When hockey fights were actual fights....

[CHGoalie27]

Last fight I saw was

I answered them Chuck. You just seem to prefer someone to grovel and apologize. The media and reporters/writers covering the game are of a different breed and aren't of yesteryear when the game was more entertaining. They are of the more shrinking violet types, more of a product of our society that we live in where we record everything on our phones and tattle-tale to everyone about it. They are over-analyzing everything, sort of what you seem to be doing on this thread, and I will say it again, it has contributed to a more sanitized version of the NHL. I "tripled down" on it. I can quadruple down if you want.

Funny thing is if it weren't for whoever was counting the number of shots hits and points, most of them would have to form opinions on something they'd have to pay attention to and analyze for themselves.

They'd end up looking like the "crazy" few who actually care to do that now. Usually the older crowd most younger people refer to as annoying know-nothing know-it-alls. Go figure.

Ex-goalies have been the worst offenders, especially when a goalie is getting shelled but holding his team up. THEN Valiquette, McLennan or even Weekes for example(forget the Milbury and Jones types. eesh.) will say how he needs to be better as if he could be.

Also, look at the greatest fighter polls hockeyfights.com made up and who they left off despite who unreasonably made it in the first place.

 

[Newsworthy]

Fighting being big in hockey was only true for a brief blip of time. 1970's 80s and some of the 90s. There weren't many majors/game prior to expansion. It just happens that current Gen X posters would have grown up during the spike in hockey fights. Baby boomers would have seen both, and known that both realities existed. Millennials mostly know today's hockey but might have an inkling of the 90s style.

Good post.

 

[RegDunlop]

I wanted to respond to about 15 excellent posts!

This sport has evolved into something totally different from what it was 50 years ago. The lock out, free agency, the union and mostly money ensures that it will stay that way.

Entertaining? Perhaps for some. Exciting? Sporadically. Intense and full of passion? Absolutely not. Not when compared to yesteryear. Only late in the playoffs does passion arrive. For those old enough to have watched the evolution of the sport would never EVER prefer this era over previous ones. The speed yes. The rest no.

And yes, that had as much to do with the inclusion of fighting as skating ability, shooting strength and accuracy, and fantastic hits. Fighting wasn't the be all end all if hockey, but it added immeasurably to the enjoyment and excitement, making the sport unique.

That all said - evolution IS inevitable and fighting can no longer be endorsed. Tolerated minimally for now but not for long I feel. The technology in equipment, knowledge of fitness and health make this impossible. These are simply super athletes in the prime of their lives moving faster and faster than there predecessors. Its too dangerous. And liability needs to be considered. But rivalries are the real shame as, as others have stated, there is none anymore. Its a love in.

As Paul Coffee (who would never be mistaken for a goon!) once said a little while back when told a story about players and asked if he ever went for coffee with a player of the opposition. "What? Never. We hated each other. I didnt have any 'buddies' outside my teammates".
THAT is the epitome of fotegone era's and what is missing in today's game.

 

[Smirnov2Chistov]

I wanted to respond to about 15 excellent posts!

This sport has evolved into something totally different from what it was 50 years ago. The lock out, free agency, the union and mostly money ensures that it will stay that way.

Entertaining? Perhaps for some. Exciting? Sporadically. Intense and full of passion? Absolutely not. Not when compared to yesteryear. Only late in the playoffs does passion arrive. For those old enough to have watched the evolution of the sport would never EVER prefer this era over previous ones. The speed yes. The rest no.

And yes, that had as much to do with the inclusion of fighting as skating ability, shooting strength and accuracy, and fantastic hits. Fighting wasn't the be all end all if hockey, but it added immeasurably to the enjoyment and excitement, making the sport unique.

That all said - evolution IS inevitable and fighting can no longer be endorsed. Tolerated minimally for now but not for long I feel. The technology in equipment, knowledge of fitness and health make this impossible. These are simply super athletes in the prime of their lives moving faster and faster than there predecessors. Its too dangerous. And liability needs to be considered. But rivalries are the real shame as, as others have stated, there is none anymore. Its a love in.

As Paul Coffee (who would never be mistaken for a goon!) once said a little while back when told a story about players and asked if he ever went for coffee with a player of the opposition. "What? Never. We hated each other. I didnt have any 'buddies' outside my teammates".
THAT is the epitome of fotegone era's and what is missing in today's game.

Exactly.

If you look at the history of the game, players in the 60's through the 90's (especially with the Flyers coming in), those guys HATED each other with a passion. Players like Dave Schultz wouldn't be caught hanging out with guys that the battled against. With me, the game has evolved so you have to grow with it. The line-brawls of the 60's-90's era is long gone. Your teammates were your family and brotherhood, if they were messed with, you had your security team handle it.

I just feel like people who love old-time hockey claim that Bettman hates fighting or is taking it out of the game, when he is not.

 

[RegDunlop]

Exactly.

If you look at the history of the game, players in the 60's through the 90's (especially with the Flyers coming in), those guys HATED each other with a passion. Players like Dave Schultz wouldn't be caught hanging out with guys that the battled against. With me, the game has evolved so you have to grow with it. The line-brawls of the 60's-90's era is long gone. Your teammates were your family and brotherhood, if they were messed with, you had your security team handle it.

I just feel like people who love old-time hockey claim that Bettman hates fighting or is taking it out of the game, when he is not.

Well said.
No one disputes the excitement a fight brings. But hands are simply tied (no pun intended) in this day and age.

 

[Smirnov2Chistov]

Well said.
No one disputes the excitement a fight brings. But hands are simply tied (no pun intended) in this day and age.

Will the game ever go back to that? Maybe. It’s hard to say. The game is changing it seems like every ten years or so.

You had the physicality of the 70’s, high scoring era of the 80’s, the defensive trap/clutch and grab game of the 90’s and 00’s. From 2010s on, it seems like speed and the two-way game is shining through.

 

[ChuckLefley]

Exactly.

If you look at the history of the game, players in the 60's through the 90's (especially with the Flyers coming in), those guys HATED each other with a passion. Players like Dave Schultz wouldn't be caught hanging out with guys that the battled against. With me, the game has evolved so you have to grow with it. The line-brawls of the 60's-90's era is long gone. Your teammates were your family and brotherhood, if they were messed with, you had your security team handle it.

I just feel like people who love old-time hockey claim that Bettman hates fighting or is taking it out of the game, when he is not.

You also have to add that there was no real free agency, so guys would play with one team for most, if not all, of their career and never know or think about going to another team.

 

[maacoshark]

Great video. Always enjoyed seeing Gillies and Oreilly go.