Wednesday, March 11, 2009

That's Kinda The Point, George


As I mentioned in yesterday's quick hits blog, the NHL GMs began meeting yesterday in Naples, Florida and right at the top of items to be discussed was the role of fighting in the NHL and what, if any, rule changes could be made to make it safer.

To nobodies surprise, the old boys club wouldn't even consider removing it from the game, however they did institute a few rule changes to be recommended to the competition committee that might be in place as early as next season.

Among the rule changes:
Players who fight immediately after a faceoff will be penalized now with a 10 minute misconduct on top their fighting major.

A player who starts a fight after a hit is delivered legally to a teammate will be subject to a more aggressive interpretation of the instigator rule, which is already in place, but hardly ever called.

What these rules mean is that the NHL is attempting to eliminate two categories of fights, but not fights entirely.
According to NHL statistics, approximately 24% of fights occur immediately after the drop of the puck and have nothing to do with the flow of the game (There were four such fights that took place last night alone).
As well, 20% of fights occur after a clean hit is delivered, meaning that fully one fifth of all fights occur when a player is asked to 'stand up for his actions' that weren't illegal in the first place.
These are the fights the NHL is trying to eliminate from its' game.

What's to stop two fighters from lining up on the faceoff, jawing to each other and then instead of dropping the gloves right away, skating around in circles for 15 seconds before doing it? I don't know.
The fact that the NHL wants to take a more aggressive line in calling instigator penalties is really nothing more than an enforcement of an already existing rule.

But there is one person who believes these rule changes will completely alter the game as we know it, and his name is George Laraque.

Laraque is a 13 year NHL veteran and now plays (well...plays is a strong word, collects paychecks from) the Montreal Canadiens.
Laraque, a serious NHL heavyweight who rarely plays more than six or seven minutes a night, feels his job as enforcer is now in danger.

"Stupidest thing ever! I think it's a joke. They might as well take fighting out of the NHL...fighting won't be safer; it will be eliminated because an added 10 minute misconduct is too much."

But wait...there's more.

"This will take the one-dimensional player out of the NHL because that's who they will say starts a staged fight."

A-ha!

Well...duh! Isn't that kinda the point? To take players who do nothing but fight out of the game. Why should teams have to waste a roster spot on someone who can't skate, can't score, can't defend and all he does it throw punches and warms the bench?
I know what you're saying, technically teams don't have to dress guys like that. They could ice a roster of guys all 5'8 and under if they wanted. Sure. But it's awfully tough to keep up with the Jones' in this world if you ain't got what they got, if you know what I mean.
As long as some teams are allowed to do it and feel they can gain an advantage from it, they will and other teams will be forced to follow suit.

That's why this rule is great.

Laraque's comments, you see, are fundamentally flawed. He claims this rule will eliminate jobs in the NHL. While true, it's slightly misleading as well. Laraque and his cohorts of bash brothers will eventually be fazed out of the league and will no longer be able to collect their massive salaries, but it's not like NHL teams will suddenly only dress 19 players for a game instead of 20. NHL owners won't be jumping at the opportunity to pay one less player a contract. Quite the opposite.
These spaces will be filled with skilled players. Players who can skate, puckhandle, pass and defend. And yes, players who are tough and strong as well, but those who can also hold their own in other departments.

Like one writer in my office said to me, "If I were an NHL GM approaching the draft, what I WOULDN'T be saying to my team is 'boy, what I'm looking for this year is one dimension, yup that's it. I want a guy who does one thing really well and nothing else at all.'"
Those days are over. No longer will a more talented player be left in the minors or kept on a farm team because some 250 pound oaf with iron fists is taking the last spot on the club.

If the NHL wants to keep fighting as a part of the game, I'm OK with that (there still is, however, much more to be done to make the fights themselves more safe). But let it happen naturally and as a direct result of the emotions and flow of the game. No more of these staged fights that do nothing but waste everyone's time.



Listen close around the 45 second mark

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