You Sure About That: Weekly Fights Recap

for sure. on an unrelated note, i would love to see somebody throw a painted volleyball on the ice after Wilson owns in a fight at home

Yeah it did seem like he got his head a little down, but still. Not that I am really surprised by the no review, or by the fact that a lot of guys are saying “welcome to the NHL” given how he’s played. But with Inspector Shanahan behind the scenes, it has seemed like ANY hit to the head is reviewed.

Just curious, I didn’t get to watch that game.

It looked frighteningly similar to the play on which Malone broke Jesse Martin’s neck last year. I stopped breathing for a minute, I’ll tell ya.

I like having guys that can do more than fight, but there have to be several of them on a team to distribute the load or one guys hands are going to be too beat up to do more than fight.

I agree about not wanting goons in the NHL. Hockey is a very physical game and takes some manly courage to play as well as strength. However it is much more refined than say football or rugby. Those are more grunt sports. What sets hockey apart is its elegance and finesse. It is not slow like basketball where you can call out a set play as you meander down the court. No, you have to know what your teammates are going to do in a given situation, what their style is, etc. It moves fast and go have to think fast. It’s all about angles and moving to open ice. But don’t get me wrong, I can’t stand the finesse player that doesn’t grind it out in the corner, make the big hits and use his strength to create a little room ( a la Forsberg). That was always what I didn’t like about Gretzky and why I actually cheered when Duchene got into his first fight. If the refs called a better game there would be less need for fighting but there will always need to be guys that are not afraid to stand up for their own. Those fights are chivalrous. It when two guys just go at it that I cannot stand. When you are at a game you can tell which fans understand the game and who the backwoods hicks are by the things that inspire cheering. It is almost embarrassing to be at a game when the loudest roar from the crowd comes every time it even looks as though a fight might break out.

I’m not sure Deadmarsh is a good example here given his career ended because of a concussion he received in a fight with Ed Jovanowski. But, I agree that the designated goon is not long for the sport. The game has become too fast and athletic to waste a seat on the bench for a guy who needs his stick just to stand up on skates. I sincerely hope that the NHL does not go the way of European hockey where they don’t fight much, but they do apply the cheap shot on a routine basis.

Two hands to the head.
And the one Douchstrong when boarded Stastny?

Ahh thank you