Latest Hit On Skinner May Have Been My Last Straw ...

[TheBigKahuna]

So I guess you were looking for a response where 3 guys challenged Cowen?

Do you think Cowen wet his jockies when he saw LaRose coming after him?

 

[StormCast]

Do you think Cowen wet his jockies when he saw LaRose coming after him?

Of course not but Westgarth is a load and an experienced fighter. Your comment was that nothing was done, remember?

 

[Roboturner913]

I know the hit was legal, or at least, *not* "dirty". I still hate seeing it. Too many players are having their careers shortened or diminished. We'll probably never know how good Sidney Crosby's career could've been, nevermind somebody like Skinner.

They need to widen the rink by at least 8 feet and make any hit where the head is the impact point suspendable. Period. I don't care if he leads with his forearm or not, the shoulder pad is just as lethal. 2, 5, and 10 game suspensions depending on the situation and if the player is a repeat offender.

I don't want the game to turn into watered-down pathetic NFL football, but you've got to start drawing the line somewhere.

 

[Anton Babchuk]

It's my last straw as well. LaRose needs to go.

 

[Wolfpuck]

http://blogs.newsobserver.com/canes/rutherford-skinner-not-concussed-by-hit

No concussion, per Rutherford

Haven't we heard that before?

 

[WalkerBabe]

http://blogs.newsobserver.com/canes/rutherford-skinner-not-concussed-by-hit

No concussion, per Rutherford

Haven't we heard that before?

I hope and pray that it's true but I would bet NOTHING on that statement. Pray that he doesn't have "flu symptoms" next week!

 

[snakepliskin]

It's my last straw as well. LaRose needs to go.

dammit-i cant find the "like" or "share" button!

 

[NorthStar4Canes]

It's my last straw as well. LaRose needs to go.

You've had that same last straw every game for the last 3 seasons, minimum.

Oh, and a big shout out of "Thanks!" for those who feel compelled to come onto this Canes' board to edjumacate us rednecky fans. In gratitude, what you see on my face now is a big Midwestern " **** You" smile.

 

[tarheelhockey]

While I feel that the hit was clean, and I'm not really outraged by anything Cowen did or by the Canes' reaction to it, the whole incident drove home a point that I find very unfortunate about the direction the NHL is going. Basically, the Cowans of the league are running out the Skinners the same way they did during Dead Puck. I can't even remember the last NHL game I watched where a star player wasn't out injured. Just this year we've seen seasons derailed for Crosby, Malkin, Skinner, Bergeron, Tarasenko, Spezza, Karlsson, Lupul, Nash, Kovalchuk, Landeskog, Tanguay, Weiss, Heatley, Neal, Marc Staal, Pitkanen, Oshie, Booth, and a slew of others. Never mind the Savards and Prongers who are silently missing. There's a noticeable difference when that much star power gets sucked out of the game. There are already so many 30-point players who grind and bang and score ugly goals, that when you swap a few skilled players for AHL'ers, the entertainment value just drops like a stone.

I'm not in "last straw" mode just yet, but the league as a whole has definitely lost some appeal over the past couple of seasons with the uptick in physicality and subsequent loss of star power. It feels a lot like 1999 all over again, which is really disappointing and makes me wonder whether we're going back into another lull in popular interest.

 

[Finlandia WOAT]

On the other side of the coin, I would wager that you would anger a similar amount of people if you tried to do anything overt to protect your star players. People unable to see the larger picture will scream buzzwords like the "nanny state" and the "p***yfication of the game", stonewalling any attempt by the NHL to lessen the inherent danger of ice hockey.

If I were a parent, and I was watching the Skinner's, the Weiss's, the Pitkanen's, the Crosby's and all the stars of the League either out injured or running around with such a blatant bulls eye on their back, I certainly would be hesitant about getting my kids into the game. This can not be good for younger generation participation and the future talent of the NHL.

JR said it himself, this game is tough, and if you can't get over that, then you can get out. This mentality is going to hurt and/or kill the game.

 

[tarheelhockey]

On the other side of the coin, I would wager that you would anger a similar amount of people if you tried to do anything overt to protect your star players. People unable to see the larger picture will scream buzzwords like the "nanny state" and the "p***yfication of the game", stonewalling any attempt by the NHL to lessen the inherent danger of ice hockey.

Another thing that distinctly reminds me of the NHL circa 2000. People ripped Lemieux to shreds for suggesting that he should be allowed to skate around away from the puck without being hooked. Never mind the outrage against leaping hits by the likes of Stevens and Beukeboom (both of whom had career-ending concussions). And now here we are with a generation of players that's on track to produce only 3 or 4 500-goal scorers.

 

[NorthStar4Canes]

On the other side of the coin, I would wager that you would anger a similar amount of people if you tried to do anything overt to protect your star players. People unable to see the larger picture will scream buzzwords like the "nanny state" and the "p***yfication of the game", stonewalling any attempt by the NHL to lessen the inherent danger of ice hockey.

If I were a parent, and I was watching the Skinner's, the Weiss's, the Pitkanen's, the Crosby's and all the stars of the League either out injured or running around with such a blatant bulls eye on their back, I certainly would be hesitant about getting my kids into the game. This can not be good for younger generation participation and the future talent of the NHL.

JR said it himself, this game is tough, and if you can't get over that, then you can get out. This mentality is going to hurt and/or kill the game.

Oh come one, kill the game? Youth hockey players now are as protected as it gets, and that's what parents care about. Parents care about a game's safety as it exists for their kids then and there or at least until they become adults. They don't extrapolate down from "When my little Johnny makes it to the NHL when he's 20-something, it's dangerous there! Oh, he can't play now!"

Seriously, some of you are getting overly-dramatic and making tenuous projections about something thats always been part of not only hockey, but any fast, contact sport. If you took every ounce of hitting out of the game, you'd still have injuries just as a result of the speed of skaters on slippery ice and the existance of boards, sticks, and flying pucks. Good players get injured all the time, so have star players.

Check your history folks, the sky ain't falling just because Skinner fell victim to inertia.

 

[Finlandia WOAT]

Oh come one, kill the game? Youth hockey players now are as protected as it gets, and that's what parents care about. Parents care about a game's safety as it exists for their kids then and there or at least until they become adults. They don't extrapolate down from "When my little Johnny makes it to the NHL when he's 20-something, it's dangerous there!"

Seriously, some of you are getting overly-dramatic and making tenuous projections about something thats always been part of not only hockey, but any fast, contact sport. If you took every ounce of hitting out of the game, you'd still have injuries just as a result of the speed of skaters on slippery ice and the existance of boards, sticks, and flying pucks. Good players get injured all the time, so have star players.

Check your history folks, the sky ain't falling just because Skinner fell victim to inertia.

I said the mentality of "if you don't like it, you can GEEEET OUT!!!", the thinking that any and all change to the game is evil and should be told to sit in a side room and wait forever.

This kind of thinking, from the visor debate, to the helmet debate, to the original expansion era, is very prevalent in NHL history.

 

[NorthStar4Canes]

I said the mentality of "if you don't like it, you can GEEEET OUT!!!", the thinking that any and all change to the game is evil and should be told to sit in a side room and wait forever.

This kind of thinking, from the visor debate, to the helmet debate, to the original expansion era, is very prevalent in NHL history.

And yet those changes have occurred despite what you consider to be an inordinate amount of whining. They've made rule changes in addition to helmets and the incorporation of visors to protect the head from being targeted. How does this apply to Skinner? Make a rule change that states one player can't hit another if he's more than 4 inches taller and outweighs the other by 20+ lbs? The hitter must be stationary or moving slower than walking pace to nullify mass x velocity advantages? How about a minimum temperature in the arenas so the ice is guaranteed to be soft and slow for all players? Hey, slush is softer to fall on than hard ice too.

Edit: And you did try and make a direct connection between parents letting their kids play and seeing players at the professional level being injured.

 

[Finlandia WOAT]

And yet those changes have occurred despite what you consider to be an inordinate amount of whining. They've made rule changes in addition to helmets and the incorporation of visors to protect the head from being targeted. How does this apply to Skinner? Make a rule change that states one player can't hit another if he's more than 4 inches taller and outweighs the other by 20+ lbs? The hitter must be stationary or moving slower than walking pace to nullify mass x velocity advantages? How about a minimum temperature in the arenas so the ice is guaranteed to be soft and slow for all players? Hey, slush is softer to fall on than hard ice too.

It has nothing to do with Skinner. I was merely going off of Tarheel's post on the state of the game.

FWIW, I think it was a decent hit with an unfortunate result. Unless we told Cowen not to hit people, there is no way to prevent that hit.

Also, **** LaRose.

Edit: And you did try and make a direct connection between parents letting their kids play and seeing players at the professional level being injured.

I did. I also know parents who have kept their kids out of contact sports for such reasons.

But then, I grew up in Chapel Hill, the most liberal place in the South.

 

[Finlandia WOAT]

On Skinner, I would wager that he's going to see another low production season next year, for one of two reasons:

--He continues to play with a death wish, and is knocked out of the game, or:
--He starts the long, hard road of readjustment and begins to change his game with the goal of not being in a wheelchair when he is 28.

I think if he became a pass first player, he would fix a lot of his problems (as Vagrant or BG said). But changing from a shooting sniper to a guy who is looking to set his teammates up is difficult, and really doesn't make good use of his skillset (his skating).

Also, can anyone think of someone off the top of their heads who had problems with injuries related to playstyle, and ended up changing their game and recapturing some of their form?

 

[tarheelhockey]

And yet those changes have occurred despite what you consider to be an inordinate amount of whining.

Yeah, after Masterton got killed it only took 11 years for the league to grandfather in a helmet rule.

 

[NorthStar4Canes]

Yeah, after Masterton got killed it only took 11 years for the league to grandfather in a helmet rule.

Yes they should have done it more quickly and saved all the lives lost during those 11 years. I remember that ghastly, interim time...Oh, the horror!

 

[tarheelhockey]

Yes they should have done it more quickly and saved all the lives lost during those 11 years. I remember that ghastly, interim time...Oh, the horror!

Intentionally missing the point?

A guy DIED as a result of a head wound and it wasn't enough to effect a change in priorities from "comfort" (which if we're being completely honest was more about looks) toward preserving players' gray matter.

There's no clearer example of the NHL not giving a five dollar **** about the players' safety, beyond trying to avoid bad press and potential legal actions against them.

 

[NorthStar4Canes]

Highway to Cap Hell

I did. I also know parents who have kept their kids out of contact sports for such reasons.

Those types of parents have always been with us. To say they "kept their kids out" presupposes that the kid had an interest in playing that type of game in the first place. Sad that a parent would shoot-down a child's interest in anything if they can afford to support them in the endeavor.

But then, I grew up in Chapel Hill,

My condolences

the most liberal place in the South.

That's no excuse. Canada is liberal. Sweden is liberal. Minnesota is liberal. Mass is liberal and their parents dont' seem to have any problem letting their kids play hockey. No, perhaps there's something else at work in Chapel Hill like thinking basketball should represent the limit of player vs player physicality in sport. Or maybe they're soccer fans because they heard the Euros like it and think anything European, like eating salad after the main course or unpasteurized cheese, is always better?

Most likely, one of them heard the term "redneck hockey" on the way home from Occupying something and from that day forward the word spread amongst them this was NOT a sport to be associated with.

 

[Finlandia WOAT]

Those types of parents have always been with us. To say they "kept their kids out" presupposes that the kid had an interest in playing that type of game in the first place. Sad that a parent would shoot-down a child's interest in anything if they can afford to support them in the endeavor.



My condolences



That's no excuse. Canada is liberal. Sweden is liberal. Minnesota is liberal. Mass is liberal and their parents dont' seem to have any problem letting their kids play hockey. No, perhaps there's something else at work in Chapel Hill like thinking basketball should represent the limit of player vs player physicality in sport. Or maybe they're soccer fans because they heard the Euros like it and think anything European, like eating salad after the main course or unpasteurized cheese, is always better?

Most likely, one of them heard the term "redneck hockey" on the way home from Occupying something and from that day forward the word spread amongst them this was NOT a sport to be associated with.

First off, . So true.

Second, all I'm saying is that, if I were a parent, and I saw the violence associated with ice hockey, I would think twice about getting my kid involved.

Maybe the NHL should look into that potential negative PR. It will do nothing but cause harm for the growth of the game. Or maybe they shouldn't. But they almost certainly won't because of blowhards complaining about the purity of the game, which was my main point.

 

[NorthStar4Canes]

Intentionally missing the point?

A guy DIED as a result of a head wound and it wasn't enough to effect a change in priorities from "comfort" (which if we're being completely honest was more about looks) toward preserving players' gray matter.

There's no clearer example of the NHL not giving a five dollar **** about the players' safety, beyond trying to avoid bad press and potential legal actions against them.

Yes I realize he died, he was a North Stars player after all. You do realize that players had the option to wear helmets before the rule was made, and certainly during those 11 years you're focusing on? Plenty were already.

Your argument about the NHL not giving a five dollar **** about player safety is ridiculous. Rules in existence long before the helmet rule (high sticking, spearing, boarding, etc etc) are player-safety oriented, as are others regulating hitting to an ever stricter degree since.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Your argument about the NHL not giving a five dollar **** about player safety is ridiculous. Rules in existence long before the helmet rule (high sticking, spearing, boarding, etc etc) are player-safety oriented, as are others regulating hitting to an ever stricter degree since.

You're giving the NHL credit for rules that were codified in the 1870s by amateur players who had no interest in dying over a game of shinny.

When the league passed the helmet rule in '79, over 70% of the players were already voluntarily wearing helmets. Today, 73% are already voluntarily wearing visors. In both cases, a generational shift toward safety took place among the players and the league essentially passed a rule that acknowledged present reality.

That's how the NHL has always operated. Let players mutilate each other till the economics don't make sense anymore, and then pass an insurance-friendly rule that shuts up the whiny columnists. I know you know enough about this league's history to know that the owners didn't give a damn about the players as human beings in 1968.

 

[Buenos Necas]

Intentionally missing the point?

A guy DIED as a result of a head wound and it wasn't enough to effect a change in priorities from "comfort" (which if we're being completely honest was more about looks) toward preserving players' gray matter.

There's no clearer example of the NHL not giving a five dollar **** about the players' safety, beyond trying to avoid bad press and potential legal actions against them.

Yep. If the league truly cared about player safety, the debate wouldn't be about grandfathering in visors, they would be making full cages mandatory instead.

 

[geehaad]

Isn't it the NHLPA that has stood in the way of mandatory visors? I had thought that was the case, anyway...and if that's true, then the league isn't really to blame. In fact, the NHL would probably *rather* see players in helmets and visors, since it would seem to cut down on typical risk that rich people and bureaucrats don't like to have to deal with.