The Cobra
04-16-2016, 02:36 AM
The Watercooler: Will fists fly in the playoffs?
By Gary Lawless (http://www.tsn.ca/talent/gary-lawless-1.365398)
http://tsnimages.tsn.ca/ImageProvider/AssetImage?seoId=gary-lawless&width=165 Gary Lawless (http://www.tsn.ca/talent/gary-lawless-1.365398) TSN Senior Correspondent
Cobra....
Just what TSN and the Toronto media was missing... another blowhard, know nothing, says anything for a story reporter. Well Gary it`s pretty obvious you`ve never watched a playoff game or a series between 2 teams because this is hockey, this playoff hockey and emotions get the better of players at times so there WILL be fighting you fool. We are only 2 games into the first playoff round and already there have been several fights as the boys are just warming up.
Don`t point at the players in total because they get a lot of help....the way the Wings/Bolts game was officiated it could be deemed as inciting to riot....and the players responded accordingly as their frustrations with the refs boiled over.
Sit down Gary and watch a game, learn a little something before opening that gaping hole you call a mouth and somebody for once in your career may actually listen to what you have to say.
TSN
Five questions hockey people are talking about around The Watercooler this week:
Will there be blood?
Through seven postseason games so far there has been one fight. Last season there were just eight in the entire playoffs. Fighting continues to drop in the regular season and it’s already a rarity in the Stanley Cup tournament.
St. Louis Blues defenceman Colton Parayko (http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/player-bio/colton-parayko) asked Chicago Blackhawks winger Andrew Ladd (http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/player-bio/andrew-ladd) to answer for a belt Ladd delivered on Wednesday night and the veteran forward flatly told him to beat it before both returned to play. Risk injury or penalty for delivering a clean hit at this time of year? No thanks.
Then on Thursday, the precise example of why there are so few fights in the postseason unfolded in the Capitals 1-0 win over the Flyers.
Washington winger Tom Wilson (http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/player-bio/tom-wilson) ran Flyers defenceman Andrew MacDonald (http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/player-bio/andrew-macdonald) from behind in the third period with the Caps ahead by a goal. It was a stupid play by Wilson. Flyers power forward Wayne Simmonds (http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/player-bio/wayne-simmonds), however, took Wilson’s stupid and raised it.
Simmonds jumped in and grabbed Wilson. They fought. When the referees were done with the accounting, Simmonds was given a minor for roughing and a major for fighting. Wilson was given a minor for boarding and a major for fighting. The Flyers lost a power play in the third period of a playoff game and eventually the game. Did Simmonds send Wilson a message? Sure did: We’re suckers.
This was a season where most of the fighting on fighting was done in the media. On the ice, it was largely a campaign of peace.
The NHL experienced .28 fights per game this season, the lowest since 1968-69. There are almost no players on NHL rosters whose role is primarily to fight. Parity and the three-point game have made each outcome too important. Coaches need to win games to keep their jobs, and fighting just doesn’t lead to success. So it’s disappearing.
Former department of player safety head Brendan Shanahan proposed a game misconduct for fighting in a 2011 email to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and deputy commissioner Bill Daly.
"Fighting (like slashing) is NOT legal. There is a penalty. Unlike fighting however, teams don't employ "slashers" for that simple role. We could work out the details but maybe it's time to propose increases [to] the penalty for fighting. If you fight, you get kicked out.
"It's only a matter of time before the CHL and other feeder leagues do it. Let's be first. I believe it's the right thing to do."
Right thing to do? Yup.
By Gary Lawless (http://www.tsn.ca/talent/gary-lawless-1.365398)
http://tsnimages.tsn.ca/ImageProvider/AssetImage?seoId=gary-lawless&width=165 Gary Lawless (http://www.tsn.ca/talent/gary-lawless-1.365398) TSN Senior Correspondent
Cobra....
Just what TSN and the Toronto media was missing... another blowhard, know nothing, says anything for a story reporter. Well Gary it`s pretty obvious you`ve never watched a playoff game or a series between 2 teams because this is hockey, this playoff hockey and emotions get the better of players at times so there WILL be fighting you fool. We are only 2 games into the first playoff round and already there have been several fights as the boys are just warming up.
Don`t point at the players in total because they get a lot of help....the way the Wings/Bolts game was officiated it could be deemed as inciting to riot....and the players responded accordingly as their frustrations with the refs boiled over.
Sit down Gary and watch a game, learn a little something before opening that gaping hole you call a mouth and somebody for once in your career may actually listen to what you have to say.
TSN
Five questions hockey people are talking about around The Watercooler this week:
Will there be blood?
Through seven postseason games so far there has been one fight. Last season there were just eight in the entire playoffs. Fighting continues to drop in the regular season and it’s already a rarity in the Stanley Cup tournament.
St. Louis Blues defenceman Colton Parayko (http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/player-bio/colton-parayko) asked Chicago Blackhawks winger Andrew Ladd (http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/player-bio/andrew-ladd) to answer for a belt Ladd delivered on Wednesday night and the veteran forward flatly told him to beat it before both returned to play. Risk injury or penalty for delivering a clean hit at this time of year? No thanks.
Then on Thursday, the precise example of why there are so few fights in the postseason unfolded in the Capitals 1-0 win over the Flyers.
Washington winger Tom Wilson (http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/player-bio/tom-wilson) ran Flyers defenceman Andrew MacDonald (http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/player-bio/andrew-macdonald) from behind in the third period with the Caps ahead by a goal. It was a stupid play by Wilson. Flyers power forward Wayne Simmonds (http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/player-bio/wayne-simmonds), however, took Wilson’s stupid and raised it.
Simmonds jumped in and grabbed Wilson. They fought. When the referees were done with the accounting, Simmonds was given a minor for roughing and a major for fighting. Wilson was given a minor for boarding and a major for fighting. The Flyers lost a power play in the third period of a playoff game and eventually the game. Did Simmonds send Wilson a message? Sure did: We’re suckers.
This was a season where most of the fighting on fighting was done in the media. On the ice, it was largely a campaign of peace.
The NHL experienced .28 fights per game this season, the lowest since 1968-69. There are almost no players on NHL rosters whose role is primarily to fight. Parity and the three-point game have made each outcome too important. Coaches need to win games to keep their jobs, and fighting just doesn’t lead to success. So it’s disappearing.
Former department of player safety head Brendan Shanahan proposed a game misconduct for fighting in a 2011 email to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and deputy commissioner Bill Daly.
"Fighting (like slashing) is NOT legal. There is a penalty. Unlike fighting however, teams don't employ "slashers" for that simple role. We could work out the details but maybe it's time to propose increases [to] the penalty for fighting. If you fight, you get kicked out.
"It's only a matter of time before the CHL and other feeder leagues do it. Let's be first. I believe it's the right thing to do."
Right thing to do? Yup.