>> |
Anonymous
I live in the South, and I've always been a fan of hockey. I've always understood that hockey is a very physical, full-contact game. Its not like soccer or basketball how when they stumble over they cry like bitches and call foul. No, in hockey, it is, AND IT SHOULD ALWAYS BE, when you get hit, take your hit, AND GET THE FUCK BACK UP.
I've always understood that defense was a very important aspect in hockey. Its one thing to get the puck into the net; its another to prevent the other team from making shots. Its the ENTIRE TEAM'S RESPONSIBILITY to play the entirety of the ice.
Sure, opening up the game to make the offense more effective and having more scoring in games is not much of a problem in itself, but if we see more 7-5 scoring games, the magic and excitement of scoring a goal will be severely cheapened. Also, its one thing to reward speed, agility, and scoring, but its another thing to penalize being physical. Referees are making more calls on defense--THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF A TEAM--than ever before. They're making tripping/slashing calls on perfectly legal poke checks, making charging/roughing/crosschecking calls on clean open ice hits, and adding stupid "Instigator" penalties on fighting. Adding the stupid trapezoid behind the net hinders puck-happy goalies from operating effectively (the trapezoid was created because of Martin Brodeur's puckhandling abilities--which many in the NHL offices saw as "unfair" to the offense).
DEFENSE DEFENSE DEFENSE...its what wins Stanley Cups.
|