Yeah I am officially done with fighting in the NHL

[DoobeeDoobeeDoo]

Missed the point, but that's okay, you still get a cupcake.

No I didn't, it eventually may have to come to a point where body checking is banned in the NHL, the players are getting bigger and faster, and the game has become more and more dangerous. They already changed the icing rules maybe they will eventually have to take away body checking as well. Hockey causes more head injuries among kids than any other sport so maybe the NHL is sending a very bad message with all this fighting and hitting.

 

[IPostedWhat]

Hockey causes more head injuries among kids than any other sport.

Sorry, but that would be football.

 

[DoobeeDoobeeDoo]

*Clicking won't actually open it.

Sorry, I don't care what Marty McSorely & Tony Twist have to say about safety. That would be like reading a book entitled "Winning the Stanley Cup: the Buffalo Sabre way".

 

[IPostedWhat]

Sorry, I don't care what Marty McSorely & Tony Twist have to say about safety. That would be like reading a book entitled "Winning the Stanley Cup: the Buffalo Sabre way".

Yes, with ignorance comes posts like these. Nothing I wouldn't expect from someone who's been a fan since 2007.

 

[Winged_Wheel88]

Sorry, I don't care what Marty McSorely & Tony Twist have to say about safety. That would be like reading a book entitled "Winning the Stanley Cup: the Buffalo Sabre way".

You sure you're against fighting? That was certainly a low blow.

 

[DoobeeDoobeeDoo]

You sure you're against fighting? That was certainly a low blow.

You're right, I apologize for that remark, it was uncalled for.

 

[IPostedWhat]

You sure you're against fighting? That was certainly a low blow.

That's ok, people who usually lack the ability to carry an argument successfully, resort to low blows like these. Doesn't bother me, as I am still a fan of my team, but most importantly, I'm still a fan of hockey.

 

[DoobeeDoobeeDoo]

Yes, with ignorance comes posts like these. Nothing I wouldn't expect from someone who's been a fan since 2007.

Why 2007? We got Sid in 2005.

 

[DoobeeDoobeeDoo]

That's ok, people who usually lack the ability to carry an argument successfully, resort to low blows like these. Doesn't bother me, as I am still a fan of my team, but most importantly, I'm still a fan of hockey.

Yeah, because that was the core of my argument against fighting. Never mind that you conveniently ignored or twisted everything else I said to fit your narrative.

 

[IPostedWhat]

Why 2007? We got Sid in 2005.

From your posts, I concluded that you might be a little slow.

 

[IPostedWhat]

Never mind that you conveniently ignored or twisted everything else I said to fit your narrative.

Like what?

 

[DoobeeDoobeeDoo]

From your posts, I concluded that you might be a little slow.

No, I knew we would get Sid in 2003, everyone in Pittsburgh knew.

 

[dash]

 

[DoobeeDoobeeDoo]

Like what?

Like the fact that every known person who has died as a direct cause of CTE was a player who dropped the gloves for a living.

That I'm in favor of reducing hitting from the game, just like I'm in favor of reducing fighting.

That you don't need players to police each other, the other sports leagues don't have that policy, so why should the NHL?

The only thing I said that you actually responded to was the one about the Buffalo Sabres. That got 2 responses.

 

[DoobeeDoobeeDoo]

Oops forgot to wish him well on Twitter, BRB...

 

[IPostedWhat]

1)Like the fact that every known person who has died as a direct cause of CTE was a player who dropped the gloves for a living.

2) That I'm in favor of reducing hitting from the game, just like I'm in favor of reducing fighting.

3) That you don't need players to police each other, the other sports leagues don't have that policy, so why should the NHL?

4) The only thing I said that you actually responded to was the one about the Buffalo Sabres. That got 2 responses.

1) So 4 known people have died from CTE, but that wasn't on the ice. More players have died on the ice from sustaining fatal injuries not attributed to fighting.

2) They have already been trying to find way to reduce fighting, but hitting is so much a part of the game, how would you even begin to decide how to reduce it? Even if you do reduce it, accidents are still going to happen, accidental or not. Slippery slope.

3) The players would disagree with you on that one. Just because you say something is true in a sport you don't play professionally, doesn't make it so. Other sports have their own ways of doing the same thing. Ever hear of Bounty gate?

4) Not true at all. I responded back to you at least 10 times before that even happened. Go back and look, you'll see.

 

[Darkstone42]

A few main points:

Fighting is not a part of the game of hockey. It's in the culture, sure, but it's not part of the sport itself. There is a fundamental difference between taking a harder line on fighting (read, attempting to eliminate it completely) than getting rid of hitting. Hitting occurs during actual game play. Actual game play ceases at the start of a fight. Ergo, fighting is not part of the game of hockey.

Yes, hitting can lead to injuries. Even legal hits can lead to injury. I've injured myself getting out of bed in the morning. Anything can cause injury. But hits can be used to separate a player from the puck, take a player out of the play. They serve a purpose in the course of the contest. What does fighting accomplish in terms of the actual game of hockey? Nothing. It sends two players to the penalty box for five minutes and stops game action for a couple minutes. It serves no tangible purpose. Thus, while hitting can lead to injuries, there is a tangible trade-off. You might get hurt, but you can free the puck up for your team. With fights, whether you get hurt or not, you leave the ice for five minutes. Oh boy!

I propose that if you decide to fight, if you decide to leave the game of hockey for a bit of boxing, that should be your last action in that game. You decided to play something that wasn't hockey, so you're done playing hockey today. Suspensions can be added as players fight frequently. Coupled with increasingly stringent checking rules (I like Doobee's ideas on this), there will be no increase in cheap shots.

The final point I have is that the players' opinions on the matter mean nothing. We're talking about guys who largely have no legitimate training in any fields relevant to brain health who are largely in their twenties and at a stage in their lives (a stage which I believe is significantly lengthened in professional athletes due to their highly-physical livelihoods) in which they feel invincible in the face of even the most compelling evidence to the contrary. "That might have happened to the other guy, but it'll never happen to me." We're all guilty of those sorts of thoughts in life, even the most grounded of us. These guys aren't grounded, though. They're physically elite. They're not worried about these sorts of things happening to them, and you'll never convince them in any real way that it can.

Summary:
Fighting is stupid and pointless and not part of the game of hockey, and the players' particular worldviews make them among the least qualified people to decide whether or not fighting has a place in the culture of hockey.

 

[Darkstone42]

I guess the big anti-fighting argument a lot of us have is that it unnecessarily puts players at extra risk.

We just want something which is already illegal to carry heftier consequences to make it less common to the point of being a rare event.

 

[ChicagoIrish]

Like the fact that every known person who has died as a direct cause of CTE was a player who dropped the gloves for a living.

That I'm in favor of reducing hitting from the game, just like I'm in favor of reducing fighting.

That you don't need players to police each other, the other sports leagues don't have that policy, so why should the NHL?

The only thing I said that you actually responded to was the one about the Buffalo Sabres. That got 2 responses.

1) So 4 known people have died from CTE, but that wasn't on the ice. More players have died on the ice from sustaining fatal injuries not attributed to fighting.

2) They have already been trying to find way to reduce fighting, but hitting is so much a part of the game, how would you even begin to decide how to reduce it? Even if you do reduce it, accidents are still going to happen, accidental or not. Slippery slope.

3) The players would disagree with you on that one. Just because you say something is true in a sport you don't play professionally, doesn't make it so. Other sports have their own ways of doing the same thing. Ever hear of Bounty gate?

4) Not true at all. I responded back to you at least 10 times before that even happened. Go back and look, you'll see.

Maybe you two should drop the gloves!

 

[IPostedWhat]

What does fighting accomplish in terms of the actual game of hockey? Nothing.

I disagree. If fighting served no purpose at all, then it would not exist in the NHL, and 98% of players would not be in support of it.

Why would the vast majority of players be in favor of something that serves no purpose? That doesn't make any sense.