Fighting in hockey

Grabbing my Bertuzzi poster, douche.

 

Chara any time he's on the ice.

 

But Chara is a skill player who brings more than just enforcement skills.

 

and that is what most of us are talking about, nobody wants the 2 minute goons.

 

Absolutely, but if you want to talk about a deterrent, look no further than him. You think anyone will run Tim Thomas like guys have gone at Ryan Miller and others? Knowing Chara will either be out there at the time or coming over the boards any second now? Nobody goes out of their way to fuck with him. And if you avoid him you'll deal with Lucic or Thornton.

To me, the three shift a game enforcer who can do nothing but fight is not the answer. As others have noted, it's team toughness that is important, of which the Bruins are a prime example. (The Sabres, on the other hand, are not. Brian Burke talks a lot about it with the Leafs but has yet to produce a really tough team.) You need guys who can take a regular shift, who can fight or be very physical.

I worked in the OHL for 10 years and probably saw 700+ games live. I love a good scrap as much as anyone but I can probably count on two hands the number of really good fights I saw, and I don't ever recall seeing a fight that changed the tide in a game, let alone a playoff series.

What always concerned me were those tough teams, that were going to make your forwards pay in the corners or at the blue line or in front of the net and who always had a tough guy or two who took a regular shift.

 

Well said.

 

Read the post: It says, "If you <b>touch</b> the talent, you have to answer to the brawler."

 

Here's what I know: Everyone has an "enforcer." The enforcers fight each other and have no effect on the rest of the game.

They're a sideshow. They fight, they sit in the penalty box, and the game goes on without them.

This idea that their presence somehow protects the stars is mostly bullshit.

 

I'm not talking about the true enforcers (though I can see how using the McSorley-Semenko example might imply that - it's just the most extreme example I can think of where a star player was clearly protected by teammates). Like has been mentioned a ton on this thread, enforcers are a dying breed for reasons that have little to do with fighting and everything to do with the increasing speed on the game.

There are plenty of players who fight who are not classic enforcers. From giant but skilled defensemen like Chara to the agitators who have decent hockey skill like Ott to the power forwards like Bertuzzi and the feisty but smaller guys who really only fight to stand up for their teammates, I would wager a guess that most of the fights in the NHL now involve guys who aren't enforcers.

Heck, who are the real enforcers still in the league? Barch is one, Shelley is another. There's likely fewer than 20 left in the league, at least those who play regularly.

 

Add George Parros and Colton Orr to that short list too.

 

OK, and JC or the others who have played the game can chime in, but here is how a non-skater sees the enforcer role in hockey.

Imagine you are playing a team who has two great scorers. They are the guys who are going to score the points and win the game for the other team. You know if you start getting some good hard shots on them, they are going to slow down. Maybe you take two minutes in the box for a late shot. No biggie. Maybe you take a hard run or two at the keeper. Get a little contact on him. Take him off his skates once or twice. This sounds like a great plan.

Until you see this face across the ice.



And you ask yourself is it really worth it because this guy has a head of cement and hands of iron and someone on your team will have to answer to this guy sooner than later.

So instead, you skate a good clean game.

 

I can think of few hockey players I loathe more than Tie Domi. If changes to the game meant erasing his very existence, I'm in.