News Article: Shifting NHL culture knocks enforcers down for the count

[cat400]

Interesting read in today's Globe and Mail newspaper re the decline of the NHL enforcer.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/spor...enforcers-down-for-the-count/article23570987/

Click to read more...

 

[Replicator]

Interesting read in today's Globe and Mail newspaper re the decline of the NHL enforcer.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/spor...enforcers-down-for-the-count/article23570987/

A good read. Interesting to hear some of Sestito, McGrattan & Kassian's takes on their situations. I find the evolution of the enforcer role to be fascinating.

However, I am confused at how Don Cherry gets blamed (credited?) for the creation of the "Broad Street Bullies" as a reaction to the "Big Bad Bruins". It seems to me that Philly established itself a few years earlier than Cherry's building of the 1975 Bruins roster. Philly was thugging it up as early as 1972 (when Dave Schultz started playing regular minutes and racking up huge PIM).

My hockey memories of that era are not very strong (outside of a few key Bruins highlights) as I was rather young, so I am willing to consider the possibility of being wrong here, but that seems like a huge distortion of the topic.

Also jarring were Bernstein's horrible dinosaur metaphors (Snuffleupagus? - the slow, gentle Muppet that everyone thought was imaginary? What a wonderful enforcer archetype that would make. Slightly better was using Tyrannosaurus - known for its tiny, ineffectual arms). It makes me less interested in reading his book.

 

[Shaun]

staged fights needed to go but enforcing didn't. wait until the game is all stick work like college hockey.

 

[kytem2]

However, I am confused at how Don Cherry gets blamed (credited?) for the creation of the "Broad Street Bullies" as a reaction to the "Big Bad Bruins".

That's not what the article says though.

 

[stungun]

good read. seems pretty spot as skill and speed are the directions most franchises are heading. nhl is going to have a tough time not paying up like the nfl me thinks but who knows where that is going to go. one qoute from matt kassian i found odd was when he states "I didn’t have time to renegotiate my contract." never heard of any nhl player in this modern era at least who was allowed by the nhlpa to do that? sure this is an error.

 

[Replicator]

That's not what the article says though.

I stand corrected. The juxstaposition of the 2 references strongly implies that it was the Bruins that pushed the Flyers around, but actually does not say that. It's just poor paragraph structure.

 

[kytem2]

Cherry don’t even belong in the same conversation as Philly when it comes to gooning it up.

PIM ranks under Cherry:

1974-75 6th (even behind Montreal)
1975-76 6th
1976-77 9th
1977-78 7th
1978-79 6th

PIM ranks for Philly:

1971-72 1st
1972-73 1st
1973-74 1st
1974-75 1st
1975-76 1st
1976-77 1st
1977-78 1st
1978-79 1st
1979-80 1st

 

[Alberta_OReilly_Fan]

There will always be support for letting guys like gordie howe and terry oreilly and milan lucic fight when the game situation calls for a fight. The appetite for watching guys like john scott and dave semenko and even shawn thornton be employed to strictly be fighters only is now done.

My solution for this is for a list to be posted in the lockerroom before a game and if your average icetime is in the top 2/3 of players dressed for your team than you can fight without killer penalties/suspensions/fines

But if you are bottom 1/3 for average icetime you better be damn sure the review board will agree your decesion to fight was 100% necessary or you and your team are going to pay through the nose.

Fights between one teams star player and the other teams star player have always been something most hockey fans love and would welcome more of.

 

[BobbyAwe]

Interesting read in today's Globe and Mail newspaper re the decline of the NHL enforcer.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/spor...enforcers-down-for-the-count/article23570987/

Then we're in good shape as far as that goes?

 

[KrejciMVP]

I miss the days when the Bruins would fight. I love line brawls and staged fights. The more fights the better.

 

[ODAAT]

staged fights needed to go but enforcing didn't. wait until the game is all stick work like college hockey.

it already is

 

[BNHL]

I miss the days when the Bruins would fight. I love line brawls and staged fights. The more fights the better.

You must be young?

 

[BNHL]

Gotta be some Wendel Clarks,Tocchets,O'Reillys out there somewhere.

 

[Fierce1]

Sure wish we had the horrible goon Shawn Thornton last night. He brought a lot of energy and physicality to the table.

 

[BNHL]

Sure wish we had the horrible goon Shawn Thornton last night. He brought a lot of energy and physicality to the table.

Too much up and down in his aging game.

 

[Fierce1]

Too much up and down in his aging game.

Last night he was up but I agree with you, we need a younger version of Thornton.

 

[Cid]

I miss the days when the Bruins would fight. I love line brawls and staged fights. The more fights the better.

I think a big part of the Bruin's struggles this year is exactly what this article talks about, the changing of the game. Problem is, we didn't play an enforcer type game, yet we changed anyways.

The Bruin's we've all grown to love over the past several seasons, the one's that won a cup in 2011 and have competed hard finishing first just last season and making the final only 2 years ago, are pretty much gone now.

These Bruins may not have had the BIGGEST or most BADASS fighters in the league, but we had willing combatants who would play with snarl and would stick up for each other. With guys like Thornton, Lucic, Chara, Horton, Iginla, McQuaid, Boychuk, Ference, Campbell all ready to go at the drop of a dime or first sign of other teams taking liberties with our players, our players would rally around this type of play and their on ice performance would get a sudden jolt of adrenaline and a much needed offensive boost going forward. We cared. They gave a damn about each other. They defended each other. They played hard for each other and that compete factor saw them win and win a lot.

Ever since the loss to Montreal last season, these players have quit. Our management went in a different direction to keep up with the changing landscape of the NHL. You lose Thornton, Boychuk and Iginla in one foul swoop of an off season. Your GM and coach preach of becoming a less physical and more finesse team. Sadly the rest of our roster lacks the skill or speed to play this kind of game. In addition the remaining hard nosed, "tough guy" players we have see their game change completely with the philosophy of the team. Lucic is a former shell of himself. Chara is nowhere to be seen in scrums. McQuaid tries but his efforts go unnoticed. We watch every night as our few young players with talent get pushed around (Spooner last night) while nothing is said or done by anyone (give Marchand credit for trying from time to time).

The days of the enforcer may be over, but the Bruin's were never an enforcer team over the past 7-8 years. We were a tough team with players who could play and fight. We were the ideal combination of both aspects of the game and we could beat opponents on the scoreboard and literally. We played what we coined as "Bruins hockey". This worked for many years. For some reason management thought it was time to mold our team around the likes of Montreal & Detroit, and find success with skill and finesse and win tight games in OT and the skill competition known as a shootout. We've all seen how that has worked for us.

As hard as I am on the coaching (which has been all but brutal this year) the management of this team has been atrocious. They took a winning formula, poured it down the drain and have now taken some milk, salt, honey, vodka and coconut water, mixed it all together, added some ice and hoped this new magic potion would make us a winner again. Unfortunately our new on ice product, looks terrible, has no consistency, burns at times and is absolutely dreadful to watch. there is no kick, no punch, no snarl and half the players look drunk.

A changing NHL landscape has seen finesse and skilled teams flourish, but there is still a place in this game for big timely hits, for sticking up for a teammate, and for playing with a chip on your shoulder. Sadly our Bruins cannot and have not played with either this season and it's why we will soon see ourselves on the outside looking in.

 

[Morris Wanchuk]

Playoff hockey will always be playoff hockey (i hope).

But.. the change is scheduling (play every team twice) and the overall lack of fighting, staged or otherwise, has really had me disinterested in the regular season. I see my fandom continuing to wain given the trends. Its just not the sport i grew up with. Too many games bring little entertainment to the table.

 

[Dr Quincy]

staged fights needed to go but enforcing didn't. wait until the game is all stick work like college hockey.

Except there is no empirical data that even suggests that "enforcing" stops anything.

 

[Dr Quincy]

There will always be support for letting guys like gordie howe and terry oreilly and milan lucic fight when the game situation calls for a fight. The appetite for watching guys like john scott and dave semenko and even shawn thornton be employed to strictly be fighters only is now done.

My solution for this is for a list to be posted in the lockerroom before a game and if your average icetime is in the top 2/3 of players dressed for your team than you can fight without killer penalties/suspensions/fines

But if you are bottom 1/3 for average icetime you better be damn sure the review board will agree your decesion to fight was 100% necessary or you and your team are going to pay through the nose.

Fights between one teams star player and the other teams star player have always been something most hockey fans love and would welcome more of.

Nothing personal, but I find that idea impractical and frankly ridiculous. Either fighting in hockey is ok or it isn't. To restrict it to some players and disallow it for others makes zero sense to me.

Look, fighting, even the spontaneous kind will be gone some day. It's going to happen. You can argue whether that is good or bad, but if you want to continue to see a professional hockey league then you will have to live with the evolved version of it.

 

[eyetest is useless]

the bruins weren't a very pugilistic hockey team last season. They were pretty european dare i say

and the 13/14 team was much better than the 10/11 one. The great playoff randomizer doesn't change that.

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

Cherry don’t even belong in the same conversation as Philly when it comes to gooning it up.

PIM ranks under Cherry:

1974-75 6th (even behind Montreal)
1975-76 6th
1976-77 9th
1977-78 7th
1978-79 6th

PIM ranks for Philly:

1971-72 1st
1972-73 1st
1973-74 1st
1974-75 1st
1975-76 1st
1976-77 1st
1977-78 1st
1978-79 1st
1979-80 1st

Yes, the Big Bad Bruins days of intimidation started before Philly and before Cherry.

Might make a better case that Harry Sinden started the trend of goonery.

 

[LouJersey]

This is EASILY the most boring season of hockey I have ever witnessed across the board. You think I stay up to watch Calgary vs Vancouver anymore ? The product sucks. One out of five games are exciting .

 

[Rubber Biscuit]

This is EASILY the most boring season of hockey I have ever witnessed across the board. You think I stay up to watch Calgary vs Vancouver anymore ? The product sucks. One out of five games are exciting .

I wonder how much of that is the game simply changing away from the fighting and the emotion and how much of it is guys saying "82 games is too much to go balls to the wall only to be burnt out in May."

I still think that's a part of what happened to the Bruins this year.

 

[Southern Gentleman B]

I've already decided this is my last year of NHL Center Ice on DirecTV. It has been discussed before on this forum, but the Feb. 2012 game with Vancouver was the game I saw the B's neutered. It seems our players have had a hard time adjusting to Bettman ice hockey, confusion and doubt instead of playing without thinking too much. A poster above mentioned how dull the game has become and I agree. NHL league office has a flawed business model imo if they think eliminating fighting will bring out fans in Phoenix and Miami. Ice hockey is mostly a regional sport and no amount of tinkering with the rules will change that.