NHL Thread: 2021-2022 Season

[Acajack]

The QMJHL's teams will be discussing a total ban on fighting over the next few days.

[Berklon]

Originally Posted by Acajack

The QMJHL's teams will be discussing a total ban on fighting over the next few days.

And all hockey leagues should follow their lead.

[Coldrsx]

A big point for the Oil and hard fought game.

[Calgarian]

As long as the fighting ban doesn't make Hockey go full Soccer with the diving and antics, I'm interested to see how it goes.

[ExcaliburKid]

Originally Posted by Berklon

And all hockey leagues should follow their lead.

#eyeroll
Do not ban fighting, ever. It has a place in the game just like body contact.

If a jumior league wants to punish fighting with an automatic game ejection, maybe, but an outright ban is just stupid.
The players need to be able to police themselves. Look at the recent Kassian/Tkachuk situation, both guys had it out for each other, Kassian got his fight and now it's done.

If you ban fighting, all you'll get is a bunch of dangerous hits and stickwork to compensate for the lack of other outlets to get ones frustrations out. Hockey is a highly emotional game and fighting will always be a part of it. It doesn't have to be the identity of the game, nobody is signing 6'6" 280lb heavyweights simply to fight any longer.

Let's face it, nobody goes to a hockey game expecting or wanting to see a fight, but sometimes the hatred and emotion on the ice is so intense that a fight can break out and the majority of the people in attendance can appreciate the competitiveness of both teams and it makes the fan experience better. The crowd becomes more engaged, the game ramps up to a different level and people talk about it on social media, blogs, sports radio, etc. As much as people lament fighting, the attention it brings (positive or negative) to the game can't be denied

[Berklon]

Originally Posted by ExcaliburKid

#eyeroll
Do not ban fighting, ever. It has a place in the game just like body contact.

If a jumior league wants to punish fighting with an automatic game ejection, maybe, but an outright ban is just stupid.
The players need to be able to police themselves. Look at the recent Kassian/Tkachuk situation, both guys had it out for each other, Kassian got his fight and now it's done.

If you ban fighting, all you'll get is a bunch of dangerous hits and stickwork to compensate for the lack of other outlets to get ones frustrations out. Hockey is a highly emotional game and fighting will always be a part of it. It doesn't have to be the identity of the game, nobody is signing 6'6" 280lb heavyweights simply to fight any longer.

Let's face it, nobody goes to a hockey game expecting or wanting to see a fight, but sometimes the hatred and emotion on the ice is so intense that a fight can break out and the majority of the people in attendance can appreciate the competitiveness of both teams and it makes the fan experience better. The crowd becomes more engaged, the game ramps up to a different level and people talk about it on social media, blogs, sports radio, etc. As much as people lament fighting, the attention it brings (positive or negative) to the game can't be denied

Total nonsense.

If fighting is part of the game, then why does the clock stop when there's a fight? Checking is part of the game, fighting is not.

Football is a bigger contact game than hockey and they don't allow fighting - yet they've cracked down on the amount of illegal hits, etc. The emotion factor happens in every sport - it's an excuse to allow fighting in hockey when other sports have banned it.

So let me get this straight... if I elbow another player to the head, or push them head-first into the boards, or cross-check them in the head - I can get suspended because they're blatant head-shots which can result in concussions. But it's perfectly fine to have two players stop the game in order to try to inflict concussions on each other? Anyone who punches another player in the head deserves a suspension - just like any other head-shot.

[suburbanite]

Originally Posted by Berklon

So let me get this straight... if I elbow another player to the head, or push them head-first into the boards, or cross-check them in the head - I can get suspended because they're blatant head-shots which can result in concussions. But it's perfectly fine to have two players stop the game in order to try to inflict concussions on each other? Anyone who punches another player in the head deserves a suspension - just like any other head-shot.

A head shot is a one-sided act with more dangerous implications. No players line up at the faceoff circle and say "hey I'm going to skate through the neutral zone and you're going to meet me there and take my head off with an elbow"

Fighting is primarily a mutual agreement where both players have decided on the risks and agreed to engage each other. Not one player dangerously engaging another without consent.

[Calgarian]

Originally Posted by ExcaliburKid

#eyeroll
Do not ban fighting, ever. It has a place in the game just like body contact.

If a jumior league wants to punish fighting with an automatic game ejection, maybe, but an outright ban is just stupid.
The players need to be able to police themselves. Look at the recent Kassian/Tkachuk situation, both guys had it out for each other, Kassian got his fight and now it's done.

If you ban fighting, all you'll get is a bunch of dangerous hits and stickwork to compensate for the lack of other outlets to get ones frustrations out. Hockey is a highly emotional game and fighting will always be a part of it. It doesn't have to be the identity of the game, nobody is signing 6'6" 280lb heavyweights simply to fight any longer.

Let's face it, nobody goes to a hockey game expecting or wanting to see a fight, but sometimes the hatred and emotion on the ice is so intense that a fight can break out and the majority of the people in attendance can appreciate the competitiveness of both teams and it makes the fan experience better. The crowd becomes more engaged, the game ramps up to a different level and people talk about it on social media, blogs, sports radio, etc. As much as people lament fighting, the attention it brings (positive or negative) to the game can't be denied

Agreed on all accounts!

[ExcaliburKid]

Originally Posted by Berklon

Total nonsense.

If fighting is part of the game, then why does the clock stop when there's a fight? Checking is part of the game, fighting is not.

Football is a bigger contact game than hockey and they don't allow fighting - yet they've cracked down on the amount of illegal hits, etc. The emotion factor happens in every sport - it's an excuse to allow fighting in hockey when other sports have banned it.

So let me get this straight... if I elbow another player to the head, or push them head-first into the boards, or cross-check them in the head - I can get suspended because they're blatant head-shots which can result in concussions. But it's perfectly fine to have two players stop the game in order to try to inflict concussions on each other? Anyone who punches another player in the head deserves a suspension - just like any other head-shot.

The clock stops because the referees blow the play down when a fight starts. If the play kept going while a fight was happening, the risk of the fighters getting injured due to the ongoing play around them would be too great

Professional football has cracked down on helmet to helmet hits which have proven, devastating effects. Fights happen in all sports, just much less often. Hockey is unique in that the play is always fluid. Unless there's a whistle, the players are in almost constant physical interaction with each other which can in turn elevate tempers and emotions. Football plays last 15-30 seconds and then there's a considerable amount of time for the players to cool down between plays. It's apples to oranges

The fact that you equate fighting in hockey to targeted head shots tells me one of two things: 1. you've never played hockey at a competitive level or 2. you can't identify the difference between malicious body contact and mutually agreed combat

Nobody is getting into a hockey fight without knowing the risks involved and to suggest in this current era of hockey, that men who play professionally for a living are out to "inflict concussions on each other" is the real nonsense and complete misinformation

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by Calgarian

As long as the fighting ban doesn't make Hockey go full Soccer with the diving and antics, I'm interested to see how it goes.

Hockey already has diving like any other sport.

Love the idea of getting fighting out of the sport. If people want to watch fights they can tune into MMA.

The QMJHL delayed their vote until August. Needs 2/3s of teams to approve.

[ExcaliburKid]

Originally Posted by JHikka

Hockey already has diving like any other sport.

Love the idea of getting fighting out of the sport. If people want to watch fights they can tune into MMA.

The QMJHL delayed their vote until August. Needs 2/3s of teams to approve.

Nobody watches hockey for the fighting. This isn't the 70's where people go to watch a fight and a hockey game breaks out

I'm not surprised at all that the Q doesn't have 2/3 support for this, not one bit

[esquire]

Fighting is only "part of the game" because it's tolerated, full stop. The argument that it's somehow necessary falls apart completely as soon as you look at football, which is also a very physical and emotional game but surprise, it does not tolerate fighting. Does anyone for a moment think that what would really improve football is having play come to a stop twice a game while a receiver and DB duke it out?

I would be happy to see fighting bounced from junior hockey... I have gotten into the new WHL team in town and the hockey is great, but I cringe when I see 17 year olds throwing punches at each other. Fortunately it doesn't happen too often.

[Calgarian]

Originally Posted by JHikka

Hockey already has diving like any other sport.

Love the idea of getting fighting out of the sport. If people want to watch fights they can tune into MMA.

The QMJHL delayed their vote until August. Needs 2/3s of teams to approve.

Sure there's diving but it's not even remotely on the level you get with Soccer and fighting is a part of that.

[Denscity]

The Great Canadian NHL Standings as of this morning:

Rank Team GP Points

13 Toronto 62 72
14 Edmonton 60 71
15 Vancouver 60 70
17 Winnipeg 62 69
18 Calgary 61 68
22 Montreal 63 64
29 Ottawa 61 53

[esquire]

Big test coming up for the Jets down the stretch, except for two games vs. Buffalo it's a very tough schedule for the next month. Philly tomorrow and Washington twice next week for starters.

[Calgarian]

Bruins in town tonight, should be a good game, wonder if the Flames will have to wear their away jerseys again to fool themselves into thinking this is a road game lol.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by Calgarian

Sure there's diving but it's not even remotely on the level you get with Soccer and fighting is a part of that.

It would probably be best if we didn't make blanket statements like this about any sports really because hockey does not do well under those sorts of circumstances.

Originally Posted by ExcaliburKid

Nobody watches hockey for the fighting.

There's still a lot of old stock "fans" that watch purely for the hitting and fighting. It's certainly not what it once was going back to the 90s but that hockey is fighting, all-other-sports-are-somehow-inferior-solely-because-of-this mentality amongst some definitely still exists. Look up a hockey fights video on twitter and a lot of comments will glean light on the mentality of some of these people.

[suburbanite]

If you're still watching hockey for the fighting you're going to be pretty bored the other 99% of the time given they only occur about once every five games now.

Fighting is naturally evolving itself out of the game. Most of the injuries from fighting were long-term concussion based from players who's only job it was to fight and get hammered in the head every game. It was getting stupid around 2010-2011 when you would have one good player make a questionable play on another, and then the two fourth line grinders who weren't even on the ice at the time go out and fight because of it. No team carries a dedicated bruiser anymore, and a fight should be a rare occurrence reserved for those actually involved. I think the Ktachuk-Kassian saga was a perfect example of how it can still have a place in the game, albeit in a smaller and safer role.

The amount of injuries have occurred from a single fight, ie. not long-term repeated face bashing by specific players, is minuscule compared to boarding, knee-on-knees, slashing to the hands, etc.

[suburbanite]

Lol this leafs team is pathetic. Been boycotting watching the games but tuned in to see the emergency backup goalie that they cant even get a shot on.

[rrskylar]

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