What have been the biggest black marks on Hockey?

BMC

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In addition to Eagleson, Danton/Frost, Sheldon Kennedy's abuse & various stick swinging incidents, don't forget the riot in Montreal after Clarence Campbell suspended Rocket Richard. That totally shocked people at the time. Today we probably wouldn't think anything of it.
 

Nalyd Psycho

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I don't think Slapshot belongs in this conversation. And the bolded statement is inaccurate, in my opinion. These stereotypes grew out of hockey, not Hollywood. Some minor pro and Junior A/B leagues are still a jungle today.

Fair enough, but the general public doesn't watch minor league hockey. Slapshot highlighst all that is mocked about hockey, bringing what is known as amateur in hockey circles to the mainstream.
 

Westguy13

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Fair enough, but the general public doesn't watch minor league hockey. Slapshot highlighst all that is mocked about hockey, bringing what is known as amateur in hockey circles to the mainstream.

Who outside the hockey community has even heard of Slapshot recently? Hell I've talked about it with people that were in their 20's when that came out and they didn't know what I was talking about. There are even alot of hockey fans that haven't even seen/heard about the movie.
 

MiamiScreamingEagles

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Brian Spencer and his dad:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Spencer

When he was called up to play with the Leafs, in what would be his first NHL game, he called his father Roy Spencer in British Columbia to tell him to watch the game that night on Hockey Night in Canada. Spencer was to be interviewed between periods of the game. However, a Vancouver Canucks game was aired instead of the Maple Leafs. Infuriated, Roy Spencer drove 135 kilometres to the closest CBC station in Prince George, BC. When he arrived he ordered them at gunpoint to broadcast the Maple Leafs game instead. The station complied but as Roy Spencer left the station he was confronted by the RCMP. After a brief stand-off Roy Spencer was shot and killed.

Brian Spencer's Death
After hockey, Spencer ran into some rough times. He submersed himself into a life of drugs and violence. In 1987 he was charged with kidnapping and murder and faced the death penalty. His family and friends, including ex-teammates gathered around him and tried to help Spencer through those rough times. The jury deliberated and ruled with a not guilty verdict in 1988 and Spencer vowed to change his life. Following 11 NHL seasons, 2 marriages and five children, he moved to Florida. Three months later he was robbed at gunpoint buying crack cocaine in Riviera Beach, FL, and Spencer was shot and killed.
 

MiamiScreamingEagles

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Mike Danton:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Danton

However, his career is probably over after, in a case which shocked the hockey world, he was arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit murder. On July 16, 2004, Danton pleaded guilty to attempting to hire a hitman, who was actually a police dispatcher, to murder David Frost, his agent. To this day, however, Frost denies that he was the target and a degree of mystery surrounds the case.
 

habitue*

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Mario snubbed the Penguins worse than Lindros snubbed the Nordiques. He refused to come down, shake hands and put on a jersey when he was picked #1 overall.

But Mario DID play with the Pens and saved the franchise... While Lindros (and his beloved parents) always said that Eric would NEVER, EVER play for Quebec.

Anyway, these are child play compared to NHL overall bad officiating, numerous expansions in non-hockey markets, and goonerism...
 

Westguy13

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numerous expansions in non-hockey markets, and goonerism...

Yeah moving teams to towns outside Canada that can actually support the team really makes the sport look bad. Guess we should pull the teams out of Tampa Bay, LA, Dallas, Pittsburgh.... You know to right the wrongs of the past and make the sport the shining example of greatness that it could have been if only played in Montreal and Toronto!!!

I think the over use of the phrases non-hockey or non-traditional markets have been the biggest blackmark on the sport. :)
 

habitue*

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Yeah moving teams to towns outside Canada that can actually support the team really makes the sport look bad. Guess we should pull the teams out of Tampa Bay, LA, Dallas, Pittsburgh.... You know to right the wrongs of the past and make the sport the shining example of greatness that it could have been if only played in Montreal and Toronto!!!

I think the over use of the phrases non-hockey or non-traditional markets have been the biggest blackmark on the sport. :)

What about Nashville, Miami, Anaheim, Phoenix, Raleigh-Durham ? Quebec and Winnipeg deserves a team way before any of these cities.
 

Westguy13

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What about Nashville, Miami, Anaheim, Phoenix, Raleigh-Durham ? Quebec and Winnipeg deserves a team way before any of these cities.

You missed the entire point. You are saying that the second biggest black mark on hockey in history (above things like the Bert-Moore incident, the Nagano incident, Danton and Lindros incidents, the lockout) is that teams moved because they were failing to make money? Yeah that makes our sport look terrible I'm sure thats exactly why people around the world think poorly of hockey and it's players. Without those moves hockey wouldn't have spread to many parts of the US and there would be even less fans and even more ignorance towards the sport.
 

Westguy13

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To tell you the truth the biggest blackmarks on hockey is how it's perceived in the media. I just got done watching a comercial for the greatest fights, brawls, and biggest injury causeing plays in the history of hockey. We are in the middle of the playoffs some of the best hockey you will see and I've seen more comercials for the violence in the game then anything relating to what makes the sport great. That is the biggest black mark on our sport. It's hard to remove the stigma of a barbaric talentless sport when all that is given to the general public is a small portion of the sport outside the context. Thats the sad reality.
 

Wetcoaster

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Maurice Richard attempting to murder a referee
Did not happen.

Richard broke two or three sticks over the head and body over an opposing player ( Bruin Hal Laycoe). He only cold-cocked linesman Cliff Thomson while trying to break free to get at Laycoe again.

As far as a balck mark it has also been argued this was seminal moment for Quebec nationalism.

The Richard Riot has taken on a significance greater than a mere sports riot in the fifty years since it happened. The sight of French Quebeckers rioting in defense of a Quebecois cultural icon like Richard has led many commentators to believe that it was a significant factor in Quebec's Quiet Revolution of the 1960s.
http://www.civilization.ca/media/docs/fsrck01e.html
 

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it's a percieved black mark on the NHL, not hockey.

ffs people.
I don't see it much in college hockey.

In junior I notice it whenever the topic of capping the number of American players comes up despite each league having American teams.

International, whenever the "Our game" autofellatio gets going.
 

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