Quote:
Originally Posted by NewFan
Everybody is so passive.... some other words
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this is what the NHL regular season is now though. It's kind of weird how passive it is (or at least looks). It's been like this for awhile where in the season the intensity is kind of down and then in playoffs intensity rises dramatically and the rules aren't called anymore for some reason.
It seems to be slightly worse now more than ever. I don't think it's just the Flames either. It's kind of a boring sport and lifeless when you remove the physicality and everyone's afraid of suspensions. A solid body check gets you a fight with the other team, like Andersson the other night with the Rangers. Why was that almost a bench clearing brawl? Honestly? Nobody knows what is a fair hit or what isn't. The game at this speed, you can't split hairs the way people do on each millisecond of a hit.
If there aren't the hits or physicality the game just seems so lifeless. And the Flames are one of the worst teams for this. No push back, or intensity, or give a care. Just millionaires floating around collecting their paycheques. I have been thinking about going to watch the Hitmen or something. I suspect the caring rises dramatically and by extension the sport is probably far more interesting to watch. After all once you've "made it" and your pay is guaranteed, what really is there to care about anymore?
For most of these guys winning isn't enough to motivate them, or doesn't seem to be. Neal is the perfect example. He signed his retirement contract and now he's not really too interested in working anymore. I guess I could take those couple extra strides but meh, there's always next game. What's that? My teammate just got mauled? Meh, next game.