I have no idea how the NHL came to this decision, but it really blows my mind. How can a league take five days off from play for their all-star festivities? All-star weekend starts today (Thursday) and the next scheduled regular season games are next Tuesday!
Then, there’s the issue of the shootout competition. Yes, they’ve brought back their idea for a slam-dunk-comp-on-skates which failed so horribly last year that i felt physically ill trying to watch it. While it’s alright that they’re being innovative, the execution is quite dumb, why have real (all-star calibre no less) goalies who are trying to stop the shot? Isn’t that counter-productive of some of these ridiculous moves? Why not just leave the net empty or have a goalie cut-out in there? Well, maybe this season they’ll at least tell the goalies that it’s about the show and then Evgeni Nabokov won’t come out to poke check an attempt near the blue line.
Of course, after a Senior A hockey player died after an on-ice fight in Ontario, everyone is “overreacting†and pushing to ban fighting. Welcome to the bandwagon! Let’s just remember who was all for stiffer penalties and suspensions to begin with. It all comes down to player safety and the man who died after losing his helmet in a fight and having his head knock against the ice should be revered and should inspire change in this primitive sport.
The most preposterous thing I’ve seen is that when rule changes were proposed to some hockey GMs, rule changes that said helmets should be strapped on tighter to ensure they stay on (also known as properly) and if a player in a fight loses his helmet, the linesman gets involved (which could’ve saved the Senior A player’s life), the GMs voted AGAINST these changes 11-7. Way to go retards, you just voted against the safety of your own players.
And finally, Maple Leafs fans might be a little perturbed about this fact after last night’s loss to Boston: One of the guys who scored in the shootout was Martin St. Pierre. Why does that matter? Because St. Pierre took a penalty in overtime and was still in the box when time expired. Tell me again why a penalized player can take a shootout attempt? That’s just dumb.