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I Hate To Admit It But I'm Starting To Agree With Don Cherry...


NuckZin2011

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With all the attention being paid to 'head shots' and concussions (had on myself from a high school rugby game, no fun at all), its got me thinking that Don Cherry might just have a point when it comes to the equipment these guys wear today. They are literally suits of armour compared with what they used in the 70's, 80's & even 90's. A couple years back I was fortunate enough to got the opportunity to meet a few Canucks following a game & the one thing that has stuck with me is how slight these guys are. Willie Mitchell in particular was, while well over 6' tall, was very slight ( and truly one of the 'good' guys). I was taken aback by this especially considering I had just watched him on the ice no more than an hour earlier and he looked like a monster out there, as he did in this past series. Then you see their equipment and you know why, the shoulder/elbow pads these days don't ever remotely resemble anything I wore growing us. Don't get me wrong, I'm not one of these guys that say "Back in my day....(blah, blah,blah)" but I can certainly see where these guys get an extra bit of courage. If you knew you could throw an elbow or a shoulder into a guy and know that there would be little to no chance of injuring yourself, you'd be a little braver too. I completely understand the game has evolved (bigger, faster, stronger) but I think this is an area that the league can at. The players don't seem to have respect for each other or for the punishments being handed down, but they might wake up a bit if they have potential physical consequences on themselves.

Thoughts?

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I remember seeing that Coach's Corner when Don brought out both types of padding. The new stuff is unforgiving and does allow the one throwing the hit to do so with little worry of personal injury.

It most certainly inflicts greater injuries these days.

As much as Don Cherry annoys me sometimes, he was spot on with the statements made concerning protection.

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I remember the year Cooper dropped the defenders and everyone on our team got them. like 1988...went from padding to hard plastic/like football pads and immediately we were destroying and knocking people out.

combined with the fact that the average player is getting much bigger and stronger its no surprise that everyone is getting concussed these days.

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Another point Grapes makes is "accountability". Basically, back in the day, if you hit a star or ran anybody, you knew that someone on the ice was going to beat your ass. Guys definately take liberties these days because they won't be held accountable on the ice. Would Keith have laid that elbow on Danny if he knew somebody was going to pound on his face?... Nope. It happens over and over, stars get run and nobody beats the crap out of the offender, just a fine and suspension.. Ouch, hit 'em where it hurts: in the wallet?! These guys are loaded, fines and suspensions don't work.

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There dealing with it right! I don't believe Torres hit should of been the big example but it is deff going to hit home with players when a super star is sitting out on a 10 game suspension and his team is sitting in 9th place with 10 games remaining on the season, honestly it's going to be effective shanny is only in year 1? Maybe 2 give it time

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Another point Grapes makes is "accountability". Basically, back in the day, if you hit a star or ran anybody, you knew that someone on the ice was going to beat your ass. Guys definately take liberties these days because they won't be held accountable on the ice. Would Keith have laid that elbow on Danny if he knew somebody was going to pound on his face?... Nope. It happens over and over, stars get run and nobody beats the crap out of the offender, just a fine and suspension.. Ouch, hit 'em where it hurts: in the wallet?! These guys are loaded, fines and suspensions don't work.

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Don Cherry is the man. He knows hockey like no other. He's almost always right and he doesn't just read the G rated script that CBC hands to him.

Soon nearly every hit where a player gets up slowly is going to be over evaluated. That's not hockey. The game is at such high impact these players don't have time to play nicely, they're crashing and banging. That's how it is.

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