Quote:
Originally Posted by transplant99
Not to get into some deeper conversation or anything...
BUT
this is the entire problem with the way the "game is going".
People didnt like fighting so they instituted the instigator rule...it ruined an entire aspect of the game.
If this team wasnt so poor at the PK, you could dress someone to take care of this stuff but instead you cant because of the worry of giving one up shorthanded.
The cries were loud and long years ago, by many, that taking fighting out would lead to much more stickwork...we are clearly seeing it come to fruition.
|
The instigator rule has been in place for 24 years. Somewhere along the line since then dressing a goon just allowed your goon to fight a staged fight against the other teams goon. That was no deterrent to anything.
The arguments at the time were that stick work was going to be more dangerous to players than fighting was. Well, the science of head injuries has completely reversed that equation. With what we know about head injuries, it is pretty disgusting that the nhl even allows fighting to the extent it does now.
If star players (or any players for that matter) are missing games due to slashes on the hands, then it is time for the nhl to consistently crack down on it, stick to the ruling and let it leave the game. It always amazes me that the nhl cannot bring itself to consistently call its rules and establish thresholds for when they should be called. Instead they follow Bettman's misguided attempts to manage the excitement of games at the expense of the integrity of the game.