scottnc Posted February 24, 2007 Report Share Posted February 24, 2007 Everyone knows Bettman has been doing his best during his tenure to remove the fighting element from the game with the instigator rule, for example. He doesn't think it's good for the game. Besides the obvious arguments of teams not being able to protect their stars anymore, I think he's missing the biggest point. The fans love it. Everytime players drop their gloves they go nuts. The Sens brawl has been the most talked about sporting event this week. It's like crashes in NASCAR, fans love violence. Why would you not want to give the fans something they want? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claude Balls Posted February 24, 2007 Report Share Posted February 24, 2007 It was absolutely hilarious when Peters was fighting Emery. Everytime Peters threw a huge right you head the crowd, in unison, yelling "aaayy". The punches were so spread out there was almost absolute silence until Peters threw another one. It was great and I don't think there were many fans bitching about how fighting is "bad for hockey". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orange Seats Posted February 24, 2007 Report Share Posted February 24, 2007 He wants to sell tickets by making hockey arenas a family atmosphere. Thats why we're bombarded by lame ass promotions and games during TV timeouts, thats why there's the "idea"on the crackdown on violence and goonery. People in Nashville and Phoenix aren't going to bring the gang down to an NHL game in the kind of numbers they want to see. The heart and soul of hockey is in the north, midwest, Canada and Europe. I hope the NHL eventually moves away from late 90s family friendliness and move in a direction thats in line with its base, instead of shoving a model down our throats that we deal wiith only because we love the game. Also, and I think they're right on this, faster unimpeded play is more fun to watch [it was when they were calling the penalties to ensure this type of play anyway]. The problem is they haven't figured out how to reach equilibrium between faster smaller skill players and hard hitting outmodeled players who can only keep up by cheating.... not to mention what is perhaps the most incongruous officiating system in any professional sport. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PASabreFan Posted February 24, 2007 Report Share Posted February 24, 2007 Why would you not want to give the fans something they want? Some random thoughts. 1. Thursday night was the old NHL, right down to targeting the star player, slowing down the game with brawls and swallowing the whistle in overtime. I thought we had all agreed the old NHL was anathema to the Buffalo Sabres. The new NHL gave us a chance to win the Cup. Why would anyone want to go back to that garbage? Why do so many revel in Thursday's game? We lost our best player, and not to be melodramatic, but maybe our best chance to win a Cup in a generation. 2. You'll never be more entertained than you were after Game 1 against Ottawa -- or any number of other overtime playoff games over the years. And there's almost no fighting in the playoffs. Explain that. Someone. Please. 3. Does the sight of two large men fighting like little girls really entertain people? I might even become a fan of fighting in the NHL if there ever was a good one. Hecht vs. Ference might have been one of the best fights of the season. What do the goons do? Turn their heads and cough, slap the backs of heads. Why not get it over with and start biting, scratching and pulling hair. Actually, a lot of cat fights are pretty good bouts. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inkman Posted February 24, 2007 Report Share Posted February 24, 2007 3. Does the sight of two large men fighting like little girls really entertain people? You need to watch Boogaard fight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claude Balls Posted February 24, 2007 Report Share Posted February 24, 2007 You need to watch Boogaard fight. Doesn't sound like he has seen many Ray/Domi fights either. As for swallowing the whistle in OT, Briere took a penalty in OT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wjag Posted February 24, 2007 Report Share Posted February 24, 2007 Some random thoughts. 1. Thursday night was the old NHL, right down to targeting the star player, slowing down the game with brawls and swallowing the whistle in overtime. I thought we had all agreed the old NHL was anathema to the Buffalo Sabres. The new NHL gave us a chance to win the Cup. Why would anyone want to go back to that garbage? Why do so many revel in Thursday's game? We lost our best player, and not to be melodramatic, but maybe our best chance to win a Cup in a generation. 2. You'll never be more entertained than you were after Game 1 against Ottawa -- or any number of other overtime playoff games over the years. And there's almost no fighting in the playoffs. Explain that. Someone. Please. 3. Does the sight of two large men fighting like little girls really entertain people? I might even become a fan of fighting in the NHL if there ever was a good one. Hecht vs. Ference might have been one of the best fights of the season. What do the goons do? Turn their heads and cough, slap the backs of heads. Why not get it over with and start biting, scratching and pulling hair. Actually, a lot of cat fights are pretty good bouts. :) I'll have to admit watching a fair amount of Westerns. In every fight I have ever seen, I can't recall a single guy ever taking repeated blows to the back of the head. It was always the eye, lip, cheek and gut. Yet every fight in the NHL has repeated blows to the back of the head. This is the new age of fighting I guess. You square off and try not to look bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHAAAUGHT!!! Posted February 24, 2007 Report Share Posted February 24, 2007 Some random thoughts. 2. You'll never be more entertained than you were after Game 1 against Ottawa -- or any number of other overtime playoff games over the years. And there's almost no fighting in the playoffs. Explain that. Someone. Please. There is more on the line in a playoff game that a regular season game. No one wants to be off the ice for 5 minutes or be drawn into a bad penalty. Your welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claude Balls Posted February 24, 2007 Report Share Posted February 24, 2007 2. You'll never be more entertained than you were after Game 1 against Ottawa -- or any number of other overtime playoff games over the years. And there's almost no fighting in the playoffs. Explain that. Someone. Please. Tough guys barely see the ice during the playoffs if they aren't already scratched. And I can guarantee that if there were a play similar to the other night, playoffs or not, there would be a fight/brawl soon after. There always seem to be more fights in the Western Conference playoffs each year too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PASabreFan Posted February 24, 2007 Report Share Posted February 24, 2007 There is more on the line in a playoff game that a regular season game. No one wants to be off the ice for 5 minutes or be drawn into a bad penalty. Your welcome. You didn't answer the question. Sorry. You need to watch Boogaard fight. Oh I don't doubt there have been some good fights over the years, but they are few and far between. Nine times out of 10, it's WWF time. Don't hurt me, and I won't hurt you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bottlecap Posted February 24, 2007 Report Share Posted February 24, 2007 Emery is their the toughest guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drnkirishone Posted February 24, 2007 Report Share Posted February 24, 2007 the problem as i see it is that most tough guys now-a-days are out to not lose the fight instead of win it. I mean if you look at Ray's fights he pretty much won or lost there was no tie, and he got his a$$ kicked more then once lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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