GDT: Game 48 | Senators @ Canucks | Part Deux | Saturday April 24nd, 10PM | CBC, SN

[Cosmix]

Friedman's mop is great haha

Soul-man!

 

[Cosmix]

He really sold it when he punched himself in the nose.

I did that once. I was carrying a heavy bag of sand in one hand and using a cup in the other to spread it on the driveway. The bag broke and I hit myself right between my eyes, knocking my glasses off and damn near knocked myself out.

 

[Cosmix]

Colin White is 3/22 in the face off circle going back to last game against Vancouver.

I'll give him a pass since he got shot in the face.

Maybe it will wake him up.

 

[Cosmix]

Vancouver was just smarter with the puck ..too many turnovers and lost faceoffs. Plus we needed to fire the PP coach 20 games ago.

And the GM a long time ago.

 

[Clayonator]

Flip Stutzle/Formenton OR C.Brown/Dadanov for Monday.

 

[aragorn]

I'm interested in this discussion, and I'm not just arguing for arguments sake here;

in one sentence you talk about how players in other sports as well as hockey get concussions and have mental issues and have died and whatnot from fighting or "blood sport," then in the next paragraph you mention that the players don't want more regulation.

who are these players? is it the ones getting concussed? is it the goons who want a paycheck? is it the star players who feel unprotected?

in any of these cases I don't think any one or even all 3 of these groups together have any right to make these calls.

is it really fair to give players who are out there getting concussions and mental issues and sometimes dying and sometimes committing suicide the right to make those calls? or should the league make the decision to remove fighting and protect the players?

if you remove fighting does that essentially trickle down and remove major contact? Because if so then I fully believe you've changed what hockey is.

the suspensions in other sports for fights have deterred a ton of fights, I'm not going to claim I watch a whole lot of other sports because I don't, however I know for a fact there is a hell of a lot less fighting in every other sport aside from hockey, based on the sheer fact that baseball and basketball fights show up on highlight packs on sportsnet and tsn. Hockey fights typically are left off the reel unless a player needed to be stretchered off for one reason or another.

It's a difficult subject in that people get hurt & sometimes seriously or worse. Don't you think though that if the players wanted to end fighting in hockey they could very easily agree to have it end? The players association has done quite a bit with the league in terms of player safety, but fighting continues to be allowed. Most of the NHL players I have met think it belongs in the sport & it should be up to the players to police themselves, including one who has severe concussion issues. The players who do the enforcing know the risks & still do it probably because it's the most money they will ever make.

You do bring up a good point, but the NHL & NHLPA run the league & I'm not sure how much outside pressure is put on them for ending fighting & whether they should be the ones to make that decision. It's banned from International competition I believe & the Olympics, but it's mostly the non-fighters that are on those teams. I think if they banned fighting & suspended those who did people would eventually accept it, but whether it would change the game substantially, I'm not sure it would.

Rule changes are the NHL's jurisdiction, but even after some of the issues with concussions & suicides they have yet to ban fighting. The hit that Tkachuk laid on Wheeler gave him a concussion & caused a fight because of it, should there have been more than a 2 minute penalty on that? Should he have been kicked out of the game or suspended or worse? Should the team have been penalized or fined? Sometimes the concussion shows up later, should they penalize the result after the game ends. Should courts get involved in sport assaults is another good question? Aside from the Burtuzzi & Steve Moore or Brashear & McSorley incidents, I'm actually surprised more players have not sued each other over fights in hockey.

I'm not really sure how the league feels about it given all the regulations they have put in place over the last decade to try & protect players, but I have yet to go into an arena & not hear the fans cheering when a fight breaks out in a game reminiscent of ancient Rome. Maybe that has something to do with the league not banning it, with no fans in the arenas one would think this could be the yr to do just that. I've seen fights in the stands break out at hockey games, football games, soccer games & baseball games for whatever reasons. Hockey isn't the only sport where players get concussions, football is also infamous for it, as is boxing, MMA & wrestling & they have their own issues with suicide. I think there could come a time where most contact sports are watered down to avoid concussions & ban fighting in team sports, but who knows when or if that will ever happen.

 

[aragorn]

Brannstrom: "Now will you love me @aragorn ???"

Brannstrom had a tough night, but good for him to stand up for himself.

 

[cudi]

Brannstrom had a tough night, but good for him to stand up for himself.

For sure! Just having a little fun

 

[Simplicity]

A dishonest coach? Meaning what?

Meaning he claims accountability yet plays Gudbrannson after that Montreal 2-1 loss for example. Players see that and remember that.