Fighting in the NHL and Other Random Thoughts

The main storyline of the young NHL season seems to be revolved around fighting and its place in the game. On Opening night, there were several great games, but the headline was about the fight between George Parros and Colton Orr, where Parros ended up falling face first into the ice and suffering a bad concussion.

This was the second major incident revolving fighting already.  In a preseason game, super thug John Scott tried to start a fight with superstar Phil Kessel, who was half the size of Scott.  Kessel ended up swinging his stick frantically trying to get away from Scott.  This resulted in everyone, including the goalies in a fight.  David Clarkson even jumped off the bench to try to protect Kessel from Scott and received an automatic 10 game suspension.

The NHL has been focused on preventing head injuries but doesn't want to even discuss the issue. Commissioner Gary Bettman said that fighting is a minor part of the game and that the league doesn't promote this aspect of the game.  I find his statement hilarious.  Just watch the pregame show before the Wednesday night  rivalry game.  It focuses on nothing but the history of fights or brawls between the two teams.

The old school hockey personalities say that fighting is part of the heritage and that it polices the game.  I think this school of thought is no longer a reality.  The Detroit Red Wings (yes, my favorite team, so maybe I am biased) have made the playoffs for 22 straight seasons and annually they are last in the league in fighting majors.  Teams don't even dress their super thugs when playing Detroit, or Pittsburgh or Chicago or any of the other skilled teams that would skate circles around these players.

I don't have an issue with fighting if done for the right reason.  I've seen good fights between regular players that have been entertaining.  My biggest issue is the super thugs like Scott or Scott MacIntyre, who can barely even skate to the player he is trying to fight.  These players have no place in the game.  They play 4-5 minutes a night and don't add anything except for a heavyweight bout or in Scott's case chasing around a much smaller player.

One solution has been to give game misconducts to each player that fights and then they are done for that game.  Problem with that will be the worthless players chasing around players like Milan Lucic and trying to get him kicked out of the game.  That rule would end quickly the first time Sidney Crosby gets goaded into a fight with a fourth liner.

I think the NHL actually needs to take a closer look at fighting and seriously look at whatever it takes to get it out of the game.

HUGO:  When i started this blog two years ago, my first story was about the Academy Awards and I ripped the move Hugo.  I said that I didn't understand anything about the movie based on any of the clips shown.

Since then, I have watched the move twice and even own it on Blu Ray.  If you love movies, then you NEED to watch this movie.  It is truly a beautiful film.  I also now understand why the clips were mysterious.  The film is a love letter to the movies.  That's all I will give away, you just NEED to see it for yourself.

ESPN IS CLUELESS ABOUT THE NHL:  Over the summer, ESPN decided to run a couple series of articles that truly show that they should just step away from the NHL and let them operate on their own.

First there was the comparison game with a poll asking which player you'd rather have in their prime.  First of all the game has changed so much over the years that it is hard to make comparisons between some players.  The two biggest laughs were Crosby vs. Wayne Gretzky and Zdeno Chara vs. Nicklas Lidstrom.

First of all, Crosby is a very talented player, but he is not even close to the Great One.  Crosby's injury issues alone make it hard from him to compare.  The only player/Penguin you could make the argument for would be Mario Lemieux.  Crosby couldn't even win the who is the greatest Penguin argument, let alone the greatest player.  However, I found the other comparison even more ridiculous.  Lidstrom is considered one of the top 2 defensemen of all time, with Bobby Orr.  Chara, while very good, is not in the same league as Lidstrom or Orr and he would probably be the first to tell you that.

ESPN followed this up with its greatest current players by position.  These lists were all over the place.  The biggest evidence for their lack of NHL knowledge came in the top 50 forwards.  Bobby Ryan wasn't even on the list.  Ryan has scored over 30 goals in a season several times in his career.  There was a player on this same list who hasn't even completed a single NHL season.

NEW TV SHOWS:  We've had the opportunity to watch some of the new TV shows that have premiered this season.  Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is the most entertaining, but I am a comic book nerd, so maybe I'm biased.  It is followed closely by Brooklyn Nine Nine, which is hilarious.  Sleepy Hollow is crazy and entertaining for now.  Though it could easily lose its appeal if you lose your suspension of disbelief.  Blacklist and Hostages are very similar, in that they are both action shows with very little in the way of substance.  Blacklist easily wins the battle between the two, probably because of James Spader and his creepiness.