NHL Thread

[FRED HALE SR.]

Originally Posted by Burning Down

In most incidents like that, the offending player is thrown out of the game and usually suspended. The NHL reviews all serious hits like the ones above before they make any arbitrary rulings. Lawsuits might also be filed. Depending on how bad the hit or fighting was, sometimes the International Ice Hockey Federation will even take the time to review it and dole out a punishment, like barring a player from the World Cup or something, like they did as a result of the Todd Bertuzzi - Steve Moore incident that happened 10 years ago:



Steve Moore was a young guy with a very short career that ended because his neck was broken in that brawl.

Todd Bertuzzi-Steve Moore Incident

Hockey has pretty much become a full contact sport, unlike how it used to be in the old days. The NHL permits so many things that are against the rules at the international and Olympic levels. Fighting, for instance. That's a huge problem now in the NHL - players dropping their sticks and gloves to duke it out on the ice as if it were a boxing match. It's becoming an issue in women's hockey as well, even though women's leagues are governed at the international level by the IIHF, which disallows fighting and has the right to disqualify teams from the World Cup and the Olympics if they break the rules (goes for both men's and women's hockey).

In terms of women's hockey, there have been repeated fighting incidents and even line brawls between the Canada and US national teams. They HATE each other and are not afraid to show it. Here's a recent one from the Olympic trials that happened in the fall, with 7 fucking seconds left in the game. It was the second fight in the game, Canada was down by 3 goals and I'm sure that fuelled it, but there are really no excuses for this behaviour:



My mom has been a huge hockey fan all her life and has always maintained her belief that hitting and fighting has gotten much worse since the NHL made helmets mandatory for new players in 1979. She thinks that players sometimes feel invincible with all that equipment on. The NHL is trying to stamp out the fighting and the dirty hits - hitting is allowed, but it should be a clean hit, like a hip check or something.

The game has definitely changed. It's become faster and more aggressive than it ever has been. You can see a clear difference in how the game is played out in this last clip from 1967, versus all the clips I shared above. There is fighting for sure, but it's quickly dissipated and handled neatly by the referees. The hitting was clean and you can clearly see that. Now when there's fighting and hitting, it's like a fucking free-for-all. The refs just let players fight it out.

The Kris Draper hit was one of the worst i ever saw. Shattered the dudes face. Its a borderline call sometimes, but other times, people are just wrong for pursuing a hit.

[Paul Smeenus]

I love this, watch it all the way to the end

[Burning Down]

Originally Posted by Paul Smeenus

I love this, watch it all the way to the end

Reminds me of Carey Price and Tim Thomas. I think they were bored and felt left out . Price is a lot bigger than Thomas and you can tell.



Love Carey Price

[Ninetales]

The Killorn hit was bad but Ranger has to take some responsibility too. Can't go into the boards like that especially when he sees Killorn coming. Dangerous by both

[Paul Smeenus]

Kootenay Ice beat tarnation outta Calgary Hitmen in the first game of the WHL playoffs, 5-2 and not really even that close

[Burning Down]

YEP.

And damn Toronto, 5 straight losses. I don't even think there is a chance for a wild card slot into the playoffs. We have to probably win the rest of the regular season games to get seeded.

Also fans are attacking James Reimer's wife on Twitter for his poor playing (a result of absolutely crappy defense). People are so ****ing mean

[Ninetales]

Leafs fans blaming Reimer are hilarious. They need vezina caliber performances to win games and when that doesn't happen they shoot the goalie. Great stuff.

[Burning Down]

Originally Posted by Ninetales

Leafs fans blaming Reimer are hilarious. They need vezina caliber performances to win games and when that doesn't happen they shoot the goalie. Great stuff.

People here are so uptight, really. It's easy to point the finger and blame Reimer for the team's losing streak, and although he definitely hasn't been up to par in the last couple of weeks, it can also come down to bad D like I said. Kadri, Lupul, Kessel, JVR, and Gardiner are pretty much the only people holding the team together at this point, doing their job and scoring goals.

I'm hoping that Bernier is back in the net tonight against the Blues, and that he starts. He's been a key player the entire season and I prefer him over Reimer. There is talk of MacIntyre getting his first NHL start tonight if Bernier doesn't feel up to it, but I don't think that would be a wise decision. The Blues are a strong team, second in the league behind Boston and they've already clinched their playoff spot. Tonight should be interesting.

How's Edmonton doing, by the way?

[Paul Smeenus]

Originally Posted by Burning Down

How's Edmonton doing, by the way?

Oh man, the Oil Kings are solid, they're the top seed in the east, I fully expect them to play Portland in the WHL finals, although they won't get past the Winterhawks.

Oh, you meant.....n/m. They suck.

[Burning Down]

Originally Posted by Paul Smeenus

Oh man, the Oil Kings are solid, they're the top seed in the east, I fully expect them to play Portland in the WHL finals, although they won't get past the Winterhawks.

Oh, you meant.....n/m. They suck.

The Oil Kings are everything the Oilers should aspire to be.