This is basically a continuation from my post yesterday. It appears that Jakub Voracek has responded in regards to the hit he took from Niklas Kronwall. His response:
“I had my head down,” he said. “I’ve got to be aware that Kronwall is standing there at the blue line. It was the end of my shift and I look up and he’s standing at the blue line and I’m focusing on the puck and he’s very good at it.
“I was kind of naïve to think he was going to back up, obviously. It was a tough hit to take, but it was a clean hit and from my side, it was my bad. Those hits should stay in the game.”
Fine. The hits should be in the game. But shouldn’t there be some accountability on a player-by-player basis? Look at all the videos I posted yesterday. Players like Kronwall are PRAISED for making hits like that. And no, I’m not ‘whining’ about it because I am a fan of the Flyers. It just seems that sometimes players could make better choices about the hits they do initiate. Jaromir Jagr said, “You take those hits away and you have basketball.” Really, Jags? Basketball?
I guess what my point is that maybe we need to reevaluate what is considered “good hockey”. Preying on unsuspecting players shouldn’t just be “good hockey”. Look at the hit Aaron Rome had on Nathan Horton last year. You’re telling me this is okay? And we’ll get passed the whole fact that Rome did get suspended for this hit. And STILL people debated whether that punishment was even right for the league to do.
I know the debate has raged for years now about certain hits and hockey. You’ll hear repeatedly that “it’s all part of the game”. But the hockey of 20 years ago isn’t the hockey of today. Players are faster, stronger and in some cases, actually bigger than many have ever seen. Look at Zdeno Chara. Every time I see that monster man all I can hear him saying is, “I must break you” in Drago and Rocky IV fashion.
It’s obvious that we don’t want hockey to turn into ballet. But maybe we should rethink hockey hits in the 21st Century as a whole. They rethought it when helmets weren’t worn. They rethought goalie helmets as time passed. I’m just saying.
Cognitive Discord 