To you people are new fans of the NHL and anyone againt fighting. Will you please do me a favor?

Question

OK, I really hate Don Cherry. That said, he makes the best sense of some things like the culture of the game. Players need accountabilty and it should go back to it's roots of the game and start tinkering. When the NHL was peaking in the mid-80's to oh, I don't know, when Bettman took over in what 94', the ratings were good and there was 1+ fight per game. It now is half of that and guess what the game is suffering. That Devil put it best when he said without fighting it would be "SOCCER WITH STICKS." These guys know the rules going in and let's face it, a punch to the head is better than a crosscheck to the head.The NHL is trying to gain these "new fans" at the risk of losing the real fans.The fights can't spill into the crowd like the NBA so don't be scared. The players all know that it is needed, they should know best. It is not just goons fighting. Good
players fight too, remember the tilt between Iginla and Lecavalier in the playoffs a few years ago in the play-offs?Brothers go2

Yes, even brothers have fought in a game. Several times.

Anyway, to get to my favor. Please go and watch 10 or 12 of this idiots shows (although like I said-he does know the game-he is just too pro Ontario)

The link is http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/hnic/coach

http://www.cbc.ca./sports/hockey/hnic/coach.html

The link doesn't seem to work but go to cbc.ca and search coach's corner.

Clueless- Gretzky had an enforcer ride shotgun his whole career and Bobby Hull was one of the dirtiest players around.

The penalty of suspending someone for the length he put out the opposing player is stupid. The result doesn't always match the act. Some guys are quick healers. Guys who suck could sit out longer. Ovechkin's hit on Briere earlier this year could have been disasterous. Hollweg probably won't be out long but does that make it better than Kaberle's? He will be out longer on a less (by far) malicious play. There are a million reasons that the idea STINKS.

mmmfresh-Don Cherry is mildly senile. He is rascist against french and Euros and anyone outside of Ontario. There HAS ALWAYS BEEN DIRTY STICKWORK. The Flyers were the last team to win the cup comprised solely of Canadians-yeah-those dirty Broad Street Bullies. Yes, Bettman sucks and yes, Cherry has some good ideas like fire Bettman, keeping fighting and back to old style gear but he is a moron after that. He would have you believe that Staal or Spezza are better than Crosby because they are from Ontario. He is a homer bigot. BTW, Ontario is not the center of the universe.

Also, not unusual to drive 4 hours to drive to a tourney. My lord, give the man a medal. He is after all getting paid to be a rascist bigot on MY TAXDOLLARS. Therefore, he better pay out of his own pocket, because I am tired of footing his bill.

Answer 1

im gonna make my answer short. EVERYTHING u just said..I AGREE

Answer 2

First of all, Cherry? Seriously, who pays attention to what grandpa says anymore?
Hey, the BEST hockey ever (the 1987 Canada Cup) had no fights basically. The playoffs--fighting drops way off. There is no correlation.
The problem is the equipment (shoulder pads are now hard as rocks and not soft like in the '80s and before), the speed of the game and the fact players head hunt.
A punch to the head is better. Ask Jeff Beukeboom, as a punch to the head gave him a concussion and he had to retire. Any blow to the head is bad.

I love fighting. I grew up in the Big Bad Bruins era but you are missing the pt. A penalty should be a penalty no matter the score or time of the game. Suspensions should be longer. All hits from behind esp. into the boards should carry suspensions. Players need to do up their helmet straps and keep their heads up.

The main problem is giving a guy like Janssen 3 games is useless. You need to send a message like bye bye you are out of the NHL. Given Simon had 5 previous suspensions, the guy should now be banned for life period and it has nothing to do with fighting. He could have dropped his gloves and fought Hollweg and he'd have been fine. The rules are such that stick swinging is a major and a game.

Maybe you missed Eddie Shore hitting Ace Bailey or Wayne Maki on Ted Green, even Tomas Sandstrom getting his head decapitated by Dave Brown or Dale Hunter on Pierre Turgeon . These horrid stick swinging incidents occurred in the past when you think players "respected" each other. It's a non-issue connecting the instigator penalty as the cause for all this.

Basically, overkill on sports coverage causes people to think the sky is falling. Ah, the Internet and ESPN--gotta luv their objectivity.

P.S. CBC should lose hockey employing idiots like Cherry and incompetent pbp guys like Cole.

Answer 3

i hate Don Cherry also i actually live in his home town of Kingston Ontario and he talks about Kingston like its the best hockey town in the world. are freaking arena's look like barns, well there still not 100% sure where hockey was first played in Canada but if you ever come to Kingston are arena's are old as dust we have the Cooks arena that has been around since the 20's when the Cooks brothers from Kingston played in the NHL back with the Rangers. yes he is racist to french players and European players but if you look at some great teams throughout the years there always been a french Canadian super star on that team and look how many goalies are top in the league if there not from Quebec there from Europe, even Sidney Crosby is french Canadian so what is Cherry going to say when he beats Gretzky's records.


clueless…>>>> do you unusually beleive what your saying, if Gretzky didnt have the protection he had with the Oilers he would of never beaten Howe's scoring record period. you need these inforcers to protect the top skilled players cause there always someone out there to stop your top player. why did the Pens get Big Larauque to protect Crosby nobody in there right mind will try to cheap shot Crosby now cause you know that Larauque is going to punish this player, its part of the game and you will see more of the fighting in the near future with more and more smaller players making the NHL cause of the new rules. and these smaller players will need to be protected.

GO HABS GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Answer 4

Here is the deal with fighting in the NHL.

There have always been 2 reasons to fight in hockey. One is to protect the skilled (and usually undersized) players on your team from the cheapshot artists on the other team.

Lesser talented teams have always reverted to such dirty tactics to succeed. Take out the other teams skill player and level the playing field. The Broad Street Bullies of Philly in the mid '70's won 2 Stanley Cups by basically beating the living crap out of everyone else. In fact, in 1975 in an exhibition game, Moscow Dynamo refused to come back onto the ice after being attacked ruthlessly by the Flyers and receiving no help from the referee. Gordie Howe's Cup winning Red Wings of the '50's and early '60's were also really nasty.

A few years ago, Derian Hatcher of the Stars took out Paul Kariya of the Ducks, one week before the playoffs. Anaheim, with Kariya leading the way were shaping up to be a contender. Without him they were eliminated early. Hatcher was suspended for the last week of the season and the first round of the playoffs. Dallas went deep without him and built a dynasty. Kariya was out for almost a year.

The disciplinary arm of the league has always taken a laid back attitude, saying that physicality is a part of the game. That Flyer's dynasty was eventually ended by the Montreal Canadiens who built a team so laden with talent that Philly couldn't run them all down. Of course, even that Montreal team found a guy that the Flyers goons were afraid to mess with. He was a 6'5" hardhitting defenseman with a nasty attitude named Larry Robinson. But to do the Habs proud, Robinson proved he had offensive skills as well and had a Hall of Fame career. Still, the league's position was to let matters be settled on the ice.

Last week, Chris Drury of Buffalo and Tomas Kaberle of Toronto were taken out by high hits that could have been either avoided or at least throtttled down. No penalties were called in either case and only one 3 game suspension was handed out afterward. A 3 game suspension is basically one week. Both players will be out at least that long, probably longer in Kaberle's case. If your best players are fair game for underhanded tactics and the league refuses to step in, it is obvious that the coach and team must step in. Unfortunately when that happens, everyone gets up in arms and the coaches get fined.

My point is that fighting for this reason is a symptom and not the disease. Make the punishment fit the crime and the players will let the officials deal with it.

What punishment would fit the crime? Simple, if you hit a player high, purposely or not (just as in high sticking) you receive at least a 4 minute double minor. If the player is injured and misses time due to the hit, you will be suspended for 1st time 5 games, 2nd time 10 games and 3rd time one full year. Oh, and those 5 and 10 gamers don't start until the injured player is back to full health and cleared by league doctors to play. If your cheap shot puts you out longer than the victim and puts your career in jeopardy you will think twice, I guarantee!!

So, if the league would just step up and get rid of the cheap shot artists there would be no real reason to fight and no one would complain if fighting automatically earned you a game misconduct and further suspension. However, there is enough of the old guard still around and respected, Bob Clarke of the Flyers front office being a prime example.

I did say there were 2 reasons to fight. The other is to fire up your team when they are playing lousy and getting their butts kicked. While it may be entertaining on a neanderthal level, it's not a legitimate reason to fight and doesn't need to be in the game to draw fans.

All that being said, however, there is one type of player that I do not want to see leave the game. The Kenny "the Rat" Linsemans and Esa Tikkannens who are represented today by Sean Avery and Darcy Tucker are on the dirty side to be sure. They get under opponents' skins and cause them to take foolish penalties. Their job doesn't end there, however. They are often on the ice on those powerplays, assisting or putting the puck in the net themselves, administering the coup de gras.

So, while I think fighting can and should be weaned out the game by the league, there should always be room for a little psychological warfare.

Answer 5

Don used to make more sense at one time. He's gotten a little weird lately.
And your problem with him being pro-Ontario would be what, he doesn't talk up the one pony town you live in? Get over it. Since one in three Canadians live in Ontario and since Grapes also lives in Ontario he talks about what he knows. The man gives freely of his time to hockey all over the province. It's not usual for him to drive 4 hours at his own expense to attend some tournament.
And yeah, he's bang on about Bettman. A hockey commissioner should be able to skate and know the damned game. This ******** don't know diddly. He's ruining the tradition. Why the hell we don't take the damned cup back from the league I don't know. The NHL was given the right to award it but it still belongs to the Dominion of Canada and it's time we as fans petitioned the league to give the cup back or fire Bettman.
There wasn't all the stick work when we had fighting and fewer europeans.

Answer 6

I also hate Don Cherry but he does know hockey. I don't have a problem with fighting in hockey but if this question was brought up because of what Chris Simon did, that was not fighting. That was revenge with intent to injure and THAT should not be allowed. Let them punch each other silly with their fists but NO ONE should be allowed to go after another player with their stick.

Answer 7

Hockey peaked in the 80s because of two men named GRETZKY and LEMIEUX.

It is doing nicely now because of a young man named CROSBY.

Fans love the finesse, and some toughness. The odd fight, okay, but to have them every game is stupid. Baseball, Football, Basketball, all come down very hard on fighting. Hockey is right to try to push it out of the game.

Answer 8

I'll try your link in a few hours, kind of busy now. But some questions for you:

If "the players all know" it is needed why have so many spoken out against it? And that includes Bobby Hull and Wayne Gretzky, and if you are going to seriously sit there and tell me THEY don't know Hockey, I give up on you.

Why does hockey uniquely need this "guard" against cheap shots? Why don't other body contact sports have this problem?

Between a crosscheck and a punch, how about NEITHER? Why is that so hard for you to understand?

Why do "real fans" have to like fighting? I thought the object of the game was to SCORE MORE GOALS, not punch players. Silly me. But like I said before, there is always boxing......

Answer 9

Hell No Fighting is whats make Hockey a real man's Sport.