Posted on 11/27/2005 6:58:21 AM PST by wallcrawlr
In the past, he sat on the bench simply as a means of intimidation. Once or twice a game, a coach tapped him on the shoulder, he hopped the boards with a snarl and hunted for heads.
But these days, the pure heavyweight -- that one-dimensional, slow-footed goon who plays two or three minutes a night -- isn't just endangered.
He's going the way of the dinosaur.
The New NHL is sending the pure heavyweight into extinction.
Krzysztof Oliwa was dumped by New Jersey. Andrei Nazarov never got a chance with the Wild. Ken Belanger retired from the Los Angeles Kings. Peter Worrell, who led the NHL with 354 penalty minutes in 2001-02, is playing in the East Coast Hockey League.
Feared Edmonton brawler Georges Laraque is convinced his role is a thing of the past: "If you're going to fight now, it better be memorable," he said.
Scan rosters, and there's no longer a spot designated for the resident goon.
(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...
Don't think so. Btw, I hope you're right, I love the game. But it doesn't change the fact that the league has now been locked out TWICE in the last ten years because of Bettman's piss poor management (and for an entire season in 04-05). There is no other professional sports league that has this dubious distinction.
The new rules are stupid. A point for an OT loss? Physical play, specifically defensive play, is now discouraged. Hockey is a team sport, and the shootout is a cheap gimmick to make the sport "entertaining"(at the expense of the team effort). The NHL now has a TV contract that is a complete joke, that's where the $$$ is made, not from ticket sales. As long as he's commisioner, the league will continue to falter.
The NHL's TV contract is horrible. Not enough households carrying OLN, and in parts of the country you have to pay extra to subscribe to it if it is not in a "basic" package. The "home market" identification is a sick joke. Bettman is definitely NOT a multi-tasker. Combine that with his pride and we've got all the makings of a horrible commissioner. He is still "stuck on stupid". I'm not expecting great things when NBC starts carrying games in January.
I do disagree about the rule changes. All the previous neutral-zone clutch & grab non-sense had to be cleaned up, and they've done a great job of it so far. I think there is still a place in the game for those who can drop the gloves - but the enforcers nowadays had also better be able to skate backwards and play defense. Not enough room in a cap system for defensive liabilities. I do like the shoot-out - just hope they don't use it for the playoffs.
I plan to have a vanity post in January on a NHL mid-season review for the Hockey Ping List.
You know, Bud Selig's saving grace from being the WORST commish is the fact that Gary Bettman is still around.
Find a new sport to trash. I suggest basketball. If you don't like hockey, why post to a thread where people do??
And, by the way, where did I say attendance was up 100%???
For proof, just go to NHL.com and check out the attendance statistics, or try getting some tickets for a FLYERS game.
yawn..........
One thing I'll say for Bob Clarke. He knows how to get the butts in the seats. Don't know how he managed to squeeze 'em all in under the cap, but he did it.
The OT shootout is one of the best rule changes to come out of the lockout. Ties are stupid when the majority of the teams play in a country where winning is the ONLY option.
Again...ties are for pansies.
Dave's a mess
Clarke does get credit, but the success of the franchise starts at the top with owner Ed Snider. He is a class act. Always has been, always will be.
My brother managed to get 5 tickets to a Flyers game this year, and he drove all the way from Richmond Virginia to see the game.
None of the seats were "together", but they had a great time from the moment they entered the building until the final buzzer. The atmosphere the team creates is unbelievable. They have designated "former" Flyers at the entrances to greet the fans. On this particular night, my brother and his entourage were greeted by Bob (The Hound) Kelly.
The stadium (The Wachovia Center) is state of the art, filled with restaurants and fast food venues, museums, and electronic inter-active game areas. Fans love to go to the games early, because there is so much to see and do.
In short, the Flyers have ALWAYS treated the fans with respect. And the fans have responded with a fierce devotion to the team.
Unfortunately, this is NOT the case with some other teams.
GO FLYERS GO!!
A:do you or have you ever played hockey? if so if you REALLY feel this way, you were the few who thought scoring was the only way to win games:
B:ive been in fights in games, ive dropped gloves and thrown down, ive won some and ive lost some but ive NEVER taken a grudge off the ice neither has any of my opponents, what happens on the ice STAYS there its finished and over with,
C: the nfl sucks, those little idiots cant fight ive seen a few fights in games this year and honestly? besides there athletic ability they are wimps, if they tried that on the ice they'd be a chew toy for us and not much else
D: ive played since age five, im a very good scorer but im enforcer, i protect my boys from other teams goons,and i dont think highly of incidents like bertuzzi in colorado or the mcsorley incident, however i do think the league went to far in both cases, example: the bertuzzi incident was a freak event besides what happend, i KNOW bertuzzi didnt wanna injure him, he wanted to ruffle him up and sadly gravity played a role and it went all wrong, and bertuzzi got suspended, good enough, but leave the liberal whiny lawyers out of the rinks, out of the arenas, they can go chase an ambulance elsewhere, not in our sport!
E: the mcsorley incident should have never happend, but i DO NOT agree with the lawyers and left wing sissys and that idiot bettmans "zero tolerence cry battery case" you know if these idiots were around 50 years ago , guys like gordie howe and bobby orr, bobby clarke and ron hextall and big bad bill smith would all be in prison for 25-30 years for "assault" but back then every knew it was part of the game, and it shouldnt change,
F: as i said, the players creed is, when you fight, win or lose you leave it on the ice its done and over with, did darren mcarty or the wings go after claude lemiux in the parking lot after the draper incident, NO they settled it on the ice, and it turned into hockeys most memorable rivarlies to date,
No, I haven't played, but that's not really the issue. There's a difference between defense and thugery.
Whether you taken a grudge off the ice or not doesn't matter. Hell, I fight. Its called Taekwondo. But it isn't based on anger, but on competition, and the sport itself is designed for kicks and (in some cases) punches to be thrown. Hockey isn't.
The NFL has been successful for years while the NHL has been in and out of comas. What network is the NHL currently on? Don't think that the lack of success of the NHL isn't related, at least in some part, to the fighting.
And if you really think an NFL player couldn't take on anyone in the NHL, you are dreaming. I haven't seen an NHL player yet that I thought could fight very well. Sucker punch? Sure, but fight? No way. You don't fight by grabbing a jersey and throwing the other fist constantly. With that technique, assuming I could skate worth a darn (unknown), I could have virtually anyone face planted on the ice in mere seconds after he tried that technique. It honestly wouldn't be difficult.
So don't get into a brag-a-thon about how tough NHL players (and you) are. As someone who has fought a great deal (competition wise), take my word for it: its laughable. And we don't even use many techniques in competition that we would use on the streets. Further, the last thing you want in hockey is to go at it with someone that actually knows what they are doing and doesn't really care much about whatever your so-called code is.
You can think what you want, but you might as well be advocating roller derby or those brainless fighting championships.
A better comparison might be the defensive pass interference rules were finally enforced. New England got the benefit of no calls for some time as they held onto opposing teams like the Colts to slow them up.
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