Quote:
Originally Posted by Oil Stain
There basically isn't much point in nuclear deterrents, because it's never been proven to work.
The Flames had Smith, Kanzig and Ferland in the game and Gaudreau still received a cheap shot.
The Matt Cookes of the hockey world have never been deterred by enforcers and they never will be.
I don't mind having an enforcer or two per team as fights are pretty fun to watch, but its pretty hard to prove they prevent injuries of any kind.
I'd argue having goons in the game probably increases injuries because the only way they can have an impact is to run around trying to kill the skilled players with big hits.
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Well, Ferland isn't a nuclear deterrent, though he is extremely tough for his size and has beat up on pure goons throughout the WHL and one in the AHL last year. I do understand your point, but SLIGHTLY disagree with it.
I remember when Hordichuk was on Van, and they would send him over the boards and he would be running guys pretty hard. Other players on Van seemed to pick their game up and also play more physical. Flames would send McGrattan over the boards, he would tell Hordichuk to cool it, and just fly by the Vancouver bench and say something. I did notice Hordichuk usually ease up, and if he didn't, McGrattan ended up tuning him. Seemed to perk up the Flames, and the Canucks didn't play as aggressively - for a while at least. Just an observation I noticed at times (and will not rule out any bias on my part - fully aware that I may have a bias that would cloud what I am actually seeing). I do think having someone like McGrattan just pass by the bench and make some statement does influence how the other team behaves - to a point of course. How much? No idea - I do notice it does seem to help at times.
What I found interesting is what Brian Burke said towards the end of the season in regards to using both McGrattan and Westgarth. I am paraphrasing, but essentially something like this: "Having both of these in the lineup not only allows our players to play with more confidence, it reduces the amount of nonsense that other teams get away with" (that part was a bit more fuzzy in my memory), but then he went on to say this which I found most interesting: "The hits against out players reduced measurably when both McGrattan and Westgarth were in the lineup."
I brought it up here on a past thread a while ago, and asked if anyone can confirm the average hits per game against he Flames before Westgarth was added, the average after he was added (and was playing) and what it was like when neither Westgarth or McGrattan play. Would be nice to see a confirmation of what Burke stated (I think it was on the Fan960). However, this is also difficult to accomplish as hits are vary in how they are counted, with some arenas having a different opinion as what constitutes a hit.
Still, would be interesting, and MAYBE could be indicative of the 'value' that guys like this add to teams. Needs a large sample size, however.