Fighting numbers way down this season

[Sheppy]

I really don't get what's enjoyable or entertaining in a hockey fight.
The rumble in the jungle is a good fight.
Two guys in an armor trowing clumsy punches at each other's faces while jerseygrabbing is more like a boring break in between a good hockey match.
I kinda prefer commercials.

Don't watch hockey then...

Am i doing this right?

 

[Epsilon]

This data is great to see, things are definitely trending in the right direction.

 

[Sheppy]

Yep, and in a few years once the data isn't quite what it seems... we can focus on eliminating hitting. There would be so many happy people out there and every arena will be full!

 

[habsterr]

Some of you need to switch from hockey to figure skating. Fighting to hockey is like Maple Syrup to Canada.

 

[Sheppy]

Some of you need to switch from hockey to figure skating. Fighting to hockey is like Maple Syrup to Canada.

This guy knows.

 

[TheSituation]

Good to see. Keep it up Bettman.

 

[CuriousGeorge]

Ok, so you want your teammate to just stand there. Good to know. I'm sure you're a solid team player...

It's not about preventing it from happening, it's after it has happened.

If the league does not want guys fighting after a dirty hit because of the instigator rule, what point is there?

 

[Sheppy]

If the league does not want guys fighting after a dirty hit because of the instigator rule, what point is there?

Good god. I can't...

I just can't.

 

[ChuckLefley]

Another dumb comment.

So when a fight happens in an NHL game, do you turn your head away or go to the kitchen and make an eggo? Just curious. Players want fighting in the game.

As dumb as claiming to be a hockey fan but than saying you’ll lose interest in Hockey if fighting is gone?

 

[Macbanan]

Adding concussions from punches to players already getting concussions from illegal hits and tons of repeated small head tramas is simply not a good idea.

I too enjoy a good fight but I prefer when fights mostly happen after predatory hits and not staged or after normal scrums.
Expectation for players to fight due to machismo is down and I like that.

 

[Sheppy]

As dumb as claiming to be a hockey fan but than saying you’ll lose interest in Hockey if fighting is gone?

Never said i would stop watching, but i enjoy a rough, physical brand of hockey. So yeah, if they start removing this stuff there's a good chance I'll lose interest in it. This stuff has been in the game since i started watching, and I enjoy it. When people take away the things you enjoy, you lose interest. Am i wrong in saying that?

I enjoy rivalries (or what's left of them), I enjoy fast paced hockey and skill, I enjoy big hits and fights. I enjoy hockey.

 

[Beukeboom]

It is comical to see people claiming there is no passion or rivalries and the play isn’t as good when there is no fighting, especially when the best hockey is in the playoffs...when fighting is always way down.

I love a good fight as much as the next guy. I remember mail ordering brawl tapes when I was a kid. That being said, if I have a choice of a game with great goals and a lot of skill or a game with fights, it’s not even close, I’d take the former.

Without fights it’s still hockey, without Hockey it’s just a boxing match.

But why do you have to choose? Why can't hockey be the great game it has always been, encompassing it all?

 

[ChuckLefley]

Never said i would stop watching, but i enjoy a rough, physical brand of hockey. So yeah, if they start removing this stuff there's a good chance I'll lose interest in it. This stuff has been in the game since i started watching, and I enjoy it. When people take away the things you enjoy, you lose interest. Am i wrong in saying that?

I enjoy rivalries (or what's left of them), I enjoy fast paced hockey and skill, I enjoy big hits and fights. I enjoy hockey.

I didn’t say you would stop watching it, I said (using your words from your earlier post) that you claim to be a hockey fan but say you’ll lose interest of fighting is gone. Why the need to change what I said instead of admitting it sounds dumb to say your a fan of hockey but will lose interest simply because an ancillary part of the game is gone? As I’ve said before, I enjoy the physicality and the fights, but I like the actual hockey a lot more.

 

[Sheppy]

But why do you have to choose? Why can't hockey be the great game it has always been, encompassing it all?

This is exactly it. Fighting is down, people should be happy... the one dimensional goon is all but gone.

Why can't the game stay as it is right now? Why do the guys who have watched hockey since they were children have to suddenly "go watch WWE, UFC, or Boxing"?

 

[ChuckLefley]

But why do you have to choose? Why can't hockey be the great game it has always been, encompassing it all?

Because the world changes. People don’t “get their bell rung” anymore, they get concussions that can ruin their lives. Players aren’t low paid workers who have second jobs, they are huge investments used to make a profit. Because the Soviets didn’t skate up and down their wings and intimidate people, they played with fluidity and grace as a team, making people see what a beautiful sport Hockey can be. This is 2018, not 1976. Time moves on and the foolish get left behind.

 

[Beukeboom]

Because the world changes. People don’t “get their bell rung” anymore, they get concussions that can ruin their lives. Players aren’t low paid workers who have second jobs, they are huge investments used to make a profit. Because the Soviets didn’t skate up and down their wings and intimidate people, they played with fluidity and grace as a team, making people see what a beautiful sport Hockey can be. This is 2018, not 1976. Time moves on and the foolish get left behind.

But fighting is still the cause of only around 5% of the concussions. Hitting is probably the cause of the majority of the rest. If you are so worried, take hitting out? Hockey without hitting is still hockey?

Also without the enforcers fighting 25-30 fights a season I bet those 5% will decline sharply.

 

[CuriousGeorge]

Good god. I can't...

I just can't.

You are treating fighting as something that hockey should not go without. Do you watch hockey just to see fighting or are you interested in other aspects of the sport as well?

 

[Sheppy]

I didn’t say you would stop watching it, I said (using your words from your earlier post) that you claim to be a hockey fan but say you’ll lose interest of fighting is gone. Why the need to change what I said instead of admitting it sounds dumb to say your a fan of hockey but will lose interest simply because an ancillary part of the game is gone? As I’ve said before, I enjoy the physicality and the fights, but I like the actual hockey a lot more.

I absolutely love the game of hockey. I'm saying my interest wouldn't be there like it was before. I used to leave work early to go home and watch a Bruins/Habs game because they absolutely hated each other, the game would be good and would usually have all sorts of nasty in it. My kind of hockey. Now it's like "Oh, well... cool" - I completely understand that there's little need for a Colton Orr, a Brian McGrattan etc. Well aware of it, actually. My issue is with the anti-fighting crowd who come in and tell guys who have watched the game forever, appreciate all elements of hockey... the skill, the scoring, the talent, the physicality, the toughness etc to go watch something else if you like a fight in hockey. If two guys have a beef with each other, they should be allowed to settle it on the ice. It's always been that way, and that should never leave the game.

I guess the thousands of people who stand up to watch, the guys on the bench smashing their sticks and tapping a teammate on the back after a fight should take the back seat to the new, more enlightened crowd that's getting their wish. After all, 98% of the players know nothing.

After fighting is gone, we can focus on getting that barbaric hitting out of the game too.

 

[Sheppy]

You are treating fighting as something that hockey should not go without. Do you watch hockey just to see fighting or are you interested in other aspects of the sport as well?

Read my post. I love the game of hockey, I love the skill, the talent, the physicality and fighting.

I'm not marching into a Soccer arena demanding fans to agree that we should add hitting, fighting to Soccer.

 

[Epsilon]

No one in this thread is even talking about banning fighting through a rule change. It's being diminished/phased out naturally as team's look to optimize their rosters and style of play. Talking about "going into a soccer stadium and demanding they add fighting" is a dumb strawman that has nothing to do with what's actually going on.

 

[Sheppy]

No one in this thread is even talking about banning fighting through a rule change. It's being diminished/phased out naturally as team's look to optimize their rosters and style of play. Talking about "going into a soccer stadium and demanding they add fighting" is a dumb strawman that has nothing to do with what's actually going on.

Actually, there's a few people in here who have said that it's good and that they want fighting removed.

 

[Epsilon]

Actually, there's a few people in here who have said that it's good and that they want fighting removed.

Yes it is good. I want fighting naturally phased out, but without drastic rule changes to "ban" it, so that those complaining are simply tilting at windmills while the natural evolution of the sport passes them by.

I've never watched a hockey game and came away from it thinking "what that game really needed was a fight!"

 

[Sheppy]

Yes it is good. I want fighting naturally phased out, but without drastic rule changes to "ban" it, so that those complaining are simply tilting at windmills while the natural evolution of the sport passes them by.

I've never watched a hockey game and came away from it thinking "what that game really needed was a fight!"

I don't often think that way either. I was in Edmonton last month and watched the Devils play the Oilers, the game was good. It was a fast paced, lots of scoring, and I got to see two guys who hate each other (Lucic and Prout) square off at center ice for a good tilt. It added to what was a good game.

I guess the thousands of people who were on their feet screaming "Loooooch" know nothing and should probably leave the arena and go watch boxing.

 

[Beukeboom]

Yes it is good. I want fighting naturally phased out, but without drastic rule changes to "ban" it, so that those complaining are simply tilting at windmills while the natural evolution of the sport passes them by.

I've never watched a hockey game and came away from it thinking "what that game really needed was a fight!"

You pay 130bucks to see a game, your hometeam lose 0-5 and they do nothing at the end of the game to try to spark something, prove that they care. That didn't use to happen. Now it does all the time. It is pretty disrespectful to all the Joe's and Jane's paying that kind of money to see these several million dollar a year primadonnas cash their paycheck without any bruises.

All of you anti fighting people will one day get what us other said. Wihtout emotions the game of hockey is just an all star spectacle.

 

[Epsilon]

You pay 130bucks to see a game, your hometeam lose 0-5 and they do nothing at the end of the game to try to spark something, prove that they care. That didn't use to happen. Now it does all the time. It is pretty disrespectful to all the Joe's and Jane's paying that kind of money to see these several million dollar a year primadonnas cash their paycheck without any bruises.

All of you anti fighting people will one day get what us other said. Wihtout emotions the game of hockey is just an all star spectacle.

I couldn't care less. As for that last bit, lol. I love how upset it makes some of you guys that some of us don't like fighting and have no problem saying so.