Any hockey fans here? (1 Viewer)

[Jeff Gatie]

But eventually the clutchers and grabbers would be phased out of the game because their skills would no longer be needed. Case in point, a high stick used to be called a "cowards penalty" because anyone who used a stick in the face instead of dropping the gloves was a coward. Give a high stick, get a beating. Anyone who used the stick a lot either had to back it up or have a few goons around him (see Bobby Clarke). So the effect was you saw very, very few high sticks. Now, with helmets, shields and the instigator rule, you see 2-3 high sticks a game. If more leeway was given for someone to do a "Cam on Ulfie" or "Cam on Claude" or "Thornton on Zhitnik" whenever the draping got too much, the draping would cease and desist, just like the old high stick. Clutching and grabbing would require the ability to take and/or give a beating and most of the neutral zone cloggers are not of the pugilistic type.

P.S. Another case in point. The 70's Black Hawks had a pest by the name of Keith Magnuson (God rest his soul). For some reason he was always assigned to cover Derek Sanderson. It got to be that Derek wouldn't even wait until he draped himself over him, he'd just beat the Maggot up his first shift on the ice every time they played the Hawks. He figured he'd have to get his skating room sometime during the game, might as well have it for 55 minutes, rather than less. Magnuson wasn't a bad fighter, but for some reason Turk used to annihilate him every time.

 

[Ray Gutnick]

You can tell hockey's in a bad state when this forum discussion doesn't have any Canadian responses :frowning:

 

[Richard Travale]

We're too busy watching the World Championships on TSN

 

[Christ Reynolds]

that is exactly my point, in my post i phrased it as a rhetorical question to jeff, i wasnt actually suggesting that players do that.

CJ

 

[PaulP]

Doesn't it start tomorrow? Or is TSN showing some exhibition games? I ordered the package online on Mediazone.com and will be watching all the games live. With a billion channels on Dish Network, they can't see fit to have broadcasts at least of the TSN games, like they do during the season for their NHL Center Ice package.

 

[Ross Waite]

It appears that you can watch the games live via online net-broadcast by going to the official web site (www.ihwc.net). They are charging a fee, but at least it is a way for us "broadcast challenged" hockey nuts to see some of the games.

It should be a pretty good tournament.

[Mods...if having the URL for the tournament is against rules, please forgive and remove the link.]

 

[Richard Travale]

yeah, they do start today but I was just kind of sticking it to you American's who finally for the first time ever have to envy The Canadian's TV schedule.

 

[PaulP]

Why, is Canadian TV generally bad? When Dish Network would show some hockey from Canadian channels I'd see the commercials for shows and series, and always thought they looked neat. Too bad Dish doesn't offer a Canadian package, that would be cool.

 

[Kevin Hewell]

My friends a I call that "dink ball" because of the aluminum bats.

Man, I hate aluminum bats.

*dink*

 

[Lew Crippen]

So I'm watching TSN (over Sky--don't ask, it's a long story) and the under-18 tourney comes on (a game just before the semifinals).

I comment to my wife who comes in the room, "the Canadians are so desperate for hockey that they will watch anything".

Her reply: "They aren't the only ones".

 

[Richard Travale]

Canadian TV isn't bad generally...the CRTC on the other hand, is. They have policies in place so that Canadians are deprived of such HDTV joys as HD-NET etc.

That is an entirely different thread though.

One thing is that we do get to watch hockey on CBC and TSN(when there's a season of course) which is far more enjoyable than watching it on any of the American networks.

 

[DanHaya]

Being a Lightning season ticket holder, it is killing me that my team wasn't able to defend its Stanley Cup title this year. We'd all be watching 2nd and 3rd round playoff games right now!

I really wish that the NHL would put out complete broadcasts of last year's finals and some other classic games on DVD to whet our appetite. While I enjoy the rebroadcast of game 7 on the Lightning championship DVD, it's not complete and I'd like to have the rest of the series.

 

[Sami Kallio]

Then he would come back and chop his head off with his stick. Yeah, that works.

 

[Jeff Gatie]

Stick infractions have increased, not decreased since the instigator rule was put into effect. Hockey is a sport that traditionally policed itself, with stick infractions carrying the swiftest response. I have been watching hockey for about 35 years and I have never seen a slash to the head as the repercussion for a fight. I have seen many slashes by persons who would probably think twice about slashing someone if the penalty for beating them up did not carry an extra 2-10 minutes or a possible game misconduct.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

CBC has the best TV hockey coverage. I do not watch the network for anything else, so I cannot comment on their other programming.

There is no way a U.S. network was going to pick up the World Championships. TV ratings for the NHL in the U.S. were horrible before the lockout, so there is no reason to expect them to get better with no NHL hockey being played in almost a year. It also looks like ESPN may bail on their contract with the NHL once the lockout is over. ESPN is spending a boatload of money on Monday Night Football, and will be unwilling to give the NHL $60 million for programming that gets worse ratings than poker.

As for the sport itself, I got my hockey fix this year by attending some Plymouth Whaler games. They play in the Ontario Hockey League (juniors), the arena is five minutes from my house, and tickets are very inexpensive.

As for the NHL, there do need to be some changes whenever the league comes back. I've been an NHL fan for 35 years, and have never been a fan of the fighting (I'm in the minority for longtime fans). However, I can live with the fighting -- that's when I take my bathroom breaks . The league, though, could easily get rid of the clutching/grabbing if they just had the refs call the damn penalties. The players would adjust quickly, and there are four officials on the ice, so they can certainly see almost all the infractions. Also, the two-line offsides (i.e. redline) pass needs to be eliminated -- that would also open up the neutral zone. Finally, reinstitute the tag-up offsides (as others have mentioned).

 

[Sami Kallio]

It would also open up the game for bullies more. Not everyone is as talented cheapshot as Bobby Clarke. I'd rather watch a superstar play with healthy ankles than the BSB.

There are ways to get even without fighting the guy and if that's where you would succeed better then go for it. It's not about being a coward, it's about survival (and getting even). I have never shyed away from the rought stuff, and I have seen it plenty in my younger days. You just need to make sure you let them know you're the wrong guy to mess with. The more you get hurt the more you hurt them the next time. The next time they come after you, hurt them even more.

 

[Sami Kallio]

There is one solution that would make the game much, much better and more enjoyable. International size rink.

 

[Sami Kallio]

I only said it would make the game much much better, not that it would happen. The Finnish and Swedish leagues are enjoyable to watch, even when the best players are in the NHL. The amount of goals isn't everything, there is much more to the game than scoring.

 

[Sami Kallio]

You don't see much trap in the Finnish league. What you see is the highly skilled players shining more. It's more about skill than grunt and that makes it more enjoyable to watch. More room to pass and create.

Then again, I was spoiled by the 80's KLM line with Fetisov and Kasatonov behind them. I don't think we will ever see beautiful hockey like that again.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Paul, I thought the exact same thing when the NHL added the fourth official (2nd referee) several years ago. There is no good reason why the two linesmen should not have equal authority to call penalties. Could you imagine the NFL or NBA working this way?

I do like Sami's suggestion of the larger ice surface to reduce the clutching/grabbing, too, but it will never happen for the reasons Paul listed. That's why I left it off my list of changes the NHL needs to make when they return to action.