wild/nhl

I guess watching 10 minutes of hockey this year qualifies Souhan to be outraged.

UFC on ice!

If you don't like it then stick to basketball. This is old-fashioned playoff hockey and the ratings have been through the roof so far. Has some of it been ugly? Yes, but you should be blaiming Brendan Shanahan for how he has handled the discipline role. His inconsistent punishments (Shea Weber) are the reason for what we are witnessing. You failed to mention him once in this article.

Bettman has been bad for the NHL from the start and Brendon Shanahan has been Mr. Inconsitant all year long with his rulings. Considering Torres year, he should not be allowed to come back the remainder of this season and atleast 5 games into the next season! PMB gets his stick lifted and the guy hits himself in the face and he gets what 3 or 4 games and then he gets drilled from behind face first into the dasher and no suspension for that guy. Shanahan sucks, his worse at this job then when he was a player and not whining at the refs about god knows what!

Normally I think Sou is a moron, and he usually is, but this column is spot on. Ice Hockey is nothing more than professional wrestling on ice only the actors are more cowardly. It is borderline absurd the incidents that have occured this playoffs. Unlike Sou, to me this isn't about player safety, it's about cowardice. I am all for clean, hard play, but running a guy from 60 feet away? Seriously? Hitting a guy when he is nowhere near the actual play and isn't even looking? Really? It's a joke, not to mention that outside of 3-4 guys per team, no one has ANY actual passing or shooting skills.

As an aside, did anyone notice that the Wild started to fight more once they fell off the face of the earth and the "Team of 18,000 turned into the Team of 11,111?" Me too.

Thanks for the "sanity" Jim. I get so sick and tired of the brawls and you're right. Olympic Hockey is the best/along with college because there isn't the fight/brawling/cheap shot penalties. When are these NHL fans gonna get it through their "thick skulls"? Hockey is a game of speed and skill and when you slow it down it becomes "baseball". Wake up people and while they're at it....get a new commissioner.

myblunder it's not Old Fashioned Hockey. It's thugery. Pure and simple and if you don't see it, you're part of the problem. Like I said in previous post. Get it through your "thick skulls". Hockey is a game of speed and skill...and when you slow it down it turns into "baseball".

Souhan aside, the rage (media attention) associated with the penalties and suspensions seems to be at an all time high. I am not an expert (and far too lazy to check stats), but as a fan who has watched the playoffs for a long time (relatively speaking), it doesn't seem like the hockey has changed that much. Colorado/Detroit in the late 90's, Brad May sucker punching Kim Johnsson did not receive the same nationwide treatment that Weber/Zetterberg did. I guess the question I'm driving at (and smarter people have probably already asked/answered it) is that is this year really that different as far as dirty play is concerned? Or are we just more sensitive to it due to the recent data on head injuries and tragedies from this past summer? Many of the articles like this one seem to be reactionary, without providing anything substantial to support it.

@dix242...what do mean it hasn't changed much? there are alot less "brawls" but that's a good thing...this game is speed and skill and all fighting does is slow it down...you used to be able to clutch and grab more when playoff time came...but not anymore...too much "running into the goalie" that's what I'd like see and end to..I know they're padded and bigger than they ever were...but my gosh...blow the whistle occasionally...it's turned into soccer on skates...just play on...and let someone kick the puck loose..I thought when you lost sight of the puck you blew the whistle...not anymore...it's like scrums in front of the net not in the corners...that's what needs to stop...and crashing the net.