Sportsnet story on Kevin Westgarth

[ericschand]

A good read about Kevin Westgarth.

About his outlook on hockey, life, enforcers and the NHL as he plays for the Belfast Giants, same team Theoren Fleury did a while ago.

ers

[JiriHrdina]

I read this a week or so ago and felt it was one of the best pieces to appear in the SN magazine. It is no secret I'm anti-fighting but this article really demonstrates that it is a very complicated issue - even for those that partake in that part of the sport.
Really good piece.

[dying4acup]

Does anybody else see the disappearance of fighting as part of a cycle?

Something tells me it will make a huge return in 3 years.

[icarus]

I mentioned it in a thread in April, but I was at Belfast's last game of the season--the Elite League semi-final--and Westgarth was a healthy scratch. Like in the NHL, there's not a whole lot of scrapping deep in the playoffs here and enforcers have limited value in the lineup.

[King Theo]

I think that pure enforcers roll is gone. I have to say that a like a good fight, but I never understood why 1 goon would fight another because 2 other players did something to each other. There will always be fighting in the NHL.

[CroFlames]

I think fighting, as with other aspects of the game, come and go in a cyclical fashion. Post 2005, there was no clutch & grab or obstruction. If you even thought about lifting your stick towards a players hands, penalty. Look where we are today with obstruction. Its cyclical. As a side note, the pre-lockout hooking was simply atrocious and appeared so lazy, and the post lockout oversensitivity to it was too much. The way the playoffs are being called this year I think is the proverbial sweet spot for obstruction.

Fighting is on the decline, but it'll come back again I'm sure. Not in the same fashion obviously as in the 80s or 90s, but it'll be back. Hockey is a frustrating game, full of behind the scenes chirping. Without fighting, I think you'd see a huge increase in the number of cheap shots (like Kessel's Tomahawk & Run). I also think intimidation is a huge part of hockey whether people like to admit it or not. Having a huge guy who is ready at any moment to drop the mitts helps with intimidation.

Good on Westgarth continuing to play hockey. And Thank you Westgarth for helping the Flames turn things around that fateful January evening

[Samuelsson]

Originally Posted by dying4acup

Does anybody else see the disappearance of fighting as part of a cycle?

Something tells me it will make a huge return in 3 years.

Yeah, I've wondered along the similar lines; don't really expect it to make a 'huge return', but if fighting is to become less prevalent than it even is now then we'll start to see an increase in dirty hits/plays that will go 'unpunished' by the players on the ice, so to speak.

This could then potentially mean that a GM or Coach might seek a face-puncher, just to calm things down a bit. Definitely think we'll see some form of return in the future, just never on the scale that it has been in the past.

[JiriHrdina]

With concussion issues I see no way it comes back. The next step will be formal rules to not allow it at all.
It may have been cyclical before, but I think now it's not a cycle but rather a slow death.