Is anyone else here completely disgusted by hockey's violence?

-Slim- · Mar 10, 2004

Call me a girl, a wuss, a sissy, a pussy or whatever else you want but does anyone else feel completely disgusted by the bullshit the National Hockey League allows out there? I mean what the **** what does fighting have to do with skating around hitting a puck???? So what the game is physical, so is the NFL, so is driving through the paint in the NBA, and numerous other sports.... To be honest with you, I think its absurd...... The whole freaking NHL league should be held responsible for this crap, not only Bertuzzi and all the long line of bullshitters out there.....

If you can draw a direct distinct line between fighting and hockey, please be my guest....

Slim.

Moon88 · Mar 10, 2004

I totally agree with you slim. Not only the fighting, but the use of the hockey sticks carving into your face or digging into your gut.....never did like playing hockey......bunch of goons....who likes getting hit from behind?

SportSavant · Mar 10, 2004

girl, wuss, sissy, pussy.......

SportSavant · Mar 10, 2004

in all seriousness though the coaches have alot to do with this...I dont know id you saw Ken Hitchcock basically threatening Martin Havlat of the Sens....

then when the Flyers Played the sens you could see Hitchcok telling his players to go out there & to start fights...John Leclair could be seen rolling his eyes as he was listening to the coach...

Other Flyer players admitted telling the opposition that they were sorry but they had to fight due to 'coaches orders'.

It is a shame, bertuzzi will get all the slack but the coaches are to blame...

A good clean fight however, where both players know its coming, agree to the fight & drop their gloves is fine...IMHO

-Slim- · Mar 10, 2004

For sure, Bertuzzi is not the only culprit, I think the whole league should be made responsible for this crap. Players for doing it. Coaches for instigating it and league for smiling throughout......

angusr · Mar 10, 2004

hockey is a tough sport . . . not for the faint of heart. fighting has traditionally been a mechanism of self-policing among the players. the truly disgusting stuff is the cheap stick work etc... if you want to see fewer injuries and a cleaner game then get rid of the instigator penalty and allow the players to police each other again. think about how many injuries are caused by cheap stick work compared to fights . . . there's no comparison and also you'd allow the star players to shine again by affording them some protection against marginal hits (like Moore's hit on Naslund)

SportSavant · Mar 10, 2004

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> the truly disgusting stuff is the cheap stick work etc... <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

amen...they have changed the game for the worse...in the 70's & 80's even though we saw some bench clearers, the game, all in all, was much safer....

All this safety equipment have also led players to be careless with their stick...

Fatty · Mar 10, 2004

I agree with ya there Angus Ontario and Sprotsavant

wilheim · Mar 10, 2004

Believe it or not the mandatory helmet rule is the main reason why high sticking became much more common since its inception. I watched a lot of hockey starting in the late 60's thru the end of the 70's and it was rare to see a stick to the head injury. Players that headhunted in those days became targets themselves. The instigator rule is flat out terrible. Without the rule everyone in hockey had to fend for themselves if challanged you dropped the gloves got it on and that was that. Now a player can just ignore a challange to get a two minute penalty against the opposition. What happens then causes cheap shot retribution. Although in this in this recent incident Steve Moore already stood up to a Canuck challange before the Bertuzzi punch. Bottom line is that fighting has always been part of hockey as well as serious injuries. The game is played on a rock hard surface with a rock hard rubber disc that is slapped at over 100 MPH with sharp sticks, not to mention sharpened skates. A very dangerous enviornment to be sure.

wil.

SportSavant · Mar 10, 2004

fully agreed wil, nice elaboration from a veteran NHL fan who has seen the game change over the years...I have only been watching since 1985 myself but I noted your thoughts in my comment above aswell

iceman2002 · Mar 10, 2004

Another thing about the Bertuzzi incident is the pussy media is blaming fighting for all the violence in this game. Makes me sick that anytime something bad happens in hockey it's blamed on fighting. Shit why not blame the worlds problems on hockey fights. Same shit happened with the Mcsorley incident. Everyone including the fag media loved the fights in the Ott/Philly game and had f**king orgasms over it. Then this shit happens and they turn tail.

PeteRoseJR · Mar 10, 2004

you re a pussy.....Hockey is for Men.....they should be able to fight in the NBA too, now that would be entertainment.

PRJ

TTinCO · Mar 10, 2004

What did this chickenshit sucker punch have to do with fighting?

This was not a fight-it was a bounty.

bosox1086 · Mar 11, 2004

Hockey = Ratings. I can't wait for the upcoming stoppage.

Mr.Jones · Mar 11, 2004

As someone who saw his first NHL game in 1955 and played at a relatively high level later, I don't know where to begin explaining to you young un's why fighting and hockey are like popcorn and a movie.

Just an age old Canadian custom that is built into the fiber of THEIR game. My guess is that dropping sticks and gloves and fighting prevents all out bloody mayhem inflicted by stick fights. Saw more than a few long ago when no helmets were worn. Those were not for pussies to engage in or even to watch.

For those who never played this game beyond the youth level, it is a tough game with things going on that you don't see even if you sit close up. It goes on really fast and with a weapon in hand. You cannot be a pussy on the receiving end of things without retaliation. You will not last at all. The damn game is high speed intimidation period!!

In the old days on the ponds up north on both sides of the border there were not always a referee and two linesmen. Come to think of it we never had any. Things had to be settled in a civilized way, hence gloves and sticks were usually dropped. Helmets and face shields encourage reckless stick work for sure. Of course I would not advocate doing away with them.

But I do advocate leaving the North American game alone except for one thing. To me a ban on fighting would be akin to a ban on the knock down pitch in bases. And what about the bench clearing melees that follow a bean ball battle? Are we ever gonna get rid of those?

Boys, three guys on a Class A bases team I played on very long ago got fined by our skipper for staying on the bench during one of those bean ball bench clearers. Those were IMHO justifiable fines especially since I was one of the major combatants.

But back to hockey. The one thing to do is to get rid of the Instigator. Everything will be just fine if they simply do that. And if you don't like the game, quit your bitching and watch Brian Boitano instead for God's sake.

TheGeneral+ · Mar 11, 2004

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Pete Rose JR:
you re a pussy.....Hockey is for Men.....they should be able to fight in the NBA too, now that would be entertainment.

PRJ<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

The name calling is not appreciated but as far as the NBA, I wish they would let em fight too, then all the big chests would sink in as they get their azzes kicked. These NBA guys all know they will get saved by other players or refs. If not, they would not be so fast to get in others faces.

NickyDeuces · Mar 11, 2004

I'll call on the wisdom of Mayberry's Aunt Bee. When running for city office whatever the question, her reply was the same. "The will of the people, whatever the people want"

People want violence in hockey. They should bring the game more into the 21st century. Give the players spiked clubs and stuff like that.

"Is anyone else here completely disgusted by hockey's violence?"

No. These guys are paid to be violent. What disgusts me are the fools running around in the real world being violent just for the fun of it.

stew · Mar 11, 2004

Slim,
To answer your question, yes, I am completely disgusted by hockey's violence. Hockey is a great game, and it would still be a great game if they would get rid of fighting. And they could so easily get rid of fighting if they wanted to, but they don't want to. For that reason, Gary Bettman and all other NHL officials, who have a part in NHL policy making decisions, should be held as co-defendants with Todd Bertuzzi in felony malicious battery charges.

wilheim · Mar 12, 2004

Who said hockey is violent?

wil.

WildBill · Mar 12, 2004

I am more worried about boring ass games that pass for the NHL these days than fights and guys coming up with injuries from cheap shots. It becomes almost sickening to watch ESPN Classic show past PLAYOFF games that had tons of excitement, great saves and 4-3 finals. Now you get 3-2 on a good night in the regular season and certain matchups in the upcoming playoffs might be deserving of a 3.5 total.