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What happened to playoff hockey?

I want violence, I want hatred, I want brutal hits, I want fights. I love nastiness, and I love the testosterone-fueled edge that Playoff hockey used to bring. All of what made the NHL playoffs special is mostly gone, neutered, now we just get glorified regular season hockey because Playoffs hockey of years past is just too offensive and manly and violent for some, apparently.
 
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The Shadow said:
Are you enjoying playoff hockey compared to years past?

It was always a different game when the playoffs started. Things were rough and it was a war every shift especially in the 1st round



Do you like what the game has become or do you miss that rougher style?

It seems things are just way softer and maybe that’s what the league wants
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They called a penalty a penalty. Good god, what a soft thread.
 
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Yes it's soft as hell, and this has been the case for a while, and yes, it's what the NHL wants in general, and it makes sense given changing attitudes and the goal to attract a larger fanbase.
 
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Ziggy Stardust said:
And Connor McDavid got away with holding Kopitar's stick on the first Edmonton goal.

But we're accustomed to incessant whining from Oilers fans by now.
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I’m sure you are, after watching enough kings games.

Notice how I don’t bring other teams fans into my posts when I write them? But th first thing you do is bring down an entire fan base?
 
Ziggy Stardust said:
Look at what every game thread involving Edmonton devolves into. I expect nothing different tonight.
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There you go again, painting broad strokes.

Edmonton fans are too busy fighting each other in their GDT to spill out to the mains. The Mains are bullies towards oiler fans anyways.

Do you really think LA fans aren’t similar anyway? Your first instinct was to attack an entire fan base when I brought up something doughty said on camera.
 
Just like all the calls of sweep that were showing up as early as the second period of game 1 gdts, maybe this thread is slightly premature? It's been one game for half the teams.
 
Danarqhy said:
I want violence, I want hatred, I want brutal hits, I want fights. I love nastiness, and I love the testosterone-fueled edge that Playoff hockey used to bring. All of what made the NHL playoffs special is mostly gone, neutered, now we just get glorified regular season hockey because Playoffs hockey of years past is just too offensive and manly and violent for some, apparently.
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The USA players tried that style at the 4 nations and 1/3 of their team got hurt or injured. Hockey players have become too fast and refined as athletes and it is having a negative effect on their bodies. They also don’t know how to protect themselves anymore.
 
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There is an intensity that leads to just an overall physical engagement that has definitely lessened over the years and I miss that. (For context, one of my all-time favorite players who never played for my team(s) was Darcy Tucker.)

However there are two problems I have with physicality in the current game that I could do without: 1) I feel like a lot of scrums and stick play and hits are just guys thinking "ooo, this is playoff hockey, watch me do old-time hockey" without really having a sense of where and why it's valuable; and 2) guys can't seem to figure out how to play physically without causing opportunities for injuries or "dirty" play.

I'm probably overthinking and there's probably no way to solve those things so if you're looking for the tl;dr answer I'm probably OK with the way things are going.
 
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Bit of an odd example in the OP when you could have shown the Kulak "hold", the Anderson "hooking", or the Hyman "illegal check to the head" from that same game.

For reference:



I don't have video of the Mikey Anderson one but that call was equally as bad as these ones.
 
Oh, no, they called a cross check by the book. They let about 78 other cross checks go in that same period but this didn't fit the narrative, so we should ignore it and cry how everything is getting soft.
 
Grifter3511 said:
Just like all the calls of sweep that were showing up as early as the second period of game 1 gdts, maybe this thread is slightly premature? It's been one game for half the teams.
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Well there’s a thread on playoff ratings so far. That’s the beauty of a discussion forum. People can discuss whatever they like and don’t need to worry what other people think
 
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The Shadow said:
Well there’s a thread on playoff ratings so far. That’s the beauty of a discussion forum. People can discuss whatever they like and don’t need to worry what other people think
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Good lord. Come off it. It's pretty obvious I meant that there's still plenty of time for bad blood to show up.

I'm sure everyone in their nostalgia coloured glasses of the 'olden days' and rock em sock em hockey is specifically remembering game 1 of the opening round.
 
Icarium said:
Yes, I would even enjoy it more if they called more than one in 100 cross checks, but, hey, baby steps.
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For me cross checks in the playoffs are gonna happen, just call the dangerous ones ie to the head couple fee from the boards etc.

If your getting Lumbar to your back I front of the goalie that's part of the playoffs but face/into the boards is what drives me nuts.
 
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