Strongly disagree that the violence in hockey makes it better. Why slow down a fast sport? The NBA got orders of magnitude better after they eliminated fighting as a regular occurrence.
I've gotten into hockey a lot more over the past few years. I enjoy it now. The Avs run last year was phenomenal. But the fighting is beyond stupid and amateurish.
That's not to say that I don't enjoy a good brawl. But as a purist fan, I like sports when everything is running like a top being played by the top athletes in the world.
The Stanley Cup is the best trophy and the traditions around it are great. Hockey and baseball have the best traditions and the most unwritten rules.
I once coached a U of MN hockey player on how to fight better. I don't think he ever used it but worked out a standing choke he could do.
i've been hearing good things about pickle ball. might be in the olympics, will be dropping baseball.
The great thing about allowing fighting in hockey is that the combatants have to mutually agree to throw down. That's one of the unwritten rules. The fighting also allows for the players to police themselves. No other sport does this (spare me with the pitcher throwing at a batter argument. the pitcher rarely has to face any consequence of doing so other than getting ejected...although I will tip my cap if you use the Nolan Ryan/Robin Ventura argument) Almost every single hockey fight is the end of the "issue". The guys are separated and respectfully skate over for their penalty time. Maybe some additional jawing from the box...but that's usually it. Get it out of their system and then get back to playing. There's no slacking off in hockey either. And when the Stanley Cup playoffs come around, everything is ratcheted up tenfold. No other sport sells itself out like overtime playoff hockey. It's incredible.
If you're just looking for violence, just go look for a combat sport. I'd much rather watch boxing/muay thai/MMA than wait for somebody to get thrown through plexiglass at a hockey game. lol. Fighting in a non-fighting sport is stupid.
This is way off Blindsided cheap shots are more prevalent in hockey than any other sport. Things done in hockey would be considered extremely dirty in any other league
Ice Hockey players are definitely the toughest of the major sports. I remember Mike Modano playing with a fractured wrist (kinda hard to make a wrist shot) during the playoffs and another Stars player around the same time played with a fractured ankle. Just a few months ago An Avs player played in the finals with a broken ankle and thumbs. One guy played through broken ribs and a punctured lung back around 2013. MLB and NBA players won't play if they sprain a finger or toe.
One of the criticisms of the MN Wild is that they frequently slack off and don't try enough. Particularly on power plays. You're right though playoff hockey is pretty intense also overtime hockey is great where they take away one of the players. That would be kind of cool to see in basketball playing 4-4 and then 3-3 in overtimes. It opens up the field of play so much more than at full strength. One other thing that makes hockey more faster paced is that you sub on the fly and frequently. It's not like basketball or football where you can only sub on dead balls.
I forgot what player it was but I remember a story about a player who got his neck gashed and could've bled to death. He got stitched up and returned to the game the next period.
