Johnny Hockey At WC

[Tinordi]

Originally Posted by Huntingwhale

The only thing I really miss about old school hockey was the viciousness in front of the net. I miss old battles like Regehr vs Pronger battling for room. Where standing in front of the net meant you had to earn your space and might result in you getting knocked on your ass. That I miss. Other then that, speed and skill are the priority these days and it's made for an overall better product.

Which is why I think Johnny will excel. Can someone even find 1 single video of him getting bowled over? I don't think I've ever seen him take a big hit. It's wishful thinking that he might not even got clocked in the best league in the world. But more often then not someone goes for a hit on him and he just dodges out of the way. I think he wants defensemen to come at him. It allows them to play directly into his hands where he can shift out of harms way and get a scoring chance.

Yeah that was okay but again it led to many players having their careers cut short or fundamentally altered.

Paul Kariya was a 120 pt player until visciousness infront of the net fundamentally changed the course of his career thanks to Gary Suter.

Bertuzzi is another example, his back was never the same after taking a huge beating from guys like Pronger. I don't know, I just don't think injuring guys for the sake of it has a place in the game.

[Huntingwhale]

Originally Posted by Tinordi

Yeah that was okay but again it led to many players having their careers cut short or fundamentally altered.

Paul Kariya was a 120 pt player until visciousness infront of the net fundamentally changed the course of his career thanks to Gary Suter.

Bertuzzi is another example, his back was never the same after taking a huge beating from guys like Pronger. I don't know, I just don't think injuring guys for the sake of it has a place in the game.

Paul Kariya got clocked often because he never had his head on a swivel. He often watched his passes and put himself in vulnerable positions. Even as a kid I always noticed that. I think JG has learned at an early age to be the opposite of that.

And you could say the same about injuries in pretty much any area of the ice. Many more players these days are injured along the boards then they are from open ice hits, or hits in front of the net. Anways, the point I was getting at is that I don't think JG getting clocked is really going to be an issue for him. I've still yet to see a single video of him taking a hard hit.

[Tinordi]

Paul Kariya got killed because Gary Suter was trained since birth to lay punishment infront of the net. Suter took it too far but it's rich for fans, coaches, and the general establishment to want these guys to play like gladiators right up to the point of some arbitrary sense of decorum and the instant they cross it, in the heat of the game, with split seconds the difference between success and failure they're individually responsible. This passes off any blame to the way these players are being coached and coaxed to play and allows people to somehow escape with the feeling that there's nothing wrong with the game itself.

[Rick M.]

The way Johnny sees and uses the passing lanes reminds me a lot of Igor Larionov; the way he twists and turns reminds me a bit of W.G. These are stylistic comparisons only, as time will tell how good he is ultimately going to be.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Vulcan

I...no where in this thread will you find me defending the big open ice hits. What I was getting at is old time hockey isn't the same for everyone.
To me old time hockey was before the Broadstreet Bullies. It was good hardnosed hockey and fast. Sure there were a few brawls just as there are today but the viciousness wasn't common...

If this is true, then I fail to see why you bothered to respond to my post directed towards Zarley in the first place. He made a claim to missing "the old NHL" from viewing a short series of video clips from the 1990s. From this one is likely assume that this is the era in question, and the content in said clips was consistently constructed around a theme of what we tend to consider brutality by today's standards. Again, I have a problem with that. Either you do or you don't, but your references to levels of scoring and style of play in the 50s, 60s, and 70s are not really relevant.

[SHOGUN]

I'm probably not the only one, but every time I see Johnny skating in into the offensive zone, I'm not really worried about him being caught with an open ice hit. It's when he's going after a puck towards the boards I get a little nervous.

[the2bears]

Just so everyone knows... unless it's a censored word?

[IgiTang]

Originally Posted by Vulcan

. You'll find that with all athletes in any sport but we were discussing the style of play and the danger. As said the style changes with the times depending on what is successful and if rule changes are needed because it's gone down one path too far. I enjoyed hockey just as much in the 50s, 60s, 70s etc as I do today except now I get it in HD when not in person.

Originally Posted by Tinordi

I'd rather sacrifice big open ice hits than having star players' seasons and careers cut short thus depriving us of watching the best play. I also don't get alot of joy watching a guy hit so hard he can't stand and is subject to potentially long term brain injury. That's just me though.

Equipment nd knowledge of how to use it for good and bad is the reason for increased injuries over the last 2 decades. Let me explain...

Guys are using, and have been for quite some time, hard plastic material with super dense cusion inners. This hard shell on the outer is similar to what infantry, naval boarding party and SOF units use for protection against elements in the operational theatre. The reason for this is that it is hard as $hi#, can take an impact with out the wearer feeling a thing. Now line it with nice cusion that is dense and absorbs impact all on its own.

Now add a guy who is 6'+, weighing over 200lbs travelling at 30mph+ and making contact with someones knee, sternum, or the more likely Jaw/head.

Speed is a factor yes, but consider, in the 60's,70's and 80's for the most part, guys were wearing no more than diapers to protect themselves. (i still own a pair of cooper shoulder pads that smell like a diaper too)

Players are fearless with this kind of protection and know they run into a brickwall and come out relatively unscathed with the protective material they are wearing. Imagine what this is going to do to someones face when all the factors are taken into consideration.

There have been so many rule changes to goalie equipmant in the last 10 years, i cant even keep up. 2 rules for player equipment, stick size/blade curve and mandatory visors.

You wonder a player says in a post-game interview, "I didnt realize he was even hurt until I found out after the game" or some crap like that?
Its because the offending player didnt even feel the impact.

Change it back to not allowing any hard plastic on the Shoulders and Elbows, (shin pads and chest protectors are kind of a must with how hard guys shoot these days). But then watch injuries start to go down and respect amongst players come back.

EDIT: Came in for Gudreau news. Left worked up.

[AcGold]

A big factor is they didn't believe in concussions 20 years ago. Get knocked out? Use some smelling salts and go score the game winner.

[IgiTang]

Originally Posted by AcGold

A big factor is they didn't believe in concussions 20 years ago. Get knocked out? Use some smelling salts and go score the game winner.

Im not saying concussions didnt happen in the past and they wernt mishandled.

Im saying the severity and the incident occurance has gone up substantially and the equipment is just as at fault as the player.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by IgiTang

Equipment nd knowledge of how to use it for good and bad is the reason for increased injuries over the last 2 decades...

Pursuant to AcGold's post above, I'm not convinced in the first place that there has been an increase in injuries in the NHL over the last two decades. Is there any data to support this? How does the available data account for changes in perception and procedures in diagnoses over the same period of time.

[Tron_fdc]

Originally Posted by AcGold

A big factor is they didn't believe in concussions 20 years ago. Get knocked out? Use some smelling salts and go score the game winner.

Love the announcers too. THAT'S HOCKEY!!!

Start at about 1:00

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Tron_fdc

Love the announcers too. THAT'S HOCKEY!!!

That's Jim Hughson, isn't it?

[kermitology]

Yep. He worked for TSN until becoming the radio voice of the Canucks.

[dying4acup]

Originally Posted by kermitology

Yep. He worked for TSN until becoming the radio voice of the Canucks.

I miss his coverage of the bluejays too. He was very good.