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Entertainment: fans want to see fights. it's one of the things that hockey has that no other sport has (besides boxing/UFC). it makes hockey unique and it often intensifies rivalries and puts fans in seats. Traditional: getting rid of fighting in hockey is like making american football 2 hand touch Protection: turtling rarely happens, and when it does it's seen as quite shameful. at least in pre-lockout hockey you usually had to answer for dirty plays one way or another. heavyweight bouts are more of a sideshow, but do bring in fans and thus money. a win in a fight often boosts the energy and attitude of a team as well, occasionally changing the course of a game. heavy suspensions for fighting is bad because it would change many dynamics of the game. i believe refs should return to their pre-lockout attitude of allowing enforcers to make dirty players "pay" thus curtailing many dirty plays. now the nhl is suspending players instead of letting enforcers do their jobs. as a result the number of dives r increasing because players kno they can get others suspended for long periods of time. if enforcers were allowed to perform their jobs, the only thing a dive would accomplish is maybe a pp, and the one not diving getting his butt kicked. personally i think they should allow enforcers to beat on divers. fighting is very much a sideshow but also very functional

Gentlemen, you can't fight in here, this is the fight thread!

Why not instead of signing Brunnstrom, we just give Nyquist the spot? Brunner looked good his first couple games then started to resemble Hudler, who looked like garbage. Start Gus on the 3rd line and then let him dangle from the 2nd line. This is Americuh and we speak American, not Mexican or Scandinavia or what ever the hell the people in Twilight speak! Nascar!!!!!

I agree with this. I love hockey and am the first to admit I may not be "savvy" with the rules and regulations, etc, but Crosby is just too high maintenance drama queen. I Firmly believe that those hits to him were not as bad as they make out. The guy played still after the 1st one, and then went on to another game. I don't understand, if the concussion was soooo bad, why would they even take a chance to LET him play. He should have been a scratch and stay out of the games a few days to make sure he was really OK but they had no worries. I also think that Crosby was pissed off AND embarrassed they were losing the game . He is such a whiny narcissistic ass, complaining all the time. My question is if he is cleared to play and goes back on the ice, and , everyone is going to go easy on the on his ass in case he decides to take a dive or instigate because what player wants the wrap for being the one who knocked the miracle kid down once again, because everyone is ganging up on him. Ug. I hate that guy. Bottom line, I don't think his injuries were as bad, either. I think even before the hits the guy comes off as ignorant ass and is NOT a team player. He feels privileged and expects to be treated that way. So if he plays again or not, it is pretty much a given he will have to be handled with the kid gloves he demands. and gets it one way or another. Everything about this ordeal is vague. I did hear they said he won't play because his equilibrium is shot from the concussion, but than I have to question. Is he driving? If ya can't skate how is it okay that he drives a huge piece of steel around with no worries that his lack of "equilibrium" could cause a severe accident, hurting himself, or more importantly, hurting another innocent bystander? That's been bothering me. Just my thoughts............. I'm not wishing injury on anyone,and I'd love to give them the benefit of the doubt, but the lack of info they give really hurts their credibility. BTW, since he is not playing as of yet, he is going to the games to cheer his team on, isn't he? Crosby is a joke. I do think he is an excellent player, absolutely one of the best, but that's where it ends and comes to a screeching halt. . His deliberate embellishing instigation's, his constant whining, attention seeking tantrums, and his ever present poor sportsmanship pretty much cancels out "He's a good player", in my opinion, of course!!

2 points... 1. The NHL should be more relaxed about fighting. Theyre giving out all these crazy suspensions to try and curb dirty hits, when the way to curb dirty hits is with fear. Not fear of missing a few games, but fear that your going to have your face pounded in if u make that dirty play. Reality is hockey is a fast high impact sport. Players are going to leave their feet, use their size (especially if they dont have the skill), and lose their cool. 2. If shanny has anything to do with fighting leaving the game gordie will kill him. plain and simple. i kno shanny is a tough guy but he should legitimately fear for his life if gordie comes looking for him. so its in his best interest not to get rid of fighting.

fights after clean hits are dumb. fighting is less functional now, but still functional. if it wasnt fucntional at all ppl wouldnt do it. if we returned to pre-lockout attiudes it would be much more functional. i dont like where hockey is heading. less fighting and more diving.

Diving is worse than headshots? That is the most asinine statement I've heard in a while.

he still embellished and should have had discipline for it whether he fell by his own will or not, and i would say he did fall on his own will, I know I wouldn't have flopped there. then it is embellishment, same thing, they are the same category, you are just being a word-prick, he still was making a mockery of the sport

It wasn't a flop either. He got knocked off balance and put his arms up in protest. The only reason it can be considered embellishment is because him trying to get the referee's attention on a weak hit. Sorry, not a dive.

He was knocked off balance and put his hands in the air in protest at having interference run on him and/or getting hit in the head. It's not a dive, at all. If you want to argue embellishment that is fine, but there is no way you can think he dove from that.

For a guy who didn't grow up in North America, would someone please explain a few things about hockey fighting to me? I don't have any objection against fighting in hockey, but except for being entertaining and traditional, I don't see any useful function for it. The way I see it, a cheap shot artist (like Cooke, Casparaitis) can always avoid being beat up by turtling (and does if the odds are unfavorable). So as a deterrent, I don't see fighting working. Or if an agitator A(very) does something bad, and as a result heavyweight from the other team challenges an enforcer from A(very)'s team, then how is A(very) punished? He is not the one with the black eye. Or if the two heavyweights line up for a faceoff and drop'em right away, what's that but a sideshow? I understand when a spontaneous fight, especially by a scorer/team leader who doesn't normally fight, can change the momentum of the game, but that situation does not arise often, and the existing rules can deal with such adequately. So my question is, what do we want fighting in hockey for, and why would heavy suspensions for fighting be bad?

I guess it comes down to semantics at some point. He was contacted in the head, yes, but he also stopped skating and fell down, arms spread, already pleading to the refs for a penalty. In my book that's a dive, and it's disappointing to see a Wings player doing that. Watching the replay a few times, you can clearly see the delay between when Abby gets hit, and when he throws his arms up over his head. Not sure why you'd do that when you get in the head, unless it was to make it look worse than it was. The natural reaction is to grab your head, or at least try and keep skating, if you're interested in playing hockey and not diving.

I understand that you're just trying to provoke, but I'm bored so I'll play along. What's your answer if I say that while diving is ugly and childish it has never ended anyone's career?

He didn't dive. Sorry.

Abdelkader should have been suspended for diving, sorry.

So what? I used to post as mindfly and JakeRyan, and no one seemed to have a problem with it. There's been a lot of tension here the last couple of days with the season approaching. These GDT's are gonna be fun this year.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_the_United_States There is no "national language" of the United States. Hopefully when you read it on Wikipedia you'll believe it. I'm done.

I think that just about sums up everyone's opnion of him. Can he play hockey? Yes. But he's not so amazing that I can look past the diving and whining and drama. When he matures I'll rescind my dislike of him. This isn't soccer, I don't like seeing players try to draw penalties. I know Crosby isn't the only one to ever do it, but he makes a habit of it and it's frustrating to watch. Give him a few more years and I think he'll mature enough it won't be an issue anymore. Not to mention that just like Tim Tebow he has a bit too much media frenzy attention for my tastes. If any other player had a concussion we wouldn't get daily updates.

great, here comes another stalker.

While we'r at it: Filppula Datsyuk Holmstrom Bertuzzi Zetterbeg Franzen Cleary Helm Eaves Miller Abdelkader Brunstrom Emmerton/Hudler

WHAT?! A BLUEADAMS LINES THREAD?! I've never seen one of these before... s***E

No Ericsson? What a shame.

Gordie Howe Arena... Please.

Look at the bright side; at least someone cares about proper grammar and punctuation. So few people do anymore.

I'll be in the minority when I also say I don't want a new arena for the Red Wings, they do deserve one though. But the Joe reeks and oozes old school hockey and hockey in general. From peeing in a tub down to the claustrophobic seats. I was at game 6 (vs the sharks) last year and I can guranatee a new arena would not have been as loud as the Joe was that game. By far the most outrageous, insane, fun, mind numbing, voice losing game I've been to. Roof was shaking it was so loud. I don't give a s*** who you are at the Joe, if you're around me you're getting a high five. And that's exactly what I want, a close experience with other fans that share a love for a game only hockey fans can know. The Joe provides all of this