Tambo had to clean up Lowe's mess though...and i'm sure that in time somebody will have to clean up Mact's mess.
Then we'll be on Oil Change season 8
Got into a twitter convo last night with a guy who insisted Smac would be able to take care of the kids.
Again.
This is still happening.
Got into a twitter convo last night with a guy who insisted Smac would be able to take care of the kids.
Again.
This is still happening.
We could have probert in his prime and Boogaard on the ice and it still wouldn't stop anyone from being run.
At least Probert was an actual hockey player. I would have him in prime on my team.
He was, the point being that rats will still run your guys regardless. It's a sad state of affairs but every team gets run with Boston probably being the lone exception and even then I'm not sure.
The problem is that Brown isn't really an intimidating player either. He's a decent middleweight fighter who hits a fair bit, but he doesn't lay people out and he's not going to beat the crap out of a heavyweight taking liberties. I think team toughness is more important than carrying a player who will throw a decent hit on a random 4th liner, then lose in a fight to their designated goon.
I think Gazdic outfought him for the spot as enforcer if we're going to carry one. I liked Brown's hustle, but he hasn't even been winning fights for a while now, and "hustle with no substance" is a problem the Oilers need to start solving yesterday.
He was, the point being that rats will still run your guys regardless. It's a sad state of affairs but every team gets run with Boston probably being the lone exception and even then I'm not sure.
Checking is an essential part of hockey. Its part of hockey play, its intimately tied to what the game is without which its either basketball or Soccer on ice.
I literally can hardly watch basketball with all the fouls. Didn't like playing it for the same reason. Stop, start, foul foul, free throws..
If hockey became this I would stop watching.
Hockey fights on the other hand have nothing to do with hockey and are easily removed, like a boil. Which only results in NA hockey improving and joining most of the rest of the world that see hockey fighting as more of a joke.
Should we make fighting a 10 min penalty with a second fight resulting in a game ejection?
I doubt many of the staged heavyweight fights would happen.
We don't need an intimidator, we need someone that will react immediately to other teams intimidators and or rats.
Checking is an essential part of hockey. Its part of hockey play, its intimately tied to what the game is without which its either basketball or Soccer on ice.
I literally can hardly watch basketball with all the fouls. Didn't like playing it for the same reason. Stop, start, foul foul, free throws..
If hockey became this I would stop watching.
Hockey fights on the other hand have nothing to do with hockey and are easily removed, like a boil. Which only results in NA hockey improving and joining most of the rest of the world that see hockey fighting as more of a joke.
He was, the point being that rats will still run your guys regardless. It's a sad state of affairs but every team gets run with Boston probably being the lone exception and even then I'm not sure.
I disagree, probably with most of what you're saying.
First off, saying checking is an essential part of hockey is dependant on what you're referring to. If you mean how it was played/used for close to 100 years, sure, I agree. That checking was used as part of the game in order to seperate the opposing player from the puck. It generally involved shoulder to shoulder to push players away from the puck. Occasionally, a defenceman would use the hip check but for the same reason. The player had to be in possesion of the puck, however, or you got a penalty.
If you're saying it's essential as it now stands and was started in the nineties (somewhere around when Stevens was runing players careers), I disagree. The players are given way too much leeway when it comes to time. The majority of the 'hits' I notice are late,(and should be/used to be penalties) in my estimation, which is why they get to hurt so many players. These so-called hits are not checking as it was known and are just used to intimidate and hurt players. If the players were called for late hits all the time then they couldn't charge at a player at full force but would have to let up in case they were late and got a penalty, as it used to be. These 'hits' belong in football or MMA or WWF or something, not in a hockey game.
I disagree with the fighing aspect as well. I may be in the minority but I like, what I call, old fashioned hockey, the stuff that was played before 1990. I don't like the heavyweight staged fights. I don't believe they give anything to the game.
I played relatively minor hockey but I remember the adrenaline pumping and when another player hit you wrong or with a stick, etc, you got pissed and started pushing, etc. Tempers flare and that's why you fought. It was a release and a way to get your frustrations out and to make a point. Sure, I liked the line /bench clearing brawls.
I think the instigator penalty is one reason so many players are getting hurt these days. In my time you usually didn't have the Clutter_ucks of the world taking runs at your best players without someone grabbing him and settling him down. Gryba wouldn't be careless with his knee on knee if he knew someone was going to 'get' him at some point.
There's way too many of these players making these plays that hurt people with no consequence.
Until the league disaplinarians can get it right and suspend every player that commits these types of 'faults', I believe the old way is better.
Jason Gregor @JasonGregor 20m
#Sharks HC Todd Mclellan on Mike Brown... "If he wasn’t as quick as he is, he might not fit what we want to do."
To those citing Savard, I forgot about him. Good call.
So it happens to pretty much every team in the league.
You can add Eriksson now too, unfortunately.
Proof Clifford was available? Being an RFA isn't the same as being available
Marc Savard's career was ended while with Boston. Bergeron's also been run from behind if I recall. Point is, no goons or even team toughness will change the fact that star players are targets, and have been since PeeWee. You can't intimidate RNH by being a big, tough face puncher, he's been dealing with that since he was a kid (well, he's still a kid but...). RNH and the like will be licking their chops to be on the ice with the other team's goons, cuz he'll light them up (on the scoreboard, where it matters).
The Proberts and Lucic's of the world at least have a chance at protecting your starts because they can play at a high enough level TO ACTUALLY BE ON THE ICE WITH THEM, and they're a little bit unpredicatable. Brown, Mac, Gazdic, Abney, etc. are useless, they can't be on the ice when the stars are targeted and won't break "the code" to offer any "meaningful" retribution.