Players tried to run Gretzky all the time. I played with guys who played against him. The fact was that he was very hard to hit. He basically knew where everyone was on the ice. He had excellent vision.
I know. As a fellow old fart, it drives me nuts to read the whole 'deterrence' thing. I've been watching hockey now for over half a century. Deterrence has
never been a thing. For decades teams have had deterrents, and for decades players have been cheap-shotting players on those very same teams.
Sure, players and management believe in it, but it's completely non-sensical. If you ask Gretzky's teammates, they'd swear up and down and that McSorley's presence made other players avoid contacting Wayne. But if you asked those same players if
they shied away and avoided hitting Yzerman or Bossy because of the Detroit and Isles enforcers, they'd say "What! of course not! I do my job, I'm not afraid of anyone."
Enforcers are the magic bean/anti-tiger rocks of the NHL. They work for 'our' team, but not for any other team in the league. And each team in the league thinks that (lol).
It's really quite simple. The desire to keep your NHL job and paycheque is much stronger than the fear of any enforcer. Any player who was afraid to do their job never made it to the NHL in the first place.
That said, I'm with those that are disgusted that there was zero reaction by the team. At the very least you have to get into the shoving match / glove in the face / harsh words thing. Show that you care a little about your teammates, sheesh.
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