Exactly.
For some perspective people should try strapping on tube skates and using a wood stick from the 70s. It took more strength to handle the puck and was more tiring. The reason guys from that era didn't stick handle like Patrick Kane wasn't simply because they were lazy out of shape beer leaguers.
Then take a turn in goal with leather pads that soaked up water like a sponge. Goalie equipment size was self limiting because it got so heavy.
Players today have better training and coaching from a young age, especially now that the NHL is a multi-billion dollar industry. But people still seem to underestimate how big of a role technology played.
Sometimes, I’d like to post something like this:
“There are so many people going on and on about OV and Crosby and how great they are. I’ve checked them out on YouTube and guess what? The only reason they look so good is because the game today is horrible!
My God, every second pass covers 2 lines and should be offside! What kind of idiot floaters don’t even know the rules of the game? Duh? It’s called the red line, not the green line!
Everyone gasping in freakin awe when Erik Karlsson launches a 150 foot pass — faceoff in your own zone, pal!
And did you see how many guys each team has on the bench today? LOL! 45 seconds and off is a joke! Real men play 60 Minutes because they can! At the very least I’d like to sit down with these guys and tell them about Phil Esposito and proper 5 minute shifts. Aren’t they embarrassed?
I don’t have any idea if Carey Price is or isn’t a good goalie because he’s always on his knees! You’d think his goalie coach would teach him to play within the rules, no? Get up, ya cheater!
And speaking of goalies, I saw good old Connor McDavid cut hard to the net the other night, almost right through the crease. He’d better hope Sprague Cleghorn didn’t see that because all the figure skating lessons in the world won’t save him from ol’ Cleg’s homicidal wrath! Don’t sleep on Odie either, ok? He snaps more than collarbones after a few brown pops.
Oh, and OV? Newsflash: hockey sticks are supposed to be made out of hand carved ironwood, so ditch the 385 gram composite aberration and hire a proper Micmaq craftsman, pal. One of those beauties will give whole new meaning to the term “one-timer.” Better order two, k?
Sid? Gordie Howe never wore a helmet and if he crashed head first into the boards he went to a hospital to have a proper hole drilled into his skull to relieve the pressure on his brain. Oh, and then he got back on the freakin ice instead of whining about dizzy spells and a lost prime. Got a cool nickname, Blinky, out of the deal. So ditch the lid and grow a set — you’re a hockey player, not a construction worker, so dress like one.”
But if I were to write something like the above, I’d never actually post it.
