Ongoing NHL Thread Part V minutes for fighting

[elocomotive]

Personally it was because I didn't watch a second of it.

You didn't miss much.

 

[elocomotive]

I'm not sure anybody should be taking victory laps over what transpired tonight. What we saw tonight was the result of people at the highest executive levels of the NHL failing to do what needed to be done. I mean, it's pretty clear that the league doesn't care about player safety, so why should the fans? Hell, I posted earlier today that Bettman doesn't believe the science linking concussions and CTE, so why should we be surprised that banging a player's head against the ice results in no discipline from the league.

Who's taking victory laps? Lose-lose last night. I do think the league does care about player safety because we've seen significant rule changes over the past decade that have made the game safer, but we have not seen the league fundamentally shift away from fighting as being unacceptable. They've lessened it and competition has shifted more to speed over grit. But they still haven't solved that issue. The only league that has this problem is hockey. The only league that condones fighting is hockey. It's not rocket science.

I'll also revert to @Darkstone42 's oft cited complaint that one major problem here is also honestly very simple - guys need to strap on their helmets properly. I watched last with many guys with that strap dangling such that an entire hand could fit between the strap and their chin. I get that changing the culture of the game is not easy, but surely enforcing the proper wearing of helmets that any 8-year old must comport to should be an easy and injury-saving change.

And I hear you on the CTE issue, Dash. <lawyerhat> That is legal posturing to protect against liability for sure. </lawyerhat>

 

[Comeds]

I’m being perfectly honest, if that’s all they’re doing here I’m not watching another hockey game. I’m not here to watch attempted murder.

I had the exact same thought. If so I think/hope I can live without it. Would be easier if I could play it.

Obviously, my interest is at an all-time low with the Flames missing the playoffs and being plain awful this season, but with no crowds, the state of NHL officiating and the NHL DOPeS being a complete joke, I don't think I'm going to be watching many playoff games this season either.

I am curious as to how I will feel next season. After being a pretty die hard fan or 20+ years I have been pretty casual this year. I figured even not getting Center Ice this season I would still be following the Habs/league closely but that has not been the case. Usually I follow along each game but there have been numerous games that ended without me even checking in. Same with my wife and the Jets.

If Center Ice is on ESPN+ and as cheap as it sounds like it might be; I will probably get it. If its $170 we might not.

I do miss the Saturday night games a lot, but beyond that not as much as I expected.

Plus, you should see the matchstick models I have been creating in my spare former NHL time. I did one of the Louvre that people* are very impressed with.



*Mom, wife, dog, arresting officer, etc

 

[forty_three]

Anze Kopitar hits 1000 career points with this apple on an ENG.

Not bad for a guy who jumps over milk crates and calls it training.

Edit: Exactly 3 players in NHL history have 2 Selkes and 1000 points. Fedorov, Brind'Amour and Kopitar

 

[dash]

Anze Kopitar hits 1000 career points with this apple on an ENG.

Not bad for a guy who jumps over milk crates and calls it training.

Edit: Exactly 3 players in NHL history have 2 Selkes and 1000 points. Fedorov, Brind'Amour and Kopitar

Those are 3 guys who have also never been in my kitchen.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

I am curious as to how I will feel next season. After being a pretty die hard fan or 20+ years I have been pretty casual this year. I figured even not getting Center Ice this season I would still be following the Habs/league closely but that has not been the case. Usually I follow along each game but there have been numerous games that ended without me even checking in. Same with my wife and the Jets.

If Center Ice is on ESPN+ and as cheap as it sounds like it might be; I will probably get it. If its $170 we might not.

I do miss the Saturday night games a lot, but beyond that not as much as I expected.

Plus, you should see the matchstick models I have been creating in my spare former NHL time. I did one of the Louvre that people* are very impressed with.



*Mom, wife, dog, arresting officer, etc

People are saying the matchsticks are great.

/pretty much this. I don’t think I’ve sat and watched a full Leaf game in a month and they were few & far in between. Other teams almost not at all.

And it goes to what Dash said, this is all tied up in officiating and how the game is run. The BS with the refs this year, ultimately exposed in Tim Peel but hardly unnoticed by any average fan over the years, has reached a point where the game isn’t fun. I did get tired of playing Winnipeg every third night. And then the shithousery. Not much else to it.

Im obviously going to turn the tv on if the Leafs start winning playoff rounds but beyond that I’m not really into anything happening in the league. Hopefully a nice underdog like the Pens or the Bruins win the Cup and those long suffering fans get something out of this.

 

[forty_three]

People are saying the matchsticks are great.

/pretty much this. I don’t think I’ve sat and watched a full Leaf game in a month and they were few & far in between. Other teams almost not at all.

And it goes to what Dash said, this is all tied up in officiating and how the game is run. The BS with the refs this year, ultimately exposed in Tim Peel but hardly unnoticed by any average fan over the years, has reached a point where the game isn’t fun. I did get tired of playing Winnipeg every third night. And then the shithousery. Not much else to it.

Im obviously going to turn the tv on if the Leafs start winning playoff rounds but beyond that I’m not really into anything happening in the league. Hopefully a nice underdog like the Pens or the Bruins win the Cup and those long suffering fans get something out of this.

I think the only reason I have paid as much attention to the Jackets this year is because of how much of a train wreck it's been.

I haven't really paid a ton of attention to the rest of the league though. I have not watched even a single game that Kiriil Kaprizov has played.

 

[dash]

Im obviously going to turn the tv on if the Leafs start winning playoff rounds but beyond that I’m not really into anything happening in the league. Hopefully a nice underdog like the Pens or the Bruins win the Cup and those long suffering fans get something out of this.

lol - I'm rooting for Vegas, I want them to win a Cup and then lose (*checks notes*) zero players because they're exempt from the Seattle expansion draft.

 

[dare2be]

Hopefully a nice underdog like the Pens or the Bruins win the Cup and those long suffering fans get something out of this.

Thanks. We'll take it, just for you

 

[Comeds]

People are saying the matchsticks are great.

/pretty much this. I don’t think I’ve sat and watched a full Leaf game in a month and they were few & far in between. Other teams almost not at all.

And it goes to what Dash said, this is all tied up in officiating and how the game is run. The BS with the refs this year, ultimately exposed in Tim Peel but hardly unnoticed by any average fan over the years, has reached a point where the game isn’t fun. I did get tired of playing Winnipeg every third night. And then the shithousery. Not much else to it.

Im obviously going to turn the tv on if the Leafs start winning playoff rounds but beyond that I’m not really into anything happening in the league. Hopefully a nice underdog like the Pens or the Bruins win the Cup and those long suffering fans get something out of this.

I'm cheering for the Bruins too, always loved that team and group of guys.

 

[sbb122]

People are saying the matchsticks are great.

/pretty much this. I don’t think I’ve sat and watched a full Leaf game in a month and they were few & far in between. Other teams almost not at all.

And it goes to what Dash said, this is all tied up in officiating and how the game is run. The BS with the refs this year, ultimately exposed in Tim Peel but hardly unnoticed by any average fan over the years, has reached a point where the game isn’t fun. I did get tired of playing Winnipeg every third night. And then the shithousery. Not much else to it.

Im obviously going to turn the tv on if the Leafs start winning playoff rounds but beyond that I’m not really into anything happening in the league. Hopefully a nice underdog like the Pens or the Bruins win the Cup and those long suffering fans get something out of this.

And we’ll still bitch about the Pirates lol

 

[obxyankeefan]

I'm cheering for the Bruins too, always loved that team and group of guys.

Comeds after typing that

 

[dash]

One of the first replies to this tweet...

 

[obxyankeefan]

One of the first replies to this tweet...

What are the odds he gets more then a $5000 fine?

 

[dash]

What are the odds he gets more then a $5000 fine?

Oh, he's sitting for at least two games I figure.

 

[forty_three]

Oh, he's sitting for at least two games I figure.

Given the situation, it could actually be more. He got a few penalties before that and the league takes it very seriously when people have a history and choose not to calm down when given the opportunity after they've been puniched for over the edge behavior.

The only thing working in his favor is the lack of previous discipline.

I would not be surprised to see it get five. He covered a lot of ground to hit a defenseless guy high.

 

[dash]

Given the situation, it could actually be more. He got a few penalties before that and the league takes it very seriously when people have a history and choose not to calm down when given the opportunity after they've been puniched for over the edge behavior.

The only thing working in his favor is the lack of previous discipline.

I would not be surprised to see it get five. He covered a lot of ground to hit a defenseless guy high.

I think the other thing working in his favo(u)r is that it doesn't appear that Mantha was seriously injured. That said, I agree with you, it could easily be 4 or 5 games with the premeditated angle being part of the equation.

 

[forty_three]

I think the other thing working in his favo(u)r is that it doesn't appear that Mantha was seriously injured. That said, I agree with you, it could easily be 4 or 5 games with the premeditated angle being part of the equation.

He'd already had a stick foul in the game (slash on the gutter snipe) and if the refs state they warned him to chill out he's gonna have a bad time.

 

[wings-pens2166]

One of the first replies to this tweet...

What I don’t get it? That looked just like just a hard-nosed, Tom Wilson like hockey play




but yeah, he’s sitting a while

 

[wings-pens2166]

He'd already had a stick foul in the game (slash on the gutter snipe) and if the refs state they warned him to chill out he's gonna have a bad time.

I’m in no way defending or justifying what Buch did. Simply cannot have that in the game.

however, if I’m him (or his advocate at least) I’d be like hey, I tried to let it go. It was Mantha and the Caps that wouldn’t let it go. At the other end of the ice Mantha sorta face palms him and tugs his face shield down, then at this end of the ice Mantha’s the one tracking Buch everywhere, giving him little shots. Once they’re separated, to your earlier point, Buch doesn’t close as much distance as you think since Mantha curls back and is headed for Buch as much as Buch is headed for him. As for being a defenseless player, well clearly Mantha didn’t expect what he got, but wasn’t defenseless in any way. You can see his hands and stick starting to come up as well, that he was going to engage Buch just as much.

That all said, Buchevich needs to sit and sit for a while. But Mantha was no innocent victim in this.