contact aspect that is another incredible part of this sport. Overall there's too much subjectivity within the rule book which erodes consistency in calls being make (tap on gloves, sneeze on light contact, etc.) and today's generation of players growing up with little hitting and no idea of how to protect themselves when it happens. A goofy consequence is a higher number of fake tough pillow fights where a teammate feels compelled to stand up for his deer in the headlights buddy who's caught with his head down on a clean hit. The game is becoming too soft.

You didn't mention the sheer physics of todays larger, stronger beast of a hockey player. Being big in hockey used to mean 200lbs. Now it means 235. We have a whole heavyweight division of bone crushers that didn't even exist on ice before. The body ability to absorb or survive hits remains largely the same, But the vector force of those hits has increased significantly. Hockey of course, unlike Boxing, wrestling etc does not have weight classifications. Everybody in the same ring...

Compound this with harder epoxy equipment which is very unforgiving and much more likely to be mechanism of profound injury, particularly to head..

Not to dispel your points, players need to know how to take a hit but as you say they have less experience with that, and of course less playing against men. The NHL introduction was never as severe as it is right now.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Looks like Vancouver is coming back down to earth haha

I wonder how much the Zadorov trade was a panic move by Vancouver because the Oilers are finding their mojo. Could be unrelated but the West knows we're coming.

I love the Zadorov move from the perspective of how much worse it makes the Flames. How do they survive that. Zad was their enforcer and mountain of a defender that could play and was I think a big part of their DNA.

As an STH as well, I think it sucks when orgs make a move like this on a fan favorite player. To me its like not honoring fan base. We're making this trade for futures. That may work in what the org is thinking but its bs for the paying fans.

 

[94 Oil Drops]

Canucks beat Anaheim by an empty net goal and celebrate like they won the Vancouver cup. These tossers are going down.

lol at Petersson acting like he's tough throwing hits around. That'll come back on him.

NHL schedule kind of adding to the mirage. Nucks have played multiple more games than most clubs in division. They are third place realistically, and sliding backwards.

Hopefully the Canucks continue to fall off. Just like their bandwagon fans.

You didn't mention the sheer physics of todays larger, stronger beast of a hockey player. Being big in hockey used to mean 200lbs. Now it means 235. We have a whole heavyweight division of bone crushers that didn't even exist on ice before. The body ability to absorb or survive hits remains largely the same, But the vector force of those hits has increased significantly. Hockey of course, unlike Boxing, wrestling etc does not have weight classifications. Everybody in the same ring...

Compound this with harder epoxy equipment which is very unforgiving and much more likely to be mechanism of profound injury, particularly to head..

Not to dispel your points, players need to know how to take a hit but as you say they have less experience with that, and of course less playing against men. The NHL introduction was never as severe as it is right now.

Could you imagine the bigger players of today's game in the helmetless era where everyone played so much rougher? People would of died!

 

[Drivesaitl]

Could you imagine the bigger players of today's game in the helmetless era where everyone played so much rougher? People would of died!

You're not wrong. Plus hockey was such a bloodsport back then. In the 50's, 60's and 70's if you roughed up a star you paid with blood, and in the same game, and you were hunted down. Players were regularly put in hospital and through instances that couldn't even be called incidental. Full blown attacks.

Gordie Howe, one of the brighter minds in hockey, but also mister Elbow and quite capable of mayhem actually signed a pact with Eddie Shack. The deal being they would lay off each other and stop trying to put each other in traction..lol Eddie talks about it in his book, and Howe confirmed he reached out to Shack who quite feared in hockey at the time. Shack wasn't a guy that would try to hit a star player. He was a guy that could catch up to the star player and put him over the boards..

 

[Behind Enemy Lines]

You didn't mention the sheer physics of todays larger, stronger beast of a hockey player. Being big in hockey used to mean 200lbs. Now it means 235. We have a whole heavyweight division of bone crushers that didn't even exist on ice before. The body ability to absorb or survive hits remains largely the same, But the vector force of those hits has increased significantly. Hockey of course, unlike Boxing, wrestling etc does not have weight classifications. Everybody in the same ring...

Compound this with harder epoxy equipment which is very unforgiving and much more likely to be mechanism of profound injury, particularly to head..

Not to dispel your points, players need to know how to take a hit but as you say they have less experience with that, and of course less playing against men. The NHL introduction was never as severe as it is right now.

Fair points on size, equipment and Newtonian physics.

However today's entry point is much different than old school right of passage which had looser rules, greater propensity for physical engagement and requirement to fight your own battles. Size was a barrier to entrance in which small skill was often shirked for bigger less talented players. The old hockey adage was 'small players need to prove they can play, big players need to prove they can't.' With your boxing analogy, generations ago hockey might be akin to bare knuckle boxing.

There are many reasons this has evolved into more of a pure skill game including posthumous brain studies brain studies that reveal the heavy price paid from concussion and fighting. But in its finest form, hockey is still a collision sport and today's players need to know how to take a hit and continue to play to whistles. Even as this component is being weaned out of the game at younger ages and levels of play.

 

[Tarus]

He’s not wrong.

Can't say I agree with Torts on much there.

The responsibility of policing what was going on the ice was taken away from the players because all it did was was result in spirals of violence. Players coming out of those eras were famous for the way they liked to try and injure their opponents(going for the knees, elbows, head hits etc), and all you needed to do to get away with it was be a better fighter than the guy who would object to your bad behavior(or someone who could do it for you).

Reason why the league has turned into a no-hit league with all the new rules surrounding hitting itself has more to do with the concussion panic of the last decade as well. You basically cannot throw a big, old style hit like you used to without some trauma to the head(either via direct contact, or the brain banging around in the skull). Players don't want to get taken out of the game with things like concussion protocol, and they especially don't want to get suspended or fined for throwing a hit followed by getting dragged through the mud by the media and fans afterwards, The silly post-hit fights that have become common-place are probably nothing more than a slight inconvenience out of the whole deal for players capable of throwing those big hits on the regular. Also have to consider the fact that the NHL heavily cracks down on players(including running some out of the league in the mid-2010s) who injure others with big hits(a significant risk most of the time), and the media, sponsors, and significant portion of fans have no problem piling on anytime anything like that happens.

Hitting, especially big hits, are effectively dead as a tactic in the NHL. It's being taken out of the lower levels where kids might learn how to not only throw them, but also take them, and as Torts was complaining about - everyone already plays the game like they don't expect to ever be hit.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

Can't say I agree with Torts on much there.

The responsibility of policing what was going on the ice was taken away from the players because all it did was was result in spirals of violence. Players coming out of those eras were famous for the way they liked to try and injure their opponents(going for the knees, elbows, head hits etc), and all you needed to do to get away with it was be a better fighter than the guy who would object to your bad behavior(or someone who could do it for you).

Reason why the league has turned into a no-hit league with all the new rules surrounding hitting itself has more to do with the concussion panic of the last decade as well. You basically cannot throw a big, old style hit like you used to without some trauma to the head(either via direct contact, or the brain banging around in the skull). Players don't want to get taken out of the game with things like concussion protocol, and they especially don't want to get suspended or fined for throwing a hit followed by getting dragged through the mud by the media and fans afterwards, The silly post-hit fights that have become common-place are probably nothing more than a slight inconvenience out of the whole deal for players capable of throwing those big hits on the regular. Also have to consider the fact that the NHL heavily cracks down on players(including running some out of the league in the mid-2010s) who injure others with big hits(a significant risk most of the time), and the media, sponsors, and significant portion of fans have no problem piling on anytime anything like that happens.

Hitting, especially big hits, are effectively dead as a tactic in the NHL. It's being taken out of the lower levels where kids might learn how to not only throw them, but also take them, and as Torts was complaining about - everyone already plays the game like they don't expect to ever be hit.

Hits to the head have effectively been removed from the game and rightfully so. Remove hits from behind and blindside hits are also usually penalized now as well. But plain shoulder to shoulder Body contact, including bracing for hits which Hughes failed to do, which is what Torts is talking about. Hughes was ill prepared for this clean bodycheck, had he been prepared there would have been no issue.

For years I taught coaches how to teach proper bodychecking and body contact at the U13 age and up its a skill like skating passing or shooting and its a skill rapidly disappearing in the game. EDIT - sorry not meaning for that to sound condescending or anything like that, just know how safe body contact both receiving and giving a hit should be done. It is contact so there will be occasional injuries just like in football or rugby or any contact sport but like tackling, body contact can be done safely and without brain trauma.

I watched the play again. The linesman royally messed up. He's barely in the zone when the puck crossed the goal line and he called it as Hughes is getting lit up by Hathaway.

Amateur hour.

View attachment 776258

Blew the whistle here...

View attachment 776259

Which is why Hughes should have been prepared for body contact coming. He assumed there would be a whistle but that is not how the game is played.

 

[Fixed to Ruin]

Which is why Hughes should have been prepared for body contact coming. He assumed there would be a whistle but that is not how the game is played.

I completely agree and Torts is 100% correct. However, one of the main jobs of the officials is to keep the players safe and in that particular scenario linesman was too lackadaisical and Hughes who was also not very aware of his surroundings paid the price for it.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

I completely agree and Torts is 100% correct. However, one of the main jobs of the officials is to keep the players safe and in that particular scenario linesman was too lackadaisical and Hughes who was also not very aware of his surroundings paid the price for it.

Agree for sure!