ya i agree michael, i guess what i was just getting at was that with all the dirty play and injuries its just taking away from the integrity of the game.
it just sucks to see the best players being injured and not playing because of it. sedin, crosby, hossa, the list goes on. these are our stars and as much as i dislike some of them id like to see them playing.
its difficult to talk to a non-fan and talk about how you love the game when all this weak stuff is going on. players should police themselves. suspensions, and fines (holy s*** 2,500 max?!?!) are just a joke.
I hear ya...One of my best friends is a life-long Hawks fan; yesterday afternoon while talking on the phone he went on a 5 min rant of how he cannot stand the insanity of the NHL, and how it handles fines/suspensions (he's also a fan of the Rangers)......Needless to say that same rant went on this morning - although it lasted 10 min
IMHO the NHL really screwed the pooch when it went on it's "cleaning up the league" phase, and trying to lure in the so called "casual" fan...Big mistake...First off most fans enjoy the intensity of a heated game, and if a few fights break out - even better if it's among willing combatants (now I don't want to see nothing but fights, and fights alone - that must be said, nor do I wish to see fighters taking on non-fighters - the "code" hopefully would stay intact).
Second - what we see today with cheap shots, and inconsistent rulings is once again a result of the league trying to clean up it's image; it's why a fair number of former players/coaches/gms want to see the elimination of the instigator penalty (oddly enough my Blackhawk buddy was all for the instigator years ago - now that he's "seen the light" - he too agrees that it should be removed).
