Quote:
Originally Posted by Matty81
95% of the time it is irrelevant and Monahan or Frolik can skate away after the whistle. But there are moments that boil over late in hockey games or after incidents where it doesn't matter if you try your best to avoid conflict. Not only is the risk of injury there but I think some players' confidence just gets destroyed when your group gets bullied and doesn't push back... I think Gaudreau is one of those guys.
Citing Lazar, Bennett and Tkachuk as tough guys is naive. Those guys probably have 4 or 5 pro fights collectively and would get hurt if they tried to fight a good fighter. Tkachuk probably makes it worse... Having a superpest on a soft team is a recipe for disaster. Even Gio who is probably a better fighter than any of them should not be fighting tough guys... He had a black eye for a month the last time he fought Bieksa.
And the argument that you take the powerplay and beat the other team on the scoreboard doesn't work... If its a 2-2 game that matters sure but if you're winning 5-0 and the other team runs your goalie or hurts Gaudreau a 2 or 5 minute PP is meaningless. The situations where it goes sideways don't happen in close games where PPs matter.
I'm not an old time hockey guy. I like the direction the league is moving. But reality is our biggest rival has a tough, nasty team with some guys who take liberties and the flames need to plan for it.
Not by adding 5 guys who can't play but carrying Gazdic as #14 forward would do more good than harm.
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The presence or Absense of Gadzic on the ice for 6 minutes in no way changes anything that you posted.