I don't know how can you remotely say this....with a straight face. There were 3 or more just this past weekend alone.
LA KINGS 2023/4 Regular season discussion
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I don't know how can you remotely say this....with a straight face. There were 3 or more just this past weekend alone.
A player with their head will get creamed in the NHL too. Sucks and really wish the best for Turcotte.
bmr
Registered User
- Jan 23, 2013
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Yeah - I would need to see some analytics on this as far as occurrence of concussions in the AHL as opposed to the NHL. Turcotte definitely needs to learn to protect himself better and has a tendency to keep his head down too much in precarious positions. Lindros is another example of a guy who did this.
Schrute farms
LA Kings: new GM wanted -- inquire within
- Jul 7, 2020
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I'm hoping Turcs current injury is a jaw issue (fracture or something) rather than anything to do with a concussion. Reality is though, concussion is likely involved regardless whenever he gets hit anywhere on the head.
Raccoon Jesus
We were right there
Lindros was getting caught stickhandling down the middle of the ice with his head down
Turcotte is mostly getting caught in the corners while already engaged with a checker while another guy completely leaves his position to kill him
I guess it's 'similar' but you don't see it happen in the NHL in the same manner. I don't disagree he has to protect himself better but there's a whole lot of pardoning/handwaving of AHL-type goonery in this thread which is clearly not the same.
But you know what f*** it it's probably too late for that anyway so I'm tired of arguing FOR turcotte being in the NHL instead of the AHL, if people want to give Blake a pass for this whatever.
That's just BS.....AHL type goonery while Larkin gets sucker punched and Zub gets a cross check to the face....because we all know that shit never happens in the NHL......oh wait
FrozenKing18
Top drawer!
At this rate, Turcotte's brains will be mashed potatoes by the time he becomes a regular in the roster. Hate to see it. Always wanted to see him wreak havoc out there with Lizotte.
Raccoon Jesus
We were right there
Maybe Clarke should just dodge the driveby elbow
Maybe Thomas should just keep his head up
It's a way way dirtier, dumber league.
[MOD]
But how the f*** can you say it's a way dirtier dumber league, after what just happened this weekend in the NHL....Gundrbranson getting absolutely wrecked from behind, then later on grabbing and beating the shit out of the guy, Larkin getting dummied from behind knocked right out, Perron feeding the guy lumber right to the teeth, Kane planting whatever Minny D that was directly from behind....
It's just baffling that after the weekend the NHL had you can come out and say this and be 100% serious
yankeeking
Registered User
KOPITARRULEZ11
Registered User
SaltyElkHunter
I …. am…. The LA Kings!
NHL teams need to collectively talk to the league about eliminating headshots and bringing down the hammer. These teams invest so much into prospects in development to allow cavemen headhunting to try and earn 90k. Just go be a fireman dude and play on the county team. You’ll make 120k a year and can be a CrossFit athlete on the side.
No doubt the AHL is dirtier, things happen with more regularity, you just don't regularly see it because it's a minor league with very niche TV subscribers. A lot of the hits aren't all that purposeful, either. The players aren't as good so they mis-time things. Then you have the guys trying to add extra into every hit to be noticed. If a guy ducks it it's human nature to stick out an arm or leg. The NHL has it's fair share of goonery too, but getting suspended is a huge hit to the wallet compared to a guy who is making $80K per year in the minors. And guys tend to be more disciplined and professional.
Some of that applies to Turcotte, but not all. He got creamed several times in the pre-season games he's been up, and even in the actual games he's played in. His awareness of where everyone else is on the ice isn't great, and from a physical standpoint that's a problem. You can't get away with it when you are just average height and weight of the general population.
It was impossible to predict his concussion struggles when he was drafted, I get that part. Putting him in the AHL ended up being a major problem, but would have he gotten hurt in the NHL? I think so given his style. This is hindsight of course, but if you have to have a guy in the NHL not based on merit but to lower his injury risk, maybe it wasn't the correct pick in the first place.
Some of that applies to Turcotte, but not all. He got creamed several times in the pre-season games he's been up, and even in the actual games he's played in. His awareness of where everyone else is on the ice isn't great, and from a physical standpoint that's a problem. You can't get away with it when you are just average height and weight of the general population.
It was impossible to predict his concussion struggles when he was drafted, I get that part. Putting him in the AHL ended up being a major problem, but would have he gotten hurt in the NHL? I think so given his style. This is hindsight of course, but if you have to have a guy in the NHL not based on merit but to lower his injury risk, maybe it wasn't the correct pick in the first place.
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It’s hardly a typical weekend though… in the AHL it is par for the course.
Herby
How could Blake have known?
Both points you guys are making are true.
- The NHL has less blatant cheap shots than the AHL.
- That doesn't mean that the NHL doesn't have any of them
The NHL isn't free from these types of plays, but listen to Gretzky's comments on SC Podcast. There is a level of respect that exists at the NHL level that isn't at lower levels and results in much less very dangerous and dirty hits. I referenced that when I was debating with Sol and others last year when they wanted to "make McDavid eat his teeth", guys just don't do that very much at the NHL level. It's like "Mutually Assured Destruction" during the Cold War. More money involved, less player movement, more respect.
Now again, this particular hit that Turcotte took was not some kind of blatant cheap shot like some of the other ones, this is a regular hit resulting in a 2 minute penalty in hockey leagues all over the world, it just happened to involve a player with a defective brain, but he has also taken some nasty cheap shots in the AHL. And I know you hate to hear it, but yes the frequency of these types of hits in the AHL are the reason why more and more teams are avoiding sending players to this league unless they have to, choosing to let them develop more in college/Europe until they are NHL ready.
As far as any blame placed on the Kings, at the end of the day he probably just had a defective brain and this result was inevitable, but the pull from college was still beyond awful (the worst I've ever seen to be honest) and injury risk was certainly possible and increased (and did happen with other injuries). I've often referenced not being ready hockey skill wise, and he wasn't, and it wasn't even close, but there was so much more beyond just lack of hockey skill to make the jump. The Kings pulled a player who was expected to play a gritty, sandpaper, in your-face type of game at the pro level when he wasn't even close to being physically developed enough and didn't know how to effectively take hits at the NCAA level against smaller and slower players who are now selling insurance or in dental school. Yet the Kings thought it was wise to put him in the AHL, in a pro league prone for physical play and cheap shots against bigger and stronger pro hockey players. Again with the concussions and the defective brain it probably wouldn't have mattered, but with the other injuries those could have been less frequent had he joined the pro ranks a year later (like every other team probably would have done) with more mass on his body and more of an ability to dodge getting destroyed when he had the puck. I still to this day am amazed that the Kings thought it was wise to pull him, of course with the Kings organization being about as open as the North Korean government and nobody in the media willing to even ask these types of questions we have never really had any type of clear answer as to why they did.
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Par for the course, so then there should statistical data bearing this out right? Or are we saying that they happen but just never get called?
AbsentMojo
F-ing get up and hunt! Cmon Todd!
- Apr 18, 2018
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This weekend isnt exactly a big sample size.. read again what i wrote it was merely an opinion / a guess... no one keeps track of dirty hits in either league that i know of. But it does seems like AHL is dirtier... and I think a lot of other people on this board share that opinion.
I'm talking in general, if AHL is dirtier, stands to reason there should be more matches, game misconducts related to majors etc, right?
There are more guys in the AHL trying to stand out to get a call. Alot of time the way to stand out is to be physical. So I think there are more instances of players leaving position to lay a big hit in the AHL then the NHL. However till a player speaks to this, I think, it is mostly hearsay.
When it comes to Turcotte, as sad as it is, he needs to keep his head up. Would get leveled in the NHL too.
As seeing turcotte play in jr's, i thought his style of play in his physical frame would never work in the nhl. He simply was not big enough and his frame was never going to be large enough to accomodate the size he would need to play that physical style in the nhl. Genetics limits us all.
I suspected that the kings may have drafted him as doing a solid for the former turcotte family nhl ers
I suspected that the kings may have drafted him as doing a solid for the former turcotte family nhl ers
On another note, just booked a trip to LA. Looking at tickets for the Oilers game on Feb 10th. What is the Lexus Club, and why are tickets so cheap on ticektmaster for this lexus club?
KOPITARRULEZ11
Registered User
I believe that gets you into a special area you still need a game ticket
Neither Gavrikov or Kayilev at practice.
I guess Morevare and JAD fill in.
Why don't they call up someone at forward...so baffled. JAD is mehhhh.
I guess Morevare and JAD fill in.
Why don't they call up someone at forward...so baffled. JAD is mehhhh.
