Hockey has come a long way since the days of Philadelphia's Broad Street Bullies, and it's clutch and grab style of play that used to bring on alot of fisticuffs, or the odd bench clearing brawl, but since League Commisioner Gary Bettman has stepped in, people feel that the way he has changed the game, is not only creating a higher tempo, higher scoring game, but also eliminating another aspect of the game that has been around since it started.
There are 2 arguements to both sides, some feel NHL Enforcers have no role in the game anymore, and that they only bring barbaric action to the ice, for example Jesse Boulerice of the Philadelphia Flyers' unprovoked cross-check to the face of Canucks centre Ryan Kesler 2 weeks ago, But on the other hand, some feel that an Enforcer is a good guy to have around when games start getting a little out of hand, or chippy as you may call it.
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I'm on the side that feels NHL enforcers still do serve a good purpose in the NHL, goalies are always going to get run, and star players are always going to be targetted, players make millions being agitators against top players, and there needs to be a policeman out there sometimes to make sure that people aren't going to get seriously injured. With this i'm not saying it's good to have a big guy on the ice to beat on a much smaller agitator, but if the agitator can dish it out, he should be prepared to take it.
If there was a happy medium with Enforcers, more players such as the Phoenix Coyotes Danny Carcillo, who is no stranger to dropping the mitts, but can also contribute offensively, then i think the NHL would be better suited, instead of the headhunters like former New York Rangers Dale Purinton, who was a repeat offender when it came to suspensions.
The days of Bob Probert and Stu Grimson are long gone, not alot of teams out there have one or more "Heavy's" to square off at centre ice with an opposing team's muscle, but it is still nice to see a good toe-to-toe bout with meaning in a close, high tempo matchup, it just adds to the entertainment, aslong as nobody gets seriously injured, I believe fighting in hockey will be here to stay, aslong as the NHL can weed out the REAL goons.
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10 months ago
know some enforcers like, Jesse Boulerice and other philly flyers, dont belong in the NHL at all and should never be back. for the one argument to say that they dont belong??? know i can say this, that the anahiem ducks only beat my sens bacause of their enforcers! they took the sens top line and kept them as crap as any other line in the NHL. so to say that is crap and go look at stats. this off-season they tried to make the NHL more safe and look what happened, the Flyers!! i think they should e fined in salary wage. there is no need to do anything that ANY of them did. if they NHL finally realizes how much damage this goons are doing to the league they will take some good action to stop it for good.
10 months ago
Thanks for the input, Devin.
I see what you are saying about the flyers, it isn't just this year that they have had a bad track record as far as goons go, You are probably also referring to the pre-season, where their rookie Steve Downey almost took off Dean Mccammonds head with a leaping blow to the head behind the net. They were also scrutinized back in the 70's even with the game as tough as it was.
With my arguement, there has to be a happy medium with "Enforcers" and the player i brought up was Coyotes' Dan Carcillo, who protects his teammates, agitates within boundary, and also helps on the scoresheet, too.
I'm pretty sure that if there are alot more incidents such as the Boulerice attack on Kesler, or the Chris Simon on Ryan Holweg last season, the NHL are going to have very severe punishments, and nobody is stupid enough to think a cheapshot like either of those is worth the heavy fine/suspension.
9 months ago
hey mack,
thanks for the comment.
I agree with this article. If NHL teams keep enforcers, and keep on fighting, they will definitely weed out the goons.
Having two heavy-weights go at it, toe-to-toe, then sit down in the box for 5 minutes is a good thing. It sure beat a cross-check to the grill, or a swing of the stick to someones head.
Enforcers like Chris Neil, who can whoop some ass, and contribute to the game with the occasional goal and assist, are few, unfortunately.
Good read here.
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