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Hack & Whack Rule!

Call Out the NHL on BS

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I've been a Wings fan for over thirty years. I think the glory days of the NHL are over. There are so many rules and regulations that the game has changed, and I don't think it's for the better. Hockey used to be a tough sport...goalies didn't even wear masks, way back! If trends keep going, a goalie will only need to stand in front of a net and all the equipment will just block it. Add to the mix the unfortunate enforcement of rules, and in a few years, the NHL is populated by the likes of Brian Boitano and Elvis Stojko. I'm just dying to see a retiring player or coach come out and say that the NHL is a piece of garbage or that Gary Bettman has ruined the league, or something to make people realize how crappy it's become. Most of the crap they pull can be justified, though, and that's part of the problem. PK Subban takes a two handed baseball swing, causing a fractured arm, he gets kicked out for the rest of the game by on ice officials. Kronwall makes a hit on a guy with his head down, and it was slightly illegal (I stopped reading about it as soon as he got suspended), there's no on ice call, but the league suspends him even though there are no medical issues with the guy that gets Kronwalled.

If you could call out the NHL on their BS, while having an audience that could have an impact, what would you say?

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1. NHL Front Office is run by guys that know nothing about hockey and therefore shouldn't have the job.

2. Hockey is on the verge of becoming as sissylike as soccer: fights are down, hits are down and players don'tr even know which hit is a suspension and which isn't because there is no consistency in their decision and most seem to be based on throwing a darts at the wall.

3. There are too many regulations and rules in place to make life difficult for owners and GMs . Back in the late 90s and early 2000's this game was way better and much more entertaining, period. I mean when the best GMs in the game are struggling due too many rules and regulations something needs to chane, period. Add to that the almost 0 entertainment and excitment for free agency and there are even less things to look forward to.

I fully agree I hope oneday is someone comes out and call out the NHL for all the crap that's going on, would love someone like Super Mario or Wayne doing that.

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I totally agree that there's a lot of inconsistency in how the game is officiated, but we can't ignore that the players are getting stronger, faster and more skilled. That above all else is the cause of change we see in the NHL.

They did put restrictions on goalie equipment size, while still keeping them protected. Remember, not a single goalie would've been ok being maskless with Weber shots flying by eye level at 100 mph.

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I totally agree that there's a lot of inconsistency in how the game is officiated, but we can't ignore that the players are getting stronger, faster and more skilled. That above all else is the cause of change we see in the NHL.

They did put restrictions on goalie equipment size, while still keeping them protected. Remember, not a single goalie would've been ok being maskless with Weber shots flying by eye level at 100 mph.

Totally agree. Anyone who thinks that hockey can go back to the way it was 50 years ago is either completely clueless to how much faster/stronger/skilled the players are now a days, or just refuse to accept it.

Anyone who thinks the players of 50 years ago are "tougher" then today, have no clue. If Jacques Plante gets hit in the temple with a Shea Weber Slap Shot, he's not shaking it off, he's unconscious. I would even argue if it hits him in the wrong place, could result in death.

The reason why the guys from years ago played through injuries is because the guys from 50 years ago were not being hit even close to as hard as the guys from today. Sure guys back then played through broken fingers and toes etc. but so do the guys now a days (ie. Abby).

Plus, if all these guys from years back thought that the way it was is better then today, they wouldn't be suing the NHL in 2015.

Edited by kliq

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I'm not saying that a goalie from way back when would be okay with taking a Weber shot to the head. It was an example of the difference between then and now. Hell, I'm a pansy when it comes to getting hit with a puck, but I'm not in the NHL. Guys now are faster and have sticks engineered to produce faster and harder shots, so the mask thing was just pointing out that they used to go without them. You didn't have the diving and embellishing that you do now. I hate to bring Crosby into this, but there's a video on Youtube showing his dives and his childish attitude. This is the new "face of the NHL". As for Kurri, he's touting the KHL more than calling out the NHL.

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I'm not saying that a goalie from way back when would be okay with taking a Weber shot to the head. It was an example of the difference between then and now. Hell, I'm a pansy when it comes to getting hit with a puck, but I'm not in the NHL. Guys now are faster and have sticks engineered to produce faster and harder shots, so the mask thing was just pointing out that they used to go without them. You didn't have the diving and embellishing that you do now. I hate to bring Crosby into this, but there's a video on Youtube showing his dives and his childish attitude. This is the new "face of the NHL". As for Kurri, he's touting the KHL more than calling out the NHL.

The bolded stuff I 100% agree with.

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I'm not saying that a goalie from way back when would be okay with taking a Weber shot to the head. It was an example of the difference between then and now. Hell, I'm a pansy when it comes to getting hit with a puck, but I'm not in the NHL. Guys now are faster and have sticks engineered to produce faster and harder shots, so the mask thing was just pointing out that they used to go without them. You didn't have the diving and embellishing that you do now. I hate to bring Crosby into this, but there's a video on Youtube showing his dives and his childish attitude. This is the new "face of the NHL". As for Kurri, he's touting the KHL more than calling out the NHL.

I don't know, did they really not have it? I wasn't around then but I've talked to people who were and even read some things that suggested that there were a lot of players back in the day who were less than ethical, as it were.

It's easy to think of those times as the glory years because we are so far removed that we only know them from the exceptional moments that still get talked about. The majority of games weren't televised, there's limited footage and almost no way to interpret what does exist.

I mean, even our golden boy Stevie Y had a Crosby like reputation for a while. I could even buy that there was less whining, but we know the cheap shots were worse! They were brutal, Redmond always talks about Gordie's famous elbows!

Again, I wasn't there, so this is just a mildly educated guess, but I would bet embellishment happened frequently, (I mean, it's not like these people are known for being the bastions of morality) and if it didn't, it seems logical that it had more to do with how the officiating handled diving. It's likely that if fewer penalties were called, there would be no benefit to embellish.

That's my issue with the games that I see, (which unfortunately aren't many) players are being rewarded for diving by the resulting penalties to the opposing teams. It's in their best interest!

The league needs to put their collective thinking caps on and find the best way to solve these problems.

( for the record, I think the league does a great job overall, with the increase in speed and skill comes an equal increase in the challenge to maintain a fair balance of officiating on the ice.)

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If I wasn't on mobile, I would be posting the "old man yells at cloud" picture from the Simpsons.

So just imagine that's what you're looking at right now.

I can't find my "your opinion is as relevant to me as mine is to you" picture, so just imagine you're looking at that right now. Had you just corralled yourself and stated that you are okay with the current state of the NHL, that would have been cool. You didn't, so it isn't, and you are not.

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If I wasn't on mobile, I would be posting the "old man yells at cloud" picture from the Simpsons.

So just imagine that's what you're looking at right now.

5b4v39.jpg

Perfect :lol:

And since there's some sensitive people *points* up there who can't handle some levity in the thread, let me be painfully on topic in sharing my opinion on The State of the NHL:

The game is changing. The league is changing. The way the game was played 30 years ago would be a bad fit for the current situation on multiple levels. As someone mentioned before, players today are faster, bigger, and stronger than ever before. Gear is more high tech. And we have knowledge now regarding health and safety issues that was not widely available before. The league would be foolish and unprogressive if they dug their heels in and refused to develop the game in a way that addresses these challenges. Do I like every change that is made? No. But I also have no misconceptions that me raging against the machine is gonna make a rabbit's fart of a difference. "Pretend we have an audience.". We *do*. Social media has developed to a point where officials ABSOLUTELY know how fans of the game feel about each and every little thing. They just don't *care*. Because here's the kicker, and if I have to pick the one thing that bothers me the most it would be this: WE are not who the league is reaching out to. The die hard, post on a hockey team's message board, donate money to charity based on playoff performance, contemplate homicide of other players not on our team who are probably pretty nice guys otherwise type people are going to follow our team /the league *anyway*. Our $ is not the growth, because it has always *been there*. These changes, the outreach, the people pleasing (if any) will not be directed at us. It will be directed at Joe Non-hockey Schmo whose ass they're trying to pull into a seat. Trying to pull into the NHL shop. Trying to pull into buying that cable package or GCL. So the game is gonna change. Because hockey is not very accessible to people who aren't familiar with it. Do I like it? Not necessarily, but in a way that mirrors why my grandpa doesn't like it that he can't find a doctor with a name he can pronounce. There are some changes the league is looking into that I think will be beneficial like 4-4 overtime and video reviews, but to opine that the league is "changing" because it's not like it was 30 years ago is short-sighted, unnecessarily nostalgic, and unprogressive. Time marches on. Things change. And now I've forgotten my larger point.

Which is why "old man yells at cloud" sums up my feelings perfectly, and isn't as sarcastic as you thought.

f*** off.

You...should probably step away from your keyboard for a minute.

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The product is still very enjoyable to me. Transparency in suspensions would really be my only gripe. The NHL's inferiority complex really shines through here. With having to compete with the NBA playoffs and early MLB schedule, suspending Subban, a marketable star, was out of the question. Meanwhile, Kronwall, is given a game for a hit where the shoulder was the primary point of contact, but his opponent had his head down. I get that Kronwall has a "history" for these kinds of hits, but taking those out of the game are a mistake. The playoffs are known for the increased intensity and harder style of play. With this suspension, I doubt we see a hit like this from Kronwall anytime soon. Hell, it's been sometime since we saw one before game 7.

The NHL has been a niche sport nationally for quite some time and they should embrace it. Canadian and true US hockey cities keep the game going and that's what I love about it. I cringe every four years when the Olympics thrusts the game into a national talking point (outside of the 4 seconds allocated on ESPN) and people immediately flag me down at work to talk about players they just discovered because they know I'm a "hockey guy."

Keep suspensions and rule enforcement consistent despite the type of player. At least you'll have the respect of the players and the diehard fans that continue supporting the league.

Edited by Paul MacLean's Mustache

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