NHL + PA Still Talking

[Josh '99]

[Q]atb9 Wrote:
At this point, I only want a mini-season so Bettman is forced to institute those "fun, exciting rules" he talked about during his press conference![/q]
"Fun, exciting rules" like the shootout?  ::rolleyes::  ::yark::

[profudge]

Interesting sports columnist view of  "NHL season is dead"  from San Jose -    'all are Idiots':

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/hockey/nhl/san_jose_sharks/10932401.htm

may need to register to access the site,  but there is no charge.

[atb9]

[Q]jmh30 Wrote:

 [Q2]atb9 Wrote:
At this point, I only want a mini-season so Bettman is forced to institute those "fun, exciting rules" he talked about during his press conference![/Q]
"Fun, exciting rules" like the shootout?     [/q]

As far as I know, football is the only major American sport that has ties and those happen what, once every other year?  Anyways, I know you're joking and I don't want to open further a can of worms, but some of the ideas that I've heard tossed around are: smaller pads for the goalies (probably), automatic one game suspension for fighting (unfortunately, probably not), changing the two line pass rule (50-50), and as you mentioned, no ties (50-50).

Bottom line, they need to get back on the ice and I hope we don't have to rely on the world championships (in what, two months?), for that to happen.

[Trotsky]

+ 2 periods with a halftime extravaganza
+ shoot-outs
+ full frontal nudity
+ chimps

[DisplacedCornellian]

[Q]Trotsky Wrote:

 + 2 periods with a halftime extravaganza
+ shoot-outs
+ full frontal nudity
+ chimps[/q]

Your ideas intrigue me and I'd like to subscribe to your newsletter.

[mjh89]

Why is it unfortunate that fighting in hockey won't be stopped? It's in the game's history, and it decreases cheap shots because it there's accountability for what you do on the ice. Please don't bring up Bertuzzi. Another plus is that, as sad as you may see it, fighting is exciting. "Nobody gets up to to go thhe bathroom during a fight." Hockey, and the NHL in particular, needs all the fans it can get.

[calgARI '07]

More speculation that the PA has an offer coming:

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?id=115375

And I agree that fighting is an important part of the NHL.  Almost all the people I know that are not into hockey absolutely love the fighting, far more than any other part of the game.

[atb9]

[Q]mjh89 Wrote:

 Why is it unfortunate that fighting in hockey won't be stopped? It's in the game's history, and it decreases cheap shots because it there's accountability for what you do on the ice. Please don't bring up Bertuzzi. Another plus is that, as sad as you may see it, fighting is exciting. "Nobody gets up to to go thhe bathroom during a fight." Hockey, and the NHL in particular, needs all the fans it can get.[/q]

Are you a boxing fan?  If so, stop by your nearest museum...they're always looking for more endangered species!  ;-)

I don't mind fighting but if all you're going to get is a matching fighting penalty (with the faint chance of getting an instigation penalty) then whenever you are looking for some momentum, you send out your team goon.  That leads to endless fighting.  Go to an AHL game and you'll see players competing to earn the goon title so they can make it up to the NHL.  So sad.

Resnet?  Hmm...Well, I was looking for the link back to the thread from a while back (a year?  two?) where we argued fighting but I couldn't find it.  Maybe you'll find it better than me.  Either way, there's no reason to repeat it (sorry for the above cursory look).

[atb9]

[Q]calgARI '07 Wrote:

And I agree that fighting is an important part of the NHL.  Almost all the people I know that are not into hockey absolutely love the fighting, far more than any other part of the game.[/q]

I don't want it eliminated; I think it should be cleaned up.  It's so much more exciting to see a fight in college because it's so rare.

And my boxing comment was kind of tongue-in-cheek because I'm a soccer fan, and while our numbers are growing, it's much easier to go to a bar in upstate NY to see a boxing match than it is to see a soccer match.

[adamw]

[Q]mjh89 Wrote:
it decreases cheap shots because it there's accountability for what you do on the ice.[/q]

The biggest myth in the history of sports.

[q]Another plus is that, as sad as you may see it, fighting is exciting.[/q]

So is naked women streaking across the ice with their hair on fire, but we're not promoting that at hockey games (though maybe we should).

[q]Hockey, and the NHL in particular, needs all the fans it can get.[/q]

Maybe they are losing more by the reputation as a gong show.

[RichS]

[Q]calgARI '07 Wrote:

 More speculation that the PA has an offer coming:



And I agree that fighting is an important part of the NHL.  Almost all the people I know that are not into hockey absolutely love the fighting, far more than any other part of the game.[/q]


That may be but lets not lower ourselves to calling these people "hockey FANS"!  
::rolleyes::

[Pete Godenschwager]

[Q]and it decreases cheap shots because it there's accountability for what you do on the ice.[/Q]

Is there no accountability in the playoffs then?  Players rarely fight in the playoffs, yet somehow the game manages to go on.  

[calgARI '07]

[Q]adamw Wrote:

 [Q2]mjh89 Wrote:
it decreases cheap shots because it there's accountability for what you do on the ice.[/Q]
The biggest myth in the history of sports.

[Q2]Another plus is that, as sad as you may see it, fighting is exciting.[/Q]
So is naked women streaking across the ice with their hair on fire, but we're not promoting that at hockey games (though maybe we should).

[Q2]Hockey, and the NHL in particular, needs all the fans it can get.[/Q]
Maybe they are losing more by the reputation as a gong show.[/q]

Well that "myth" is believed by many NHLers and they have commented on it.  Read an artcicle from THN a few weeks ago called "The Unwritten Code."  The general thoughts are that the "pest" such as the Mike Danton's, Tyson Nash's, Ville Nieminen's along with the dumbest rule in professional sports, the instigator, are what has killed that code.  Fighting has decreased a lot because the instigator yet cheap shots have increased.  These pests get away with these types of things yet cannot be punished properly by the team's enforcer fighting him because the instigator.  The McSorely incident and Bertuzzi incident occured because they could not initiate fights.  In no way am I condoning their actions in those two incidents or other actions of stupidity, but the instigator rule and the resulting descrease in fighting has a major role.

[KeithK]

It's possible that the number of paying customers would decrease if there were a severe crackdown on fighting.  Probable maybe.  But then ESPN might be forced to show actual clips of hockey, instead of boxing on ice and over the long haul you might end up with more fans.  I certainly appreciate the fact the there isn't (much) fighting in college and think that the pro game would benefit in the long run from the low-tolerance for fighting approach.

[calgARI '07]

[Q]Pete Godenschwager Wrote:

 [Q2]and it decreases cheap shots because it there's accountability for what you do on the ice.[/Q]
Is there no accountability in the playoffs then?  Players rarely fight in the playoffs, yet somehow the game manages to go on.   [/q]

The stakes are too high in the playoffs.  Far less cheap shots and far less fighting.  There stems almost directly from the fact that most of hte pests and enforcers don't dress at all come playoff time.  It's a different game.