xXx..CK..xXx Posted September 22, 2018 Share Posted September 22, 2018 Olympic hockey is the best hockey because skill wins games. There is no cap system and the best teams can have a lineup full of skilled players. The worst teams often get beat 7-0 without any recourse. Half the audience will see that as entertainment whereas the other half will see that type of outcome as boring. For the players on the losing team, this type of environment makes it difficult to change the momentum. The role of 3rd and 4th line players in the NHL is evolving but with a cap system in place, teams are always going to need role players who bring different things to the table. They can’t have Olympic caliber squads. Deslauriers feels as though his spot in the lineup is far from secure? He wants more than 60 games with 22 in the press box? He demonstrates another element he can bring to the table. The beneficial impact a fight can have within a game is unmeasurable through one’s television. It’s not that I absolutely adore fighting, but it can have an emotional boost on your squad and it can also have an impact on the opponent knowing the possibility is always there when it comes to having to answer a question. The argument as to whether or not having someone who can drop the gloves (and play puck) is impactful would be no different than questioning whether or not dump and chase is ever an effective strategy anymore when it comes to making the defense play on its heels in order to have to retrieve a puck in the corner while taking a hit to make a play. Dump and chase looks outdated on our television, as well as to possession lovers but it’s sure not outdated for Victor Mete who has to backpedal and take that hit in the corner. By the end of the game, maybe Victor doesn’t want to retrieve that puck anymore. We all agree that the Parros’ and Laraques are not of much value but even Vegas and Pittsburgh were the last two teams to have Ryan Reaves on their team. Reaves was scratched for many games on that Vegas team. So was oversized goon Tomas Tatar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commandant Posted September 22, 2018 Share Posted September 22, 2018 I'll take myths that hockey fans believe for 1000 Alex. "Fights help teams win" 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xXx..CK..xXx Posted September 23, 2018 Share Posted September 23, 2018 I think that question would be worth 100. Goals win hockey games, Commandant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metallica Posted September 23, 2018 Share Posted September 23, 2018 Fighting isnt good or bad when it comes to hockey. Owners back in they day saw that fights and big hits got fans up out there sets just as much as a good goal. Thats why its been in the game for so long, happy fans come back which means owners make money. I think the question should be does hockey still need fighting in the game to keep the fans coming back? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machine of Loving Grace Posted September 23, 2018 Share Posted September 23, 2018 6 hours ago, dlbalr said: But of course, you wouldn't do that to anyone here, right? Of course not. Also key word was used to (like 2003). I used to be also be able to build and manipulate scripts mostly in my head for websites. Now I scratch my head and buy a Wordpress template to do all the work. All that knowledge is gone along with everything else I did on the internet in my teen/early adult years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chicoutimi Cucumber Posted September 23, 2018 Share Posted September 23, 2018 57 minutes ago, Metallica said: I think the question should be does hockey still need fighting in the game to keep the fans coming back? Given that fights aren't all that common any more anyway, I think the answer is pretty clearly 'no.' 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machine of Loving Grace Posted September 23, 2018 Share Posted September 23, 2018 1 hour ago, Metallica said: Fighting isnt good or bad when it comes to hockey. Owners back in they day saw that fights and big hits got fans up out there sets just as much as a good goal. Thats why its been in the game for so long, happy fans come back which means owners make money. I think the question should be does hockey still need fighting in the game to keep the fans coming back? There were 280 fights last season with 227 games featuring fights. 10 years prior there were 664 fights with 473 fights with games. League revenue has close to doubled in the past 10 years. Ratings averaged around 1.8 million viewers last season for Hockey Night in Canada. That number was around a 1 million in 2008. Now pre-lockout it was around 1.9 million, so we're back to the numbers it was getting back then. And back then, there were 789 fights in the season. And back then, there was a lot less to watch and it was easier to get an audience share than now. There were less fights this season than the 12-13 shortened season. By 67. Fighting is dropping at an alarming rate but ratings are up, revenue has doubled, and as new arenas with more seats are built, the league keeps filling them for the most part. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commandant Posted September 23, 2018 Share Posted September 23, 2018 Ratings are dropping for all.tv. cord cutters and streaming has cut into it too. This is a factor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metallica Posted September 23, 2018 Share Posted September 23, 2018 24 minutes ago, Machine of Loving Grace said: There were 280 fights last season with 227 games featuring fights. 10 years prior there were 664 fights with 473 fights with games. League revenue has close to doubled in the past 10 years. Ratings averaged around 1.8 million viewers last season for Hockey Night in Canada. That number was around a 1 million in 2008. Now pre-lockout it was around 1.9 million, so we're back to the numbers it was getting back then. And back then, there were 789 fights in the season. And back then, there was a lot less to watch and it was easier to get an audience share than now. There were less fights this season than the 12-13 shortened season. By 67. Fighting is dropping at an alarming rate but ratings are up, revenue has doubled, and as new arenas with more seats are built, the league keeps filling them for the most part. So we both agree that the NHL today doesn't need fighting to bring in fans. That if they got rid of fighting it wouldn't make a big impact in the NHL 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machine of Loving Grace Posted September 23, 2018 Share Posted September 23, 2018 14 minutes ago, Metallica said: So we both agree that the NHL today doesn't need fighting to bring in fans. That if they got rid of fighting it wouldn't make a big impact in the NHL I didn't know that was your point but yes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metallica Posted September 23, 2018 Share Posted September 23, 2018 24 minutes ago, Machine of Loving Grace said: I didn't know that was your point but yes. Yeah it was, I just tried to make a point that if we took out fighting in hockey would fans stop watching it. For me i don't think it would make a difference. I don't think fans would miss it. Not this generation of fans anyway. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DON Posted September 23, 2018 Author Share Posted September 23, 2018 11 hours ago, Metallica said: Yeah it was, I just tried to make a point that if we took out fighting in hockey would fans stop watching it. For me i don't think it would make a difference. I don't think fans would miss it. Not this generation of fans anyway. Well hasnt been fighting in playoffs, olympics, world juniors, world cups, world championships and fans still show up if is good "hockey" being played. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeLassister Posted September 23, 2018 Share Posted September 23, 2018 I won't lie, I'm 5'6'' and never really fought anyone in my life exept some scrums after the whistle in bantam league hockey. But I like fighting in general (boxing, UFC, MLB brawls and of course NHL fights). But I also don't consider it essential to hockey at all. What I enjoy most is when very good players, team leaders, drop the mits to defend a teammate or to change the momentum, to wake their team up. I absolutely loved Iginla for that reason. The good ol' days of Tkatchuk, Lecavalier, Clark, etc. The main change I'd made is that I'd be in favor of a 10 minutes penalty for fighting instead of 5 minutes. That's 1/6 of a game right there. Make people think twice about dropping them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machine of Loving Grace Posted September 23, 2018 Share Posted September 23, 2018 7 minutes ago, JoeLassister said: I won't lie, I'm 5'6'' and never really fought anyone in my life exept some scrums after the whistle in bantam league hockey. But I like fighting in general (boxing, UFC, MLB brawls and of course NHL fights). But I also don't consider it essential to hockey at all. What I enjoy most is when very good players, team leaders, drop the mits to defend a teammate or to change the momentum, to wake their team up. I'm not gonna act like I don't enjoy fighting. I've watched pro wrestling my whole life, watched UFC since the first show went on VHS, I've watched the precursor to UFC like RINGS and UWF-i and Pancrase. One of my earliest memories is when Nolan Ryan put Robin Ventura in a headlock for running up to him after a bean pitch (the best part of that story is that the dugouts cleared and there was a pileup with Ryan on the bottom. Ryan said he was suffocating underneath and going dark and if it wasn't for Bo Jackson grabbing guys by one hand and tossing them off him, he believed he would have died) I have been in fights, I've broken up fights, I've had to stand up for friends. Fighting happens. While I believe the momentum thing is BS and just an old wives tale we have told to make it seem like fighters are necessary (if players need a fight to realize they need to win something is wrong), I understand when a game reaches a boiling point and tempers explode. It happens in any Athletic competition and it is not just a men thing (I used to goto girls softball games in high school because there was a better chance of seeing two people punch each other in that than our junior B hockey). But with hockey we mythologized the fight. We act like if there isn't some meathead on the bench to punch someone then every star player is going to die on the ice with no call. We act like if someone does throw punches after a player on the team got hurt it makes anything better. It doesn't. If we were honest and said it was just two people getting way too angry to play hockey and that's it, I wouldn't have so much of an issue. And as someone who has had a serious concussion, and has watched people I know who had serious concussions begin to deteriorate in their 30s mentally, and fear of it happening myself, I just can't watch a hockey fight anymore and think I'm seeing just some gladiatorial battle with everyone hunky dory after. I think back to the former NHL hockey player I met two years ago at a banquet in his 40s whose wife had to tie his shoelaces privately because he couldn't do it, with her repeatedly telling him to go see the specialist again. You can still watch his fights on YouTube though. And people came up to him to tell them how much they loved watching him play hockey. And I wonder if he could go back and protect his brain, would he? And better question, would any coach or locker room in the 90s/early 00s even allow him to play safer? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalhabs Posted September 23, 2018 Share Posted September 23, 2018 I dont know about you guys but I sure wouldve loved to see someone do a Domi on Charas nose after the pacioretty thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xXx..CK..xXx Posted September 27, 2018 Share Posted September 27, 2018 Claude Julien didnt like fighting after this one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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