Quote:
Originally Posted by New Era
You're right, the Scotts of the game should not exist. But as long as the agitator exists and other goons are used by every team in the league the Scotts will continue to be there.
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This does not make the situation somehow alright or acceptable.
Quote:
Originally Posted by New Era
...And don't try and tell me you do not see the value in these guys. All you have to do is look at the difference between the Flames pre-McGratton last season and then post-McGratton. Night and day.
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No, I don't see any value in these guys, and I am not convinced that having Brian McGratton on the ice creates such a demonstrable difference in the play of the team. Again, demonstrating this one way or the other would require a controlled, systematic study which to my knowledge has not yet been conducted. This is actually something very interesting that I would very much like to see worked out. It is something that has been repeated for so long, we all just accept that it is true. But with how the game has changed, and with how fighting in the NHL has evolved, does it REALLY still make a positive difference? It used to once, but does it still? How do you really know without carefully sifting through the data?
Quote:
Originally Posted by New Era
...when you move back to Canada or the US don't attend games. Don't watch games, don't have anything to do with the NHL until they do something about this issue...
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That's one approach. Heaven forbid that I raise questions and make public my feelings in the meantime.
Quote:
Originally Posted by New Era
...I personally recognize this is part of the game and is not going to change soon. I don't condone it, but I recognize there is a reason for its existence and I accept it...
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Surely you are bright enough to recognise the self-defeating premises in your above statement. To put an absurd spin on it:
"I personally recognize that the disenfranchisement of women and minorities is part of our society and is not going to change soon. I don't condone it, but I recognize there is a reason for its existence and I accept it."
...or rather less absurd...
"I personally recognize that playing without helmets is part of the game and is not going to change soon. I don't condone it, but I recognize there is a reason for its existence and I accept it."
Quote:
Originally Posted by New Era
I agree with what you are saying but the reality is that fighting is good for the league.
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Prove it and I will believe you.
Quote:
Originally Posted by New Era
The teams know it and the league knows it. I don't see any trend where goons are falling out of favor.
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Maybe they do, or maybe the teams and the League are blindly reaffirming a part of the culture of hockey irrationally, because they don't know any differently; "tradition" and all that. Maybe they don't really know anything, and are making these sorts of decisions based on hunches and intuitions that were forged in an era in which fighting DID have a place, but has now become an isolated, tangential side-attraction that has no bearing on the outcome of the games.