Quote:
Originally Posted by Philly06Cup
More needs to be done to increase safety. Anyone who disagrees is a lunatic. Nobody wants to remove all body contact from hockey.
One obvious measure is to institute a 'targeting' rule like in the NFL. You can't take 4 or 5 strides to line up a big hit. Hits should be about separating opponent from puck.
My bigger vision is to instill more respect in the game. In the NBA or NFL, throwing a punch in a scrum is usually an automatic ejection. Even starting a scrum in the NBA or NFL generally results in some penalties. This should NOT be the norm in the NHL after every other goalie stoppage. It is, and it's stupid, and it's stupid that fans are conditioned to cheer for scrums. Any non-hockey related violence should be suspendable. Scrum punches should result in ejections. Hacking at someones ankles/shins after a whistle should clearly be a suspension. Even facewashes should be penalties. Get rid of the childish nonsense. Respect your opponents. Play hockey.
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This sounds like 'old man yelling at the clouds'
They are top tier athletes who want to get every possible mental edge over their opponent. If i can face-wash him a little bit in front of the net and its gonna make him pause for even a quarter of a second before going into the corner with me, thats the sort of advantage these guys need. If I can knock you off your game because you are focused on being mad at me instead of thinking about where your outlet pass is, even better.
calling pushing after the whistle violence is taking it way too far, its a little jostling and I think you can ask any player in the NHL if they see a major problem with it and they will tell you no. But if you think players will respect each other more just because they can't jostle after the whistle you are wrong. The trash-talk and crude language that goes on in the NFL and NBA is way worse than in the NHL. Would you rather kids look up to a bunch of whiny babies like nba players or heart on their sleeve hockey players.
I think what im trying to say is players will always find a way to get an edge on their opponent. That is at the heart of any competition where you compete head to head, and removing the physical aspect will only lead to something else which I would say is worse to teach the next generation.
Obviously the NHL needs to do something to eliminate the egregious high hits and a targetting rule would be a very logical step. But it doesn't need to go the no hitting, no fighting route.