Olympic versus NHL hockey

[GDLLover]

Call me a knuckle dragger then I used to enjoy watching the NHL with fights. Now there's nothing, so if you say that it has fights well watch some archived Broad Street Bullies or The Boston Bruisers then well talk exciting fights.

I will digress, its not the fights that have affected the entertainment value. I don't even watch the NHL anymore because of one thing alone, over officiating. Its now stop hockey, a whistle every 10 seconds of play. This is what makes the olympic hockey so much better, refs put the whistle in the pocket just like they used to in the NHL's 80's.

 

[shack]

Thats a legitimate personal choice. But there is no message or lesson to be extracted from it. It's just a satatement of the fact that you are one of the many people who for the most part gets by perfectly well without hockey.



Here you are just throwing out a familiar bag of negative terms all in the same breath without really being able to explain or illustrate what you are saying.

There is no connection whatsoever between fighting and "slowing down the best players". 90 percent of fights start 50-100 feet behind the play and have not impact at all on the ability of other players to skate or make plays. The remaining fights are "staged" fights between goons - usually right off a faceoff - and this also has no connection with impeding or wearing down the best players.

As for clutching and grabbing ...LOL, that' a totally different thing ... has nothing to do with the talent concentration or the significance of games. There was TONS of obstruction and interfearence in the Olympics. In particular, Finland-Slovakia, Canada-Slovakia and Canada-USA 2 all had much more hooking, tripping, crosschcking & holding in the 3ed periods than a typical NHL game. The only difference was the refs were letting almost everything go (hence the stretches of continuos, end-to-end action....) So unless they go back to playing without helmets & visors and tacitly allowing players to deter gratuitous obstruction with elbows & butt ends, nothing is going to stop it.

Olympic hockey was exciting.
Olympic hockey had no fights.
Olympic hockey had lots of flow (regardless of whether there was obstruction, which in the NHL slows down games whether the refs call it or not).
Olympic hockey was played the way the game was meant to be played.
Olympic hockey proved you don't need all the bullshit of the NHL.

No further analysis of the why's and wherefors needed.

I heard James Duthie last night say to his panel, 30 Olympic games, zero fights. Anybody miss it? Silence.

 

[shack]

Call me a knuckle dragger then I used to enjoy watching the NHL with fights. Now there's nothing, so if you say that it has fights well watch some archived Broad Street Bullies or The Boston Bruisers then well talk exciting fights.

I too enjoyed fights very much back in the day. It was unfortunate that the tactics of the Bruins and Flyers, though entertaining, over the years, has degenerated into the mentality of gang warfare and staged fights as opposed to the previous approach of two individuals with a score to settle going at it in a manly/more honourable manner.

I will digress, its not the fights that have affected the entertainment value. I don't even watch the NHL anymore because of one thing alone, over officiating. Its now stop hockey, a whistle every 10 seconds of play. This is what makes the olympic hockey so much better, refs put the whistle in the pocket just like they used to in the NHL's 80's.

Not only is it over reffed, it is also overcoached. Few individual rushes, neutral zone traps, D-men rarely joining the rush etc., etc. Remember how brutally boring the Devils/Ducks final was several years back? That was before the crackdown on obstruction so the refs weren't calling as much as now and it was still about the most boring hockey I have ever seen.

 

[SkyRider]

Are the Olympic ice hockey games played on a larger rink as well? If yes, I think this helps the flow. More skating room and more room for passes. I noticed a lot more passes back to the D-men.

 

[Hurricane Hank]

Are the Olympic ice hockey games played on a larger rink as well? If yes, I think this helps the flow. More skating room and more room for passes. I noticed a lot more passes back to the D-men.

This Olympic hockey was played on NHL sized surfaces. First time I believe.

 

[Hard Idle]

Olympic hockey was exciting.
Olympic hockey had no fights.

Even if I grant you that, I don't see the point. The two are not really related. There are exciting games without fights, exciting games with fights, as well as boring games without fights and boring games with fights.

But I don't gran't that the hockey was all that. Most of the games were nothing special, other than being THE OLYMPICS. It was exciting because it was THE OLYMPICS, it was here and unlike 4 years ago Canada actually got into the medal games. People built it up and they would have been jacked if the teams went out and tossed horseshoes for 60 minutes.

The hockey in 2006 was far superior with a higher scoring gold medal game yet there wasn't any of this buzz or talk of excitement because Canada and the US got bounced in the quarters. If it had been the Czechs and Swedes playing last Sunday, the Olympic Hockey thread would have fizzled out the morning after and we wouldn't be having any of these conversations.

Olympic hockey was played the way the game was meant to be played.

How do you know? Where were you and hat were you doing in 1901?

Olympic hockey proved you don't need all the bullshit of the NHL.

This is true. Why take a 1 game suspension for fighting when for the same penalty you can deliver a much more damaging elbow to the head and take an opponenets starter right out of the tournament.

I heard James Duthie last night say to his panel, 30 Olympic games, zero fights. Anybody miss it? Silence.

They'd be drooling for a fight after a month of Germany-Belarus games ....

Most professional hockey leagues' seasons consist of alot of Germany-Belarus games, not several hundred millions worth of talent all on the ice at the same time in a one-game winner take all situation.

 

[shack]

Even if I grant you that, I don't see the point.

The point, which I shall repeat for you, is that fighting is not necessary for exciting hockey.

It's not that hard to grasp the concept, although some may have to concentrate harder than others.

Make up all the scenarios, and but this and but that you like. The point is that the Olympics proved hockey can be great without fighting. It doesn't mean every single game is going to be a barn burner (BTW, there a very few NHL calibre players in Germany and Belarus so that is not a fair comparison) but the overall game was better than the NHL without any fights. Very simple.

 

[polarity]

i don't know about you, but i watch hockey for the bare knuckle brawls....ufc used to have that, waaaayyy back, now its just lacross and hockey. oh wells, if you prefer figure skating with sticks thats you're preference.

shit, and at least my habs have won a Stanley cup in recent history, must be depressing to tell people you're a leafs fan.

 

[Questor]

The point, which I shall repeat for you, is that fighting is not necessary for exciting hockey.

It's not that hard to grasp the concept, although some may have to concentrate harder than others.

Make up all the scenarios, and but this and but that you like. The point is that the Olympics proved hockey can be great without fighting. It doesn't mean every single game is going to be a barn burner (BTW, there a very few NHL calibre players in Germany and Belarus so that is not a fair comparison) but the overall game was better than the NHL without any fights. Very simple.

No question, the quality was much better. There are a number of reasons, as others have pointed out.

• 
  Way fewer teams so there was a high concentration of stars.
  Short tournament format meant every game counted, unlike the NHL
  NHL millioinaire fatcat hockey players don't care so much when they are playing for money. But they do care for their own national pride.

These things can't and won't be ever be duplicated in the NHL. The closest we can come is a close playoff series between two stacked teams. And even then, its not so meaningful unless its your team.

As for fighting, yes, the players can control themselves and don't need to fight. Indeed they won't fight when they know it will cost their team. But as others have said, fighting fills seats, especially in geographical regions where there is no hockey tradition and the fans can not appreciate the finer points of the game. So as long as the NHL maintains its current marketing strategies, fighting will be part of the sport.

 

[Rockslinger]

Way fewer teams so there was a high concentration of stars.

Yup, the best 22 players from each country.

 

[lovelatinas]

I like good hockey fight now and then.

 

[Kitwat]

Hockey fights help to sell tickets. If less fighting, or no fighting could be proven to sell tickets..........

If hockey needs fights to sell tickets then it's not much of a sport. Football, basketball, baseball all sell far more tickets in North America than hockey. And they don't allow fighting.

 

[21pro]

remember- blindsiding headshots are permitted in the olympics though...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxG7Y41fKyg

 

[Rockslinger]

If hockey needs fights to sell tickets then it's not much of a sport.

I prefer more sex and less fights in hockey. Maybe topless cheerleaders. Hee, hee, hee.