europeans dont play tough hockey they will skate and when someone gets near them they will pass instead of going around them or right into them when they fall they pretend to be hurt just like gutless soccer players now that europeans play hockey it is a sport for sissys no one goes for the puck with determinationi wa nt to know opinion do you think nhl hockey would be better off with just americans and canadiens
2007-01-20 04:05:26 · 12 answers · asked by Montreal Canadiens Fan 1011 2 in Sports ➔ Hockey
I am a Canadian but I disagree. Have you ever seen Ovechkin play? He will score 50 goals in a season and still get 3 or 4 hits per game. If I played in the NHL and saw Ovechkin lowering the shoulder I would want to get out of the way. If you watched the World Juniors in the last few years you would have noticed that the talent is there and most European players are playing the "Canadian" style of hockey. I for one am impressed that the rest of the world has used Canada as the example of how to develop good hockey players and because of this the talent level of Canadians will keep getter better because we know we will have to compete with players from all over the world.
As for the comment on trying to be hurt this may be true in some examples but the crack down on diving etc. will hopefully stop this in the near future.
I like the look of the new NHL and hope that the best players are selected no matter where they are from.
By the way when Don Cherry owned the Icedogs he had a policy of no Europeans and the team sucked.
If the NHL goes that way the product we see on the ice will be worse.
2007-01-20 05:03:48 · answer #1 · answered by mapleleafskickass 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They just play a different style of Hockey than we're used to in North America. Skill is valued over size and toughness. Something must be working, the European countries are dominating in world competition.
Same thing with basketball. No one in the NBA ever dreamed there would be 7 foot tall guys that can handle the ball and shoot 3 pointers. Now that seems to be the mold for every guy that comes from Europe.
2007-01-20 12:27:35 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Last I looked Peter Forsberg was tough as nails and dirty as hell. Ditto Ulf Samuelsson, Esa Tikkanen, Pavel Bure, Darius Kasparaitis, etc. And aren't Vitaly Vishnevski or Alexander Ovechkin two of the better hitters in the game?
By the way the biggest diver in NHL history was Bill Barber and the biggest diver (according to the fines he collected) last season was Sean Avery. Matthew Branaby is also a huge diver.
Stop listening to Cherry and actually watch games. The Sedins on Vancouver are tough. Maybe they don't hit guys but watch them They fight thru checks and I defy you to say Mattias Ohlund is not tough.
You really want hockey to go back to the slow Original Six era when just North Americans plowed their way up and down their lanes? Bor and ing!
2007-01-20 18:48:04 · answer #3 · answered by fugutastic 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
How dare you call soccer players gutless they might not be as tough as hockey players but they are not gutless you are. Europeans make the NHL better if anything look at the most exciting players in the league other than Crosby all the other young exciting players are european. Ovechkin, Havalt, Malkin, Gaborik, Kovalchuk. NHL hockey would be better off getting rid of dumb markets like Carolina and Nashville rather than getting rid of european players.
2007-01-20 13:31:21 · answer #4 · answered by novid_manu 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
No. Hockey is a great mixture of speed, skill and toughness. As long as you play within the rules then you can play any way you want. I like a good tough game (I am Canadian after all) but I also appreciate the skill and beauty of a nice passing play done at speed. Its all good.
2007-01-20 12:32:05 · answer #5 · answered by megalomaniac 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Are you related to Don Cherry?
Please!! All Europeans are not sissies. Some of the best players are Europeans.
2007-01-20 19:19:04 · answer #6 · answered by lidstromnumber1fan 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In some ways, yes, in other ways, no. European players show more skill than brute, and that's how Bettman likes it. He then turns around and says "crack down on fighting" and destroys the game on this side of the Atlantic. However, with more skill, you can definitely show off more of what the game can offer. Just my two cents.
2007-01-20 13:24:38 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yeah it really is a shame they are better so you have to try to get them out of the league. Why not just have the North American players get more skilled and play a similar game.
2007-01-20 17:36:58 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
dude, obviously you don't watch enuf euro players. look back at the recent history of international play. Us togh Canadians has had trouble with 3 nations - Finland, Germany & USSR/Russia. anybody familiar with the game will know of the 72 summit series. we had to chop a guy down, break his leg, before winning the series. and it was tough, tough physical series.
the finns are as tough as nails. look at Ruutu, both of them. Lehtonen, both of them. they don't back down.
marco sturm is from germany, don't think you'd wanna cross him.
Canadians? you ever watch Briere? he's sure skilled, but the guy turtles.
2007-01-20 15:09:14 · answer #9 · answered by AW 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Canadians used to say the same thing about Americans.
2007-01-20 12:12:51 · answer #10 · answered by Longhaired Freaky Person 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋