Burke decries the death of the NHL fighter

[kam]

Originally Posted by I_am_Belak_2

Sigh. I'm not mentioning it again.

About him not being the coach? I know that but damn, he acts like nobody has any control over it.

[CBarnes]

It is nice to hear a GM like Burke speaking out against the hypocrites in the NHL office but at the same time if more teams management would throw a few goons out on the ice and offer to pay the fines and support them on the ice when they do their job of protecting the other players then the league might take notice that Shanny and his parade of nonsense is less effective in protecting players safety than an on ice police force. The League has always been rather unique in that it has always held players accountable for their actions and words ON THE ICE rather than through a bunch of meetings. Lets keep it that way.

[HordiBrusk29]

Originally Posted by kam

About him not being the coach? I know that but damn, he acts like nobody has any control over it.

They don't really. The fact of the matter is the NHL doesn't want the players to police the game. They want Brendan Shanahan to "police" the game by handing out suspensions and disciplining players. And sadly now a majority of the teams in the league also seem to want Shanahan to be their "enforcer" by "letting the league handle it" as opposed to taking matters into their own hands and truly policing the game the way it's supposed to be done.

Handing out ridiculous suspensions will cut down on some cheap shots and careless play. But it'll also decrease physicality and make players scared to initiate contact. And obviously that is not beneficial to the sport whatsoever.

What's even more sad is that many fans also seem to expect this and even appear to want it to happen rather than see their team stick up for one another. Just draw the penalty and take the PP opportunity. As pathetic as that really is, it can be effective.

[Fireball_IV]

What's happened this year is the worst thing that could happen to the NHL.
This is how it's going to play out... for years we've had non hockey fans complaining hockey is to violent. The NHL has worked hard to get rid of violence through suspensions and pushing the Orr type players out of the game.
Now with most teams playing without enforcers and in general players that fight, the players don't particularly respect each other.

To my point above, this year it seems like we have a new concussion every day. This is all over the media, I hear it on the news during lunch break at work and the non-hockey fans there lament on how much more violent the NHL has become because of the bloody fighters and "meat heads".

Do you see where this is going? The NHL is going to get significantly worse, we've taken out a lot of the hitting we love, we've pushed away the enforcers and reduced fighting and yet in the public eye the league looks as violent as ever with there being a renewed pressure to do something about it....

Not sure how much longer the game is going to be watchable, hell it's even debatable at this point.

[Cat Smasher]

Ok so it's true that the majority of them teams in the NHL do not dress an enforcer, and slowly more and more teams are taking this route. However, let's look at the teams currently in the playoffs, in the east.

This has to say something, even if guys like Shelley and Rosehill are not dressed all the time, most of the teams have SOMEONE who can at least handle the rough stuff on any given night if they have to, and low and behold, those teams are currently in the playoffs. With NJ and Washing tied really.

EAST
1. * NY Rangers 38 (Rupp, Prust)
2. * Boston 37 53 (Thornton, Lucic, McQuaid)
3. * Florida 40 48 (Barch)
4. Philadelphia 38 50 (Shelley, Rinaldo)
5. Ottawa 41 47 (Carkner, Neil, Konopka)
6. Pittsburgh 38 46 (Engellend, Asham)
7. Toronto 40 45 (haha, Rosehill on the bench, this doesn't count)
8. Washington 38 44 (Erskine)
9. New Jersey 39 44 (Boulton, Cam, Clarkson)
--------
10. Winnipeg 40 43 (nobody)
11. Buffalo 39 40 (nobody)
12. Tampa Bay 39 37 (nobody)
13. Montreal 40 37 (nobody)
14. NY Islanders 37 (nobody)
15. Carolina 41 33 (nobody)

People like Moen, McCormick, Downie, Glass, don't even count at all obviously).

The West doesn't matter because to make the playoffs in the east, you play more of the east.

So the argument that enforcers are becoming extinct is true, however it would appear you would need at least one, to get into the playoffs today, in the east.

How you like that spin?

[Killah_punk]

Originally Posted by Cat Smasher

Ok so it's true that the majority of them teams in the NHL do not dress an enforcer, and slowly more and more teams are taking this route. However, let's look at the teams currently in the playoffs, in the east.

This has to say something, even if guys like Shelley and Rosehill are not dressed all the time, most of the teams have SOMEONE who can at least handle the rough stuff on any given night if they have to, and low and behold, those teams are currently in the playoffs. With NJ and Washing tied really.

EAST
1. * NY Rangers 38 (Rupp, Prust)
2. * Boston 37 53 (Thornton, Lucic, McQuaid)
3. * Florida 40 48 (Barch)
4. Philadelphia 38 50 (Shelley, Rinaldo)
5. Ottawa 41 47 (Carkner, Neil, Konopka)
6. Pittsburgh 38 46 (Engellend, Asham)
7. Toronto 40 45 (haha, Rosehill on the bench, this doesn't count)
8. Washington 38 44 (Erskine)
9. New Jersey 39 44 (Boulton, Cam, Clarkson)
--------
10. Winnipeg 40 43 (nobody)
11. Buffalo 39 40 (nobody)
12. Tampa Bay 39 37 (nobody)
13. Montreal 40 37 (nobody)
14. NY Islanders 37 (nobody)
15. Carolina 41 33 (nobody)

People like Moen, McCormick, Downie, Glass, don't even count at all obviously).

The West doesn't matter because to make the playoffs in the east, you play more of the east.

So the argument that enforcers are becoming extinct is true, however it would appear you would need at least one, to get into the playoffs today, in the east.

How you like that spin?

If you count Prust, Clarkson, Rinaldo and McQuaid, then Thorburn, Glass and McCormick should count.

[Cat Smasher]

Originally Posted by Killah_punk

If you count Prust, Clarkson, Rinaldo and McQuaid, then Thorburn, Glass and McCormick should count.

Rinaldo shouldn't count, but the ones listed primarily can dance with heavies, Glass, McCormick, Clarkson, Konopka can't, but that is SECONDARY toughness. I think the point was missed completely. Those playoffs teams have someone who can fight a heavy , regularly if needed and or dress a heavy.