The Ducks, Pronger, playing dirty and why it works

[BlueMonk 102]

Check it out. One of the best columns I've seen in a while.

[Grittzkey 1]

Im bout to read the column, but im going to say. playing dirty didnt work for them last night..

[Deke 0]

Check it out. One of the best columns I've seen in a while.

From the article:

What if you flood the game with fouls? Commit 100 fouls per game on purpose knowing the officials are only going to nail you for 6 or 7 or 8 because calling much more than that would slow the game down into un-watchability.

Way to ruin hockey.

Rules are there because they are meant to constrain the game so that only the game that was intended can be played. Getting around this with by frusterating the refs is flat out disgusting to the sport.

[Sepster 0]

You're right, what a great article and I wholly agree. My favorite part;

all of us love this game and that’s why it’s an emotional issue. But pretending it doesn’t exist is insulting. Berating and implying anyone who brings it up has a bias based on homerism is insulting.

What are the chances Walkom and Bettman read and understand this concept? Or, better yet, do anything about it?

About as likely as Parros scoring 50 goals in the NHL.

[irishtemper14+25 11]

yea i really hate how the ducks play

[Hank 0]

Check it out. One of the best columns I've seen in a while.

Haha. That's EXACTLY what Bill Clement was saying yesterday on XM. That the Ducks know that the officials are only going to call x amount of penalties and that once that x has been covered over the first 2 periods they can basically do whatever they want the rest of the game. It's how, he said, the Bullies and Big Bad Bruins were able to have much success.

And it's how the Ducks won the Cup. It's certainly how the Ducks were able to beat the Wings in Game 5 when Datsyuk got called for interference minutes before the Ducks committed the same foul uncalled.

It's how the Ducks will routinely get close to the same amount of PP's as the other team across the redline. Seriously, how is it possible that the Ducks only get 1 or 2 more penalties a game than their opposition night-in, night out. You could almost call an interference or roughing penalty on them every shift.

And love 'em or hate 'em, I would absolutley LOVE a team that played that way. Where every time a team entered your barn they had to be prepared to pay the price and do the tango with someone.

MAN I miss Snepts, Probie, Kocur and Gallant.

Edited March 6, 2008 by Hank

[griffith_bob 5]

Before I post this, I would like to declare that I am a Sharks fan, but im not here to troll or be a jerk. I would just like to talk hockey with some fans that are knowledgable of the game. Some Sharks fans are kinda embarassing because they're not intelligent about the game, so thats why i dont post at a sharks forum.

btw i hate the ducks and their underhanded game, but it gets the job done, and in that aspect i respect them for it but would like them more if they were not goons.

[reyalp 4]

I hate Prongers guts. He is the dirtiest player, and seriously... thats not something to be proud of.

[Guest CaliWingsNut]

The 2 biggest deciding factors in an NHL game on most nights are player error and officiating. Both are completely understandable. Hockey is a game of mistakes and officiating is always a no win situation since you are trying to manage the fastest non-motorized team sport in the world.

Umm.....? What the heck is this dude smoking... and can I have some?

[Echolalia 2,961]

I don't know if I agree that refs try to call things as evenly as possible, despite one team playing dirtier than another. I just think Anaheim is better at getting away with it than most (ie behind the play), or a higher-up is telling the refs to let a few slide on account of a franchise doing well in a non-hockey market.

What sucks is when you combine dirty play (ie penalties) with the largest goalie in the league, penalties don't actually penalize the team, so 9 times out of ten the Ducks get away with cross-checking someone's face in or elbowing their tooth out. All in all it should probably anger me more than I am, but it makes for a good rivalry.

[auxlepli 17]

There never is a right kind of dirty in my opinion. You either are or you are not. If you are dirty, then you are wrong.

I understand his opinion, but I disagree with his hypothesis.

[CrossoverThrash 0]

Its easy to tell thats what happens, I just wish other teams would step up and feed it back to them

[haroldsnepsts 4,826]

As I said over on HFboards and as I've said before regarding the Ducks, they've adopted Derian Hatcher's philosophy.

He pretty much commits a penalty on every shift, so he ends up getting away with a lot because there's no way the refs will call him every single time. Apply that to a whole team and you have the Ducks.

[RedWingedKitten 9]

This is not the way Hockey should be played.

[DYags 0]

Umm.....? What the heck is this dude smoking... and can I have some?

What are you smoking? Because that makes perfect sense..

Lets think back to the sharks game were a missed call cost the wings the game. Or a horrible penalty call on datsyuk last night that cost us a goal (we still won but thats not the point)

[Guest CaliWingsNut]

What are you smoking? Because that makes perfect sense..

Lets think back to the sharks game were a missed call cost the wings the game. Or a horrible penalty call on datsyuk last night that cost us a goal (we still won but thats not the point)

So you can name two recent games... and that's with a current rash of games where people have complained about refs... this is NOT the norm.

[Hank 0]

I know why everyone hates the way the Ducks play, but some of us are acting a little hollier than thou.

I don't recall hearing any fans complaining about the way the Wings played in the late 80's. If you crossed the blueline while Snepts was out there, you'd get a stick in the head for your troubles. And Wings fans loved him for it.

And what about Maltby? He's past his prime now, but in the 90's he was one of the dirtiest players in the league and he never dropped his gloves to pay any kind of price for his actions. Vlad was the same way. He rarely, dropped his gloves either. And yet, they're both revered in Detroit.

Say what you want about Pronger, O'Donnell, Perry or Getzlaf, they'll all drop the mits.

Make no mistake, if our team was the Ducks we'd love them for the way they play.

"That's not how you play hockey?" Try telling the 50's Wings who won multiple cups. Gordie Howe and Ted Lindsay were probably the two dirtiest allstars to ever play the game. Detroit loved them for it and it's why Lindsay is still one of my favourite wings despite not being born until well after his retirement.

This is just another case of fans hating whatever their top competition is doing.

If we had a team like the Ducks and we got beat out by a swift skating team like the Wings who are the softer end, we'd be yelling "Sure they won, but at least we're not *******!".

And make no mistake, if we had the Ducks team, we would all LOVE them. And if you think otherwise, I only have two words for you; Chris Chelios. This guy was HATED. But he comes to the Wings and people LOVE him now.

[FUUFNF 1]

As I said over on HFboards and as I've said before regarding the Ducks, they've adopted Derian Hatcher's philosophy.

He pretty much commits a penalty on every shift, so he ends up getting away with a lot because there's no way the refs will call him every single time. Apply that to a whole team and you have the Ducks.

qft.

[RoninJai 5]

He's right, only in that their play WORKS, but that illustrates a few things.

1) The NHL is pathetically bush league that they tolerate that. Everybody knows the Ducks get away with murder. Even the few fans of the Ducks that know anything about hockey have to admit that. Things either ARE or ARE NOT penalties. Let Anaheim be down on a 5 on 3 for the first period. Let the score be 15-0 by the first intermission. If they're going to commit infractions w/ impunity, let them pay the price. See how long that garbage lasts when they lose every game by 10 or more. I'd imagine they'd learn to play the right way pretty quick. The way things are allowed to be now makes hockey a joke.

2) I think the league is alienating anyone not living in Southern California, and they don't really care. I love hockey, but I don't even want to watch a game when someone plays the Ducks. Don't get me wrong...I like a big hit as much as the next guy, and I love it when people drop the gloves and go at it. But I like a CLEAN big hit, not intent to injure. And if two guys drop em, then 2 go to the box.

3) It used to be you'd have one or two goons on the team that kept the peace. Now, the Stanley Cup Champions are a team comprised almost entirely of goons. And every night they take the ice, they're assisted by the zebras. You KNOW going in, that your team isn't going to get a fair deal. Why would anyone want to watch that?

Edited March 7, 2008 by RoninJai

[wingslogo19 281]

Great read, thanks for posting this