Leaderboard

Well I doubt there's much thought being put into it.......

I was considering joining this forum to discuss hockey but saw some of your outrageous posts and the moderators letting them stay. I’m not sure it’s worth it as I don’t like to engage with possible trolls but felt it necessary to challenge some of your biased posts. While there are many, I tried to respond to them in just a single post instead of individually thus the paragraphs may not flow seamlessly as I address various topics: The nhl is one of the most diverse leagues out there with players from many countries. The fact you ignore the various cultures and just look at skin color is in itself ignorant. By your logic are all Asians the same? All Africans the same too? You have an extremely bigoted view if so. The fact you say your not aiming for diversity of thought or culture, rather just skin color is simply... racist. Thought and culture are more important elements than skin color by far. It’s unfortunate you see it the opposite way. While you rag on the nhl, you say nothing about lack of diversity among players in nba and nfl with 83% and 70% black respectively and namely all from a single country no less. Why not? It goes both ways. I’m a fan of meritocracy. Are you implying teams pass over more higher skilled minorities in the draft? That would be ridiculous. I’d like to see your evidence of the nhl being racist. The hockey is for everyone campaign was much more of an attempt at inclusion that welcomed everyone as a means to do outreach and grow the game. Yet you say the NHL does nothing? People watch hockey and pay for the game, not to be pandered to. And yes the issue is political as well as social. Your statements of ‘white players recognizing their racism’ and ‘we need to cancel hockey for human rights’ is a problem. Generalizing people creates resentment. Do you think minorities should also undergo anti-bias training to prevent them from thinking all whites are racist? Racism is a human problem that knows no color. Do you see racism everywhere? Like if you turn over a stone it might jump out and bite you? The NHL needs to focus on hockey and inclusion. It doesn’t need to be bringing politics or other issues into it through black jerseys or black lines. Many people have been discriminated against, not just blacks. That said, blacks have very much been economically discriminated against and that needs to change. Fixing that will lead to more opportunities, less poverty, less runs ins with cops, and ability to afford to play the expensive game of hockey. Perhaps the NHL doesn’t want to rush to judgement on the Jacob Blake situation. You know as more information comes out? Maybe they believe, as many do, that politics should stay out of sports? Have you seen the new info? While the situation definitely should have been handled better and he shouldn’t have been shot, the guy is no martyr. He had a felony warrant and was fighting police. The police were called on him which media failed to mention. Your accusation against Yzerman is just dumb. Do you have evidence of his desire to ‘purify’ the team or are you pulling it out of your ass? I liked AA, but he was not a 200 foot player as evidenced by his terrible plus minus. Hirose looked promising but hasn’t produced. Daley and Bowey? C’mon, they are depth guys. As for your fighting words reference, I think you need to reread the cases that narrowed the scope. ‘Intent to elicit immediate violent response’ is required to fall under fighting words. Obscene words are subjective and while they can be offensive, they don’t always fall under fighting words. Think of how many rap songs would fall under that prohibited speech! Following that, you respond to someone clarifying your message as alt-right without any evidence. Are those fighting words? Do you always assume and jump to conclusions and attack someone’s character instead of engaging in intellectual dialogue? Try to be better than that. People like you who attack others with no evidence and try to bully people into submission through attempting to assassinate their character need to be stood up to. You have opinions? Great, but you need to realize they are just yours and like assholes, everyone has one. You also need to take your own advice and stick to talking hockey. The nhl doesn’t need to follow other leagues and bend the knee much like anyone else. You can be fully for equality and respect the flag or want to keep politics out of hockey. Your constant accusation that the nhl is racist seems like baseless smears given the campaigns they’ve initiated. As long as the nhl promotes equality and inclusion, it doesn’t have to be forced to make any ‘stand’ based on issues that happen outside of its control. Unfortunately, the NHL seems to be getting woke and bringing in “diversity trainers” to tell them just how awful people they are. We’ll see if it’s successful or if their ratings take a hit like the NBA. https://theharrispoll.com/poll-38-of-sports-fans-say-nba-is-too-political-as-reason-they-are-watching-less/

Oh hey guys. I'll jump in this fight if ya'll don't mind. Two things that I want to clarify before doing so: 1) First would be my anecdotal life experience with the black community. My long time significant other is black, I'm white. I'm very well entrenched in her family/community that reside, for the greater part, in South Chicago. She is also the co-founder of the business we own together. The business is a financial service that disproportionately benefits from our services. I don't want to get into too much detail because I don't want to dox myself. I should say that we also employ a good number of black people as well. 2) I've learned that when entering topics of debate like this, it is crucial to define certain vocabulary and agree upon it. Clear cut, I define racism as the belief that someone of another race is intrinsically inferior to you or other races. If you two want to define it in any other way, please let me know. CRL - If I can summarize, you asked SP if the past atrocities by white people is the reason for the issues they face today. I believe the answer is yes and no. Obviously you cannot deny that many black people wouldn't be here if it weren't for slavery. And those that would be, would have done so of their own accord and likely more successful than average. The continued oppression that black people faced certainly kept many of them from reaching their potential in life and caused their communities to be more prone to toxic However, I do not believe that those past hardships are experienced by today's black society. I believe your point is that because of the past, you surely cannot expect Black America to be any better off than they are now. I would agree, but to a much less degree than you, I am sure. With all of my life experiences and knowledge, what I believe is this. Though it's obviously true that the black community has suffered in the past, those hardships have little to no bearing on a black person's day to day life right now. I believe, however, that during those hardships, there are a lot of voices in those communities that speak up about many different ideals, cultural norms and mores. It is up to that community to decide which voices to listen to and follow. Unfortunately for the black community, they have made a lot of critical mistakes by choosing to listen to the wrong voices. Now, this could literally happen to any other group of people put in the same situation. I don't believe they are predispositioned to make these bad choices. Hindsight is 20/20. But these choices that are made over decades have created a disproportionately toxic culture that has now turned on itself so much that it is the number one thing impeding black advancement. I know this because the people who abide to and succumb to today's black culture do not thrive. Rather, they parish in terrible ways. The one's who often reject those ideals and norms (such as my significant other) very often thrive and become successes. Then, they are excommunicated from black society and culture. You keep calling CP racist. But I bet you that he's never insulted a black person to their face (or online or whatever have you). I bet he's never told a black youth that 76% of this country hates him and wants to keep him from succeeding. I bet you he's never made a black youth feel discouraged about how successful he can be in life. But, I bet YOU have. You make asinine assumptions about the majority of American's and project yourself as a neutral voice for White America. You lift yourself up in life by beating other white people down. You're different than everyone else, right? Special. Everyone is racist except you. You belong to a small elite class that isn't racist. How convenient that the standard you've built in your head to measure your success and worth as a human is completely based on something that you and you alone can arbitrarily and ambiguously measure. People like you tell a young black boy how much White America hates him, how they want to see him addicted to drugs and thrown in jail before he's even 18. He believes that 76% of people hate him before he's ever met any of them. You spout your agenda as if it's gospel. It's easy to do since your fight is so selfless, right? There's no accountability for you whatsoever because if your intentions are right, what harm could you be doing? Human nature is to hate those that we believe hate us. If it's your life duty to spout off to black people how much they're hated, that will only create animosity. Blacks will believe they have to fight back, not live amongst. White people see them fighting back....trying to bring their way of life down (a life where they never wished harm on anyone). They now believe that black people must assuredly hate them. You've now created your self-fulfilling prophecy. You've created hate. With your message, black people can never self-reflect and come to the realization that only they can change the toxic parts of their culture. That more than what any other white person can do for them, they can make the most change in their live's by their actions and their actions alone. I believe people like you are the ones who create the biggest divide between races. But there is no way to convince you of that. The scariest thing is a person who causes harm with a good conscience.

>Ken Holland traded to Detroit for a 2021 1st round pick >Yzerman pulls a Robert California and convinces Melnyk to give him complete control of over all of his assets.

Detroit Red Wings Hockey: The Only Time I Don't Like Big Busts

Is Jet's pizza in Michigan still pretty dope?

Yep. Yet he scored at a 26G pace over 82 games as a 20 year old rookie. I have zero issues with this prospect.

You can go straight to hell sir.

Well, good job Yzerman didn't do this with Kucherov after his first season. 9G/9A in 53 games as a 20 year old. (Zadina had 8G/7A in 28 games by the way)

LHD Jared McIsaac loaned to HPK(Liiiga) For 2020-2021 season.

Thats a nap couch trap. Similar to a Venus fly trap you sit down on it. Next thing you are drooling and it's 3 hours later and the game is over.

It's not always about income. Hockey isnt a sport you can just run down to your local park and play. In a lot of communities (of any demographic), hockey rinks require a car/bus/subway/train ride to get to. It takes a lot more effort to play because access can be an issue. It's hard to get kids of any background to dedicate themselves to a niche sport like hockey, when there are easier mainstream options available.

Is it at least Larkin soft?

Fat Jimmy talk always makes me hungry for pizza.

Hey! That couch looks comfy as f***!

I'm thinking it's time for this thread to go sleepy bye bye

Filip "soft periphery trigger man" Zagina

Diversity in hockey, or anything else, is a good thing so long as it isn't done for its own sake. Diversity, for the sake of diversity, is counter-productive. Don't do it. The NHL should be made up of the 713 best hockey players in the world, period. Nothing else should matter but ability, talent, and to some extent, character. Beyond that, IDC. The NHL knows it has a diversity issue, and has done a good job reaching out and bringing the sport into new communities. They've invested millions to grow the sport among non-traditional demographics. This can only be a good thing, as it will not only help to grow the fan base, it will grow the player pool as well, resulting in an increase in talent. The end result is more money for the NHL, a greater quality of product for the fans, and more opportunities for kids living in those communities. It's a win-win-win. That said, hockey will always be a sport that lags behind when it comes to diversity and popularity. Equipment is expensive. It can only be played seasonally outdoors in colder climates and indoor ice rinks are often few and far between. And ice time can be expensive. All of this works against growth of the sport. Basketball and soccer are just easier and cheaper to play, and will always be more popular, even when hockey is more readily available.