Joined: Jun. 2019
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"Are you disappointed when you go to a game and there isn't a fight?"
- No, but that normally means everything went according to plan and nobody was a scumbag.
"Fights are now down to about 1 every 6 games, down from 1 every 3 games 4 seasons ago, and 1 every 2 games 10 years ago. Do you watch fewer NHL games now that fighting isn't that prevalent?"
- No.
"Fights are much less prevalent in the playoffs, does this stop you from watching playoff games?"
- No, but this is really a moot point as the physicality is tremendously increased.
"Would you still watch NHL games if fighting majors came with a game misconduct?"
- It would seriously depend on how they would plan on properly increasing discipline to make fighting unnecessary. Simply removing it right now without also changing any of the rules probably would not go well and will lead to other serious infractions, and probably more importantly, serious injuries.
These questions weren't very good. I love the game of hockey more than fights... I certainly watch for the game, and not for the goon squad of yesteryear. But, fighting is still a necessary component of the game. Calls aren't always going to be made right; it's a fast game. Unfortunately pretty much everyone in the hockey community can agree the DOPS is a wheel spin on whether they'll do it right or not. And while fighting and the physical part of the game is tremendously lower than it used to be even 10 years ago, it's still probably the most exciting part of the game... maybe even more so now that it's maybe even rarer than a goal scored, or a highway robbery save. Look at the game last night between FLA and TBL. Even the announcers were saying that was probably the best game of hockey they've seen in quite some time, due to all the hits and emotion in the game.
Take the infamous Wilson incident for example. The Rangers play the rest of the game with no retaliation, and how are they rewarded? With no proper discipline, in their minds. Whether you agree with that or not, the Rangers players surely did not. Had Wilson been suspended, I'm sure no fights would have taken place. Instead, since the Rangers put their faith in the DOPS, and they failed them, they felt they needed to do "something". If fighting was completely banished, I'm sure something much worse would have taken place that night rather than the 6 fights, in which maybe only 6 punches actually landed on the faces. I feel like all the changes the NHL has made to minimize fighting and injuries from it (mandatory visors, etc), has lowered fighting to an acceptable amount. You really can't lower fighting anymore than it is right now, without a misconduct or automatic suspension, which is just gonna push that emotion further down the line to something more serious, like a stick to the face, etc.
I don't think anyone in the world watches the NHL only for the fights... that's why there is UFC and boxing. But, fighting is part of the game. These questions is like asking people if there isn't a breakaway in a game, does that mean you don't like goal scoring? I don't know, it's just weird, completely leading questions...
As far as the poll, I voted "yes keep it it's awesome" because that's the only "yes" answer... I wouldn't say "it's awesome", but "it's necessary".