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Originally Posted by johnnyshaka
I'm on the fence about fighting...I hate the staged crap and the "you just rocked my teammate with a clean hit but I didn't like it" stuff but when two guys have been battling all game decide they've had enough of each other, well, I suppose I'm not as bothered by something like that.
If the last example were gone from the game, I wouldn't lose any sleep over it, but first two certainly would make things more enjoyable.
But, at the same time, there are guys who simply don't give a shit about others on the ice and are going to do what they are going to do regardless of consequences on or off the ice. Suspensions and penalties be damned for a guy like Tootoo who still has no problem running over (and jumping at) anybody on the ice but the moment he gets tapped on the shoulder he plays dead while flinging his gear all over the ice like he's taking a nap at a yard sale. Suspensions and fines have done nothing to deter this kid so maybe he needs to get the message in some other fashion...no?
And while we're talking about real life consequences, what do you suppose would happen when I call the cops about the two teenage punks who beat the shit out of my inflatable Santa on my front lawn the other night? I'll tell you, nothing.
For one, the punks know the cops aren't going to send out anybody in a timely fashion so they have plenty of time to destroy a few more Santas on their way to 7-11 to grab a Slurpee for their leisurely walk home. And secondly, even if they were caught in the act they know nothing is going to come of it because the cops have more important crap to deal with and what they're doing isn't really hurting anybody so it's small peanuts.
I didn't do that shit when I was a kid because I was scared of what would happen if I were to get caught...either by the house I vandalized or by my dad when he found out. I didn't even worry or think about what the cops would have done. But that isn't the way kids think today.
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Bolded is probably the worst part of the game. I understand it -- players are reacting in a half second to what it appears to them. If Crosby hits the ice, the assumption is going to be it was dirty, not matter how clean it was.
We saw it with Asham - Beagle early on this year. Asham felt Beagle crossed the line with one of his team's stars (Letang), Beagle obliged, and a couple seconds later was picking teeth out of his mouth. Was Beagle over the line-- not really, Letang was giving it to him as well. But when Letangs helmet was nearly knocked off, Asham perceived it to be over the line.
Quote:
Originally Posted by EagleFan
Yes. We're talking about a quick emotional reaction and a quick punishment. You know the enforcer will not miss something that is even close to questionable. You don't know what the league will miss and the players will try to push the envelope to see what they can get away with.
When the players do the policing they will come after you for a clean but borderline hit too, as you know that is how it works. That will have more of an affect on a player than any new rule will. Players that are already looking to make those hits will be thinking that they won't get caught. With a new rule you get punishment, with player policing you get prevention.
With the players policing you will think twice about any hard hit on their star player, even if it could be legal.
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I agree to a point...the league would have to totally change how it doles out suspensions. And I don't have very much faith in that.
I do not understand though the idea that these things didn't occur before. Clarke, Howe, Hunter and Messier were dirty. All before the instigator. They didn't refrain from being dirty out of fear of retaliation. If they felt they gained an advantage by playing the way they did, they kept doing it.
Cooke, Tootoo, Kaleta, Ott etc do the same today-- it gives their team an edge. If the league called everything, and their antics continually left their teams SH, they'd either stop of be out of a job.