txpd
Registered User
Its a league more and more dominated by hockey players that come from a non fighting background and less and less populated by Canadians.
The decline in fighting can't be completely attributed to players being cognizant of the risks of repeated head injuries that ultimately inform their decision not to fight. It can be attributed to the league telling refs to break up any altercations whenever possible, and hold a short leash on altercations that you feel will cool the demeanor of the game and prevent something nastier. The players know the risks, but it's the actions being taken by the league right now that are attributing to the decline in fighting.
Everything else aside, it's the league that doesn't want fighting, not the players. The decline isn't "natural", it's being forced by a league terrified of financial repercussions (lawsuits, loss of corporate sponsorships, etc).
This is a lot of it, i think.Not sure if anyone talks about this, but hockey has become a more middle to upper middle class endeavour in Canada. That doesn't mean those kids won't fight though I suspect those kids are generally not as rough and tumble as the farm boy players of past generations. Fighting is often frowned upon by those parents and they certainly don't want their kids doing it. Even though my son plays in a small town and some of those kids would be inclined to fight, the significant majority simply don't have that level of aggression or desire to engage in bare knuckle brawling. In other words, I think fighting is going to continue to go down in frequency due to attitudinal changes of those who play.
It makes me sad, I was at a few Giants games when i was like 14 (15 years ago) and i remember the stands being filled with energy. I went last year and you could hear a rat piss on cotton.
Yep, agreed. I leave mine at home, and especially at concerts.Everyone's on their phones nowadays. Half the people at sports games don't pay attention to the actual game, which is really sad.
Proabley not, considering how people were freaking out about Bortuzzo last night. No suspension needed for that you *****es, 2 mins max.
Fighting is just completely ineffective anyway now. With helmets and visors the main risk is a hand injury. The only thing that could make a comeback as any kind of violent deterrent is other forms of dirty retribution plays. Sticks, charging, hits from behind, things that intentionally target a player in other ways. So far that hasn't really happened much. But if anything, that's the way to go now. Until the NHL steps up its game in terms of penalties and suspensions.
Simply put..
no
Hell part of HF gets up in arms when two players make contact at all
I wouldn't be surprised if we see a few teams with 0 fighting majors at the end of the year, and that makes me sad.
Well, Toronto used like all of their fighting majors in one game last year. So yeah, them not getting a fighting major, may indeed happen.Toronto has 0 fighting majors. They are so far the only team without one. So even if you meant by the end of the calender year rather than the end of the season, what you say would make you sad wont happen.
Well, Toronto used like all of their fighting majors in one game last year. So yeah, them not getting a fighting major, may indeed happen.