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thegerkin

Steve Yzerman wants Game Misconduct penalties for fighting

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Steve Yzerman wants Game Misconduct penalties for fighting

"Yes, I believe a player should get a game misconduct for fighting," Yzerman told The Dreger Report. "We penalize and suspend players for making contact with the head while checking, in an effort to reduce head injuries, yet we still allow fighting.

http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/steve-yzerman-wants-game-misconduct-penalties-fighting-ready-195716606--nhl.html

Stevie Why? (see what I did there?)

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First I must say, Steve Yzerman has been my idol since as far back as I can remember. But in this ONE instance, I have to respectfully disagree. I understand the potential for concussions (like what happened to Parros when he lost balance and fell on his face), but let's be honest, there's rarely serious injury or even minor injuries in fighting (aside from maybe some bumps and bruises). I could see if there were a growing trend of injuries taking players out left and right, but until that happens there should be no rule changes in regards to dropping the gloves. Still love ya though Stevie! You're still the man!

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I just hate when pushing and shoving in front of the net after the whistle leads two guys who weren't even involved at the start to drop the gloves. You see this so much in the east. I understand two guys who have battled hard all game wanting to square off but just going for the sake of going seems unnecessary and also puts people at risk including the refs who have to break it up.

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First I must say, Steve Yzerman has been my idol since as far back as I can remember. But in this ONE instance, I have to respectfully disagree. I understand the potential for concussions (like what happened to Parros when he lost balance and fell on his face), but let's be honest, there's rarely serious injury or even minor injuries in fighting (aside from maybe some bumps and bruises). I could see if there were a growing trend of injuries taking players out left and right, but until that happens there should be no rule changes in regards to dropping the gloves. Still love ya though Stevie! You're still the man!

Repeated trauma to the head, even when no concussion is sustained, can lead to CTE.

When was the last time you saw a sanctioned bare knuckle boxing match?

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I love everything that Stevie Y has done for the Redwings and as a player and i respect the hell out of him but in this instance he needs to shut up and focus on trying to build a good hockey team instead of trying to fix something that doesn't need fixed.

These guys are grown men playing the game they love and getting paid a LOT of money for it, they know the risks involved. Hitting causes more injuries, slap shots cause more injuries, why stop at fighting lets just ban the whole game if injuries and safety is the issue.

What makes this worse for me is that he played his whole career on a team that carried some of the toughest SOB's to ever lace them up who night in and night out put there ass on the line to protect him. Complete disrespect to those guys. RIP Probie.

Leave the game alone you sissies.

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What makes this worse for me is that he played his whole career on a team that carried some of the toughest SOB's to ever lace them up who night in and night out put there ass on the line to protect him. Complete disrespect to those guys. RIP Probie.

Leave the game alone you sissies.

I disagree. I think that Stevie would see how that role affected those players (a lot of drug use, brain damage and depression etc) and feel bad that they had to go through those things to protect him. In essence he might want to protect players from being put in a situation where they have to play that role.

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Taking a slap shot, like Gregory Campbell, has no long lasting affects, a fight with or without a concussion can cause life long issues.

Including the depression that took the life of Boogard and others.

That is why your argument, while a valid point, loses me.

Hitting when done in a reckless manner, and when targeting the head does cause more damage than fighting, but the league is also trying to eliminate those things.

Sure a good Kronwalling or other clean play can lead to a concussion, but eliminating dirty or unnecessary plays can help reduce the numbers.

I can walk outside trip over my own shoelaces and get a severe concussion, you are never going to totally get rid of the risk, but why not try to prevent them where you can and where they fall outside of the normal realm of play.

Note: fights take place outside of "play" the whistle stops play and this is happening during stoppage time. I know fighting happens in game and not in the locker room or somewhere else.

Edited by Opie

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I disagree. I think that Stevie would see how that role affected those players (a lot of drug use, brain damage and depression etc) and feel bad that they had to go through those things to protect him. In essence he might want to protect players from being put in a situation where they have to play that role.

That could be it, however that was the role those guys chose to play and they had a choice wither to play that way or not. That argument is speculative as for every guy that had issues there are guys who don't for instance 3 of the toughest ever in kocur, Grimson and Domi for instance one went on to be assistant coach of the Redwings, Grimson is now a lawyer and Domi is a very successful business man. I think it comes down to the choices of the individual and not necessarily the role they played but i can see arguments both ways.

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I'm with him, and I can accept that 95% of fans (or more) think that view is blasphemy and fighting is an essential part of the game. I disagree. I think the vast majority of fights in today's league do nothing to influence the game one way or another, have little/no motive behind them, and are entirely unnecessary. In short I think its a waste of time. Granted, there are fights that mean something; the battles the Wings had against the Avs meant something, and if the bad blood is there in high enough concentrations, I don't think even a game misconduct will prevent two players or teams from fighting. I do think game misconducts will remove the fluff from the ice, and likely remove goons who can't actually play hockey from the game as well, and I am for that. I realize this is a radical view and one that is drastically different from the philosophy that this league developed within over the past 50 years. I just think it is loony to place an event in a game that contributes very little to the overall team goal and has very little actual value over the well-being of an individual.

Sorry LGW for letting you down :(

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Today's MMA is probably the closest thing we'll see to bare knuckle fighting...And it's arguably a TON more popular amongst viewers aged 14 to 40.

Everyone has different views on fighting...Personally I feel the NHLPA should vote on it rather than the league just taking it out of the game.

And the MMA world is scared to hell that CTE and concussions will be the demise of the sport.

But fighting is the sport in MMA, not Hockey.

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always a class act but I don't concure fighting IS r hockey

No it's not. Fighting is fighting, and hockey is hockey. That's enough semantics for now. If you look at his reasoning you'll see that it's quite sound. They are suspending guys for multiple games for a hit to a (helmeted) head, but it's only five minutes for repeatedly punching someone in the head. It's not like many of the good players even fight anymore. Back in the day you had guys like shanny and dmac who were both very talented, and knew how to throw down. Now, most of the fighting is done by guys who serve no purpose other than to fight and skate around for 6 'minutes per game. There are guys that would not even be playing hockey if they didn't know how to fight. That's very strange to me. These guys are allowed to perform at the highest level of hockey while not actually being skilled at the game. They're just very good at an ancillary, non-essential element of the game. That would be like the tigers keeping a catcher only for his fighting ability, just so he can protect the pitcher in case he is rushed by a batter.

Edited by The Greek

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In the Dreger article, it looks like Scotty Bowman is all onboard the no-fight train:

After reading the quotes from these three NHL executives, it didn't take long for one of the game's most celebrated builders to chime in as well. "I support views of Steve Yzerman, Ray Shero and Jim Rutherford on their opinions for addressing most fighting issues," tweeted the legendary Scotty Bowman on Wednesday afternoon. "Poll all Players."

The "Poll All Players" part caught my eye because as it says in the article, 98% of players polled in 2011-12 do NOT want fighting removed. Some might say don't let the inmates run the asylum, but when all but 2% of the NHL players want fighting left in the game, I think the players know how to handle the on-ice game. Let them play.

Edited by thegerkin

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They are suspending guys for multiple games for a hit to a (helmeted) head, but it's only five minutes for repeatedly punching someone in the head.

That's because off balance punches are no where near as dangerous and forceful as full body checks to the head. The amount of force between each is vast. I'd rather take 10 punches than 1 body check to the head.

More people get injured from blocking shots than fighting. Ban the puck!

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Guest Playmaker

Good for Stevie. This isn't about guys getting a black eye or bloodied knuckles anymore. While it's not to the extent of the NFL, watching these guys now who are being spoon fed by their wives and blowing their heads off, I just don't get how anyone takes any pleasure out of it. I think it's a misconception that these guys are making "millions" and living the life of luxury. A very small percentage even make it and even fewer have long careers. The leagues have been sweeping the concussion issue under the rug for years now, so saying that guys "knew the risks" isn't at all accurate.

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That's because off balance punches are no where near as dangerous and forceful as full body checks to the head. The amount of force between each is vast. I'd rather take 10 punches than 1 body check to the head.

More people get injured from blocking shots than fighting. Ban the puck!

Are these facts substantiated? Even if they are, your reasoning is still fallacious. The fact that essential parts of the game are more dangerous than fighting is not a defense of fighting. I can come back and say hockey is dangerous enough already. It seems unreasonable to subject the players to an additional, unnecessary risk just because we are entertained by it.

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From experience.

Sorry, that's not good enough for me. I have experience too. I've been in numerous fights, on and off the ice. There were times my head hurt for days due to one solid punch to the head. Some young kid who lacks a proper education should not have to needlessly put his well being on the line just because he feels compelled to impress his coach. Good job leaving out the rest of my post, straw man. Edited by The Greek

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Sorry, that's not good enough for me.

Well common sense says the weight of body checks and speeds versus the lower mass and stationary targets of fist fighting by the laws of physics body checks will have more energy.

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Hockey is a dangerous, violent and sometimes hard to watch - i.e. Parros accident - but if people can't deal with that go watch soccer, baseball or basketball. Nobody is forcing these guys to fight they both are agreeing and they know exactly the risks and benefits of it.

The Captain will always be THE captain but in this case I have to respectfully disagree with him. I'd stop watching the NHL if they ever ban fighting and destroy the game even more than it already is. Maybe he has forgotten how players like McCarty, Downey and Koccur prevented other guys from taking runs at him and step over the line...

Edited by frankgrimes

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