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On Fri, 17 Apr 2009 10:57:15 -0700 (PDT), Warren Hales <...@innovationmountain.com
From an equally excellent blog post (http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog/
Jon-Jordan/NHLs-No-Sending-Messages-Mandate-is-a-Weak-Message-to-Send/
90/20724) on HockeyBuzz (by Jon Jordan not Eklund).
"You know what sucks most of all? The league doesn't even care about
diehard fans anymore - the guys who have been watching and spending
money on the teams for decades, through good times and bad. The best
part about hockey isn't scoring goals. It's the emotion. They're
trying to increase scoring and remove emotion. Powerplay contests in
the playoffs is the complete opposite of exciting.
This isn't just whining about the Flyers either. I would be almost as
angry if the roles were reversed and the Flyers were the beneficiary
of more powerplays than the Penguins.
I just don't want to see any! I want to see 5 on 5 with penalties
called only for the most obvious infractions. There should never be a
powerplay given for a scrum after the whistle. Likewise with tapping a
glove, slashing a balsa wood stick and breaking it, standing near
someone who falls down, running into a goalie when they're clearly
pushed into him, stepping on a stick, hooking someone's stick, and
especially my favorite, fighting for the puck in the defensive zone
and backhanding a bouncing puck over the glass to give the other team
a 5 on 3 in OT of game 7 of the Cup Finals.
As soon as a powerplay begins, all emotion is instantly put on hold
while the PK stands around trying to stay in perfect position and not
daring to hit anyone while the PP plays keep away with the puck and
tries to bore the team into making a mistake. That is not exciting
playoff hockey. Then when weak penalties are called, the players
eventually start thinking about not taking penalties instead of
actually playing and going all out.
This is garbage and I'm pretty much done with it. I watch now out of
habit even though every single game infuriates me."
[ Posted By: Dirky2000
Philadelphia Flyers]
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