Derek Boogard - Sad story

[widgeon13]

I just read this in the Sunday NYTimes, just a sad story and you wonder if it had to be this way?

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/04/sports/hockey/derek-boogaard-a-boy-learns-to-brawl.html?scp=1&sq=Derek%20Boogard&st=cse

[pwd72s]

Never was a hocky fan...if I want to see a fight, I'll tune in boxing. Sad column, indeed.

[9dreizig]

[HardDrive]

I would watch hockey if fighting was 100% banned. But I don't think most hockey fans go to watch hockey. The go to watch violence with a bit of sports sprinkled on top to make it seem legitimate.

Damn shame because some of the players really are brilliant athletes.

[widgeon13]

I went to a Div III school, hockey was fun to watch but goons and fighting were rare. It was fun to play and still fun to watch.

Pro hockey to me is as bad as WWF, just stupid.

[kaisen]

Boogaard was a goon. I met him once, and he was very nice off the oce. Wouldn't want to be an opponent though.

Sad, but true story of his brother and his death. Very sad

[s_morrison57]

Every reply so far is from people who probably never played the game, we grow up with the game in Canada and to ban fighting would be ridiculas, the hitting the scraps are all part of the game. No people don't go to games to watch the fights cause most games don't have them but people do go to NASCAR to watch crashes so are you going to ban tin top oval racing - I think not, The Boogaard acident happend in July or Aug. its old news. There were 2 other players that took their lives this past off season, both enforcers like Boogaard. Pro Hockey like WWF give your head a shake, you couldn't be further from the truth.
Its our game, making comments about something you don't understand is goofy, we gave you basketball go watch that.
Finn

[nostatic]

Cheating (which is what enforcers essentially do) should be rooted out in any sport. The whole "oh, it's part of the game" is a load of crap. Nowhere in the rules does it say that a team shall have a player who's purpose has nothing to do with advancing the puck but rather intimidating and/or injuring opponents. And the "oh that's pussy talk" is more BS.

Hockey is one of the most elegant and amazing sports around - when it is played honestly. The skill players are some of the most gifted in all of sport. The thugs are...thugs who happen to be able to skate.

I grew up far from Canada and wasn't born on an ice rink. But oddly enough I played a ton of hockey, albeit in the street (as a kid) and gyms (intramural college). Participating in sports with the sole intention of hurting someone else is lame. Everybody get worked up in the heat of the moment, but enforcers are a totally different thing.

[Dueller]

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by s_morrison57

Every reply so far is from people who probably never played the game, we grow up with the game in Canada and to ban fighting would be ridiculas, the hitting the scraps are all part of the game.

No other team sport, none, allows fighting because the game(s) is more important than the fighting. Your argument is specious and sad...allowing teenagers to fight for your pleasure in some sorry arena in the middle of nowhere is asinine.

And I played sports at a high level so don't lecture me on what are parts of any game.

Stupid.

[Por_sha911]

20 out of 20 NHL players agree: Fighting shouldn’t be banned | ProHockeyTalk
`nuff said

[Buckterrier]

Originally Posted by Por_sha911

`nuff said

Agreed. It is also the only game/sport that the contestants/players have weapons in the possession. Well there is golf
Can you even imagine if the thugs of the NFL & NBA played hockey? Spearing would take on a whole new meaning.

[Por_sha911]

among the other findings:
—-bruins forward brad marchand led the “players i’d like to fight” category.

Or, as I refereed to him in another thread as:
"Brad "Mr. everyone's favorite guy" Marchand"

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by Buckterrier

Agreed. It is also the only game/sport that the contestants/players have weapons in the possession. Well there is golf
Can you even imagine if the thugs of the NFL & NBA played hockey? Spearing would take on a whole new meaning.

Golf...and...



Cues are considered weapons...banned from airline carry-on luggage.

[quicksix]

+1
Seahawk

[speeder]

Fighting in pro hockey brings the game down but the people who are knocking hockey in general don't have a clue. Watch some division one college hockey some time where fighting is strictly banned and does not occur. That is possibly the best spectator sports experience on the planet. The game moves at 100 mph and never stops for more than a minute or two. Breathtaking. The athletic skill displayed is phenomenal.

I grew up in Minnesota playing hockey. My cousin played for the UofM during the Olympic gold metal era. I have several friends either formerly or currently in the NHL. When I'm back there visiting during the winter, I'll probably go see some Gopher hockey w/ my 80 y.o. Dad. It's more fun than a barrel of lesbians.

The fighting in the pros is stupid. I guess it dates back to the beginnings of the sport and trying to make it more entertaining(?) Fights happen in baseball and football, (not as much), and it's really bad sportsmanship in any game. Real hockey fans do not go to games to see fights. They go to see amazing skating and stick-handling. It's the nature of the game, (hard hitting), combined w/ lax pro rules that got us to this place.

[s_morrison57]

Originally Posted by Seahawk

No other team sport, none, allows fighting because the game(s) is more important than the fighting. Your argument is specious and sad...allowing teenagers to fight for your pleasure in some sorry arena in the middle of nowhere is asinine.

And I played sports at a high level so don't lecture me on what are parts of any game.

Stupid.

So what did you play - Vollyball, whats high level - Jr. boys
Whimp.

[s_morrison57]

Originally Posted by nostatic

Cheating (which is what enforcers essentially do) should be rooted out in any sport. The whole "oh, it's part of the game" is a load of crap. Nowhere in the rules does it say that a team shall have a player who's purpose has nothing to do with advancing the puck but rather intimidating and/or injuring opponents. And the "oh that's pussy talk" is more BS.

Hockey is one of the most elegant and amazing sports around - when it is played honestly. The skill players are some of the most gifted in all of sport. The thugs are...thugs who happen to be able to skate.

I grew up far from Canada and wasn't born on an ice rink. But oddly enough I played a ton of hockey, albeit in the street (as a kid) and gyms (intramural college). Participating in sports with the sole intention of hurting someone else is lame. Everybody get worked up in the heat of the moment, but enforcers are a totally different thing.

In the gym and on the street? Hockey is played with skates on ice, like I said, making comments about something you know nothing about is goofy. I'll keep my game you can try out for womens field hockey.
Finn

[sammyg2]

Originally Posted by s_morrison57

So what did you play - Vollyball, whats high level - Jr. boys
Whimp.

I participated in football, baseball, and boxing.
I started playing organized football at the age of six and played until I was almost 20 when injuries ended what could have been a mediocre and lackluster college career.
I still get in the boxing ring on occasion but the knees are so bad from my football days I can't do much anymore.

I dated a girl decades ago who had season tickets to the Kings at the forum and I went to many a game.
Put me down as one who never played what I consider the silly game of hockey, and one who doesn't give a crap about it.
If ya wanna fight, get in the ring and fight. Boxing ring, octagon, doesn't matter.
But sending a fighter onto the ice to beat up a skilled player on the other team to get a cheap advantage is chickensheet IMO.

And I bet that Seahawk, much like myself, wouldn't take kindly to being called a wimp in person.

[Vonzipper]

Enforce the rules that you have and fighting will no longer be an issue. Play 4 lines and fighting wont be an issue. get rid of the TV timeout and fighting wont be an issue, seems to me that Olympic Hockey is pretty darn exciting