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Forums :: Blog World :: Justin Lowe: Back to Basics
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wonthecup10
Season Ticket Holder
Joined: 02.05.2008

Jul 10 @ 12:10 AM ET
Disagree there is no such thing as a staged fight. You fight for momentum for revenge of a teammate or personally or you do it to keep your spot in the lineup. I hate when people say staged fights if a fight is off a faceoff or if there is s fair square off.
And the level fighting at now 17 percent is a shame the nhl is missing that excitement factor that things could get intense at any moment. Today you look at some rosters and I've seen pee wee teams 5 years ago with more toughness. It's a shame all they have to do is just make sure if a guy is concussed he doesn't come back early. Even though it's a fact that less then 5 percent of concussions in hockey are caused by fighting.

- vandymeer23


Vandy, talk to some of these kids on the side, and they will tell you that they don’t mind a good old fashion hockey scrap. This is just Quennville and Bowman’s way of putting a bunch of C words on the ice, I, for one don’t understand when the opposing teams had seen their make up last year why they just didn’t come out and run these guys right away and Put them on their heels even more. Most concussions come in the heat of the play not from two guys squaring off punching each other in the face a few times. Most of those fights are broken up within 20 to 30 seconds. I’ll never change my stance, I say get rid of the instigator rule let the players police to game their self and you watch all the cheap crap behind the scenes stop.
vandymeer23
Chicago Blackhawks
Location: IA
Joined: 10.11.2014

Jul 10 @ 1:10 AM ET
Vandy, talk to some of these kids on the side, and they will tell you that they don’t mind a good old fashion hockey scrap. This is just Quennville and Bowman’s way of putting a bunch of C words on the ice, I, for one don’t understand when the opposing teams had seen their make up last year why they just didn’t come out and run these guys right away and Put them on their heels even more. Most concussions come in the heat of the play not from two guys squaring off punching each other in the face a few times. Most of those fights are broken up within 20 to 30 seconds. I’ll never change my stance, I say get rid of the instigator rule let the players police to game their self and you watch all the cheap crap behind the scenes stop.
- wonthecup10

I agree if they got rid of the instigator I think a lot of the questionable dirty play would go away, and it would also bring enforcers back. I just don't know why people hate on that part of the game, I can see and respect both the skill and toughness aspect of the sport and the right mixture of both makes it the best in the world. But a game with just skill is boring and then you add the lack of physicality and diversity in the league the game loses its uniqueness.
DarthKane
Chicago Blackhawks
Location: 5.13.4.9
Joined: 02.23.2012

Jul 10 @ 1:22 AM ET
I've spent a lot of time their (dated a girl who went there + a lot of friends went there).

When were you there DK?

- Justin Lowe



Around ‘93
vandymeer23
Chicago Blackhawks
Location: IA
Joined: 10.11.2014

Jul 10 @ 1:34 AM ET
As far as how I became a hawks fan my gpa and a handful of cousins played in the Chicago area or Northern Wisc where my family was from. It wasn't as big as baseball or football in my family but some did it as a winter sport and followed professionally. I played when I was little and lived up there but when my family moved to Iowa there was no hockey and I picked up wrestling though I would play whenever I went back up north or to Chicago with family.
Then in middle school one of my cousins was playing when I went up for Christmas and he was really good big kid who could skate and I remember him checking a guy thru the glass. Then I started watching the hawks when I got back home that was the 99-00 team and though they weren't that great they were tough. I discovered Vandenbussche and Probert and soon became addicted. Then that same year a junior team came to town the Roughriders and the first game I went two had a line brawl with like 5 fights including a goalie fight and that sealed it for me that I was going to follow the sport.
Theo Fox
Chicago Blackhawks
Joined: 06.18.2016

Jul 10 @ 2:40 AM ET
This is where I really have to defer to the NHL types who know the "room". I'm a huge believer that NHL ice time is very valuable and it should not be wasted and an argument can easily be made that Kunitz is taking that NHL ice time from a younger player, but:

I'm reading where a place like BUF or VAN they are worried that all out losing can affect the young players, a culture of losing "can" set in. That a guy like Kunitz can help in that regard both on an off the ice even on a team that ain't gonna make a serious run. Again, having played the sport I haven't been in a room where the pressure to win is at the NHL level, same as I haven't endured the travel they do. So I have to defer on this account as I have no reference point to draw from.

Plus the thing was a train wreck last yr and I agree with Rick I don't ever think we're gonna see a tear it down rebuild. A guy like Kunitz, who no doubt is taking very valuable ice time, but at the same time will be skating with a Hayden type and will help him develop, will help the club not be a clown show.

Again I defer and also see where they can be going in two directions at once or trying to "split the difference" between a retool-rebuild and not be a clown show and or make sure a losing culture does not set in.

Tough call on this one for me.

- Mr Ricochet

I think your perspective on a possible reason for Kunitz's signing is fairly plausible. Last season, I feel Sharp had that role with DeBrincat and was his linemate for several stretches of games early in the year. Sharp was one of the best LW in the NHL for several seasons: he was fast, was a volume shooter, scored 25-35 goals consistently, played with an edge, and was sound in all zones and special teams. Mentorship like that can go a long way for the next wave and help them think and play the right way, especially during a tough season for the team as a whole.

Kunitz could have that impact on not only bottom-6 forwards like Hayden and Hinostroza (since he's likely to play line 3 or 4) but also top-6 forwards like Schmaltz, DeBrincat, and Sikura (since his prime years was on line 1 or 2). That type of leadership can't be overlooked, even if Kunitz is around for just one season. Sharp played one more season before retiring yet I believe he had a lasting impact on DeBrincat.

Do I have solid proof of that impact? No, but it was talked about on air by analysts so there was at least some influence.
Scott1977
Season Ticket Holder
Chicago Blackhawks
Location: Yorkville, IL
Joined: 08.30.2012

Jul 10 @ 5:49 AM ET
I agree if they got rid of the instigator I think a lot of the questionable dirty play would go away, and it would also bring enforcers back. I just don't know why people hate on that part of the game, I can see and respect both the skill and toughness aspect of the sport and the right mixture of both makes it the best in the world. But a game with just skill is boring and then you add the lack of physicality and diversity in the league the game loses its uniqueness.
- vandymeer23



Agree 100% with you. One if they brought back the enforcer type players it just can't be to just fight they have to be able contribute and play a regular shift.
vabeachbear
Chicago Blackhawks
Location: Ft Courage - out in the middle of Indian Country, NC
Joined: 10.17.2011

Jul 10 @ 6:48 AM ET
He goes to the right areas... that's for sure.

Will be interesting to see if they use him on the PP for that reason. He has scored a pile of PPGs in his days.

- Justin Lowe


Just cause I'm thinking a bit negative about the Hawks these days, I bet I could look back and find almost the same posts about Andrew Burnette..........
HawkintheD
Chicago Blackhawks
Location: Sick Bay, MI
Joined: 02.22.2012

Jul 10 @ 6:49 AM ET
Agree 100% with you. One if they brought back the enforcer type players it just can't be to just fight they have to be able contribute and play a regular shift.
- Scott1977


Traditonally that's been an issue though and what has made those players obsolete. Most of them were really bad at hockey.
steve-hist-sdc
Chicago Blackhawks
Joined: 12.30.2016

Jul 10 @ 7:11 AM ET
Why are you a hockey fan? I guess in Chicago nothing much was going right, sports-wise when I was really young - the Hawks were the biggest thing in town, what with Mikita, Hull, and Tony O. But as I got older, they got older they got worse (the pre-Savard years) ... I am a hockey fan because of the Miracle on Ice game ... in the Chicago area you did not get a lot of exposure to hockey on tv back then, but that had me rivetted. It was the fastest and most dramatic thing I ever saw ... baseball is a game of inches? Well if so hockey is a game of a fraction of an inch, and a eye blink ...

Eventually I learned how to skate (and did all that on my own -and that has been pretty good for me for a number of reasons. And eventually I took up playing pond hockey at the local frozen parking lot ... then before the 80's were out I responded to an advert in the Trib and got on to an organised team in an organised league -a first for me, as I was not really a jock in hidh school. I consumed it all - had a subscription to Goal magazine, the Hockey Digest, the Hockey News (eventually)....

Later on I moved to the hockey hotbed of the universe -Kansas City ... did have season tickets to the Blades in the early 1990's (saw Hasek from just behind the net on the glass ... he was in the minors in the Hawks system at the time ... I played in a checking league in KC for a little while, and then gave it up for about 10 years ... picked it up for about a year prior to moving to ...

well, Australia ... I played on a club in Sydney, then after nearly another decade off played briefly on a club in Perth -against a lot of kids half my age - but, maybe it is time to forget about clubs and look at hockey training like work outs... anyway - enough about that.

What made you become a Blackhawks fan? Chicago kid ... it's what you did in that decade -but it was the 1981-82 playoffs that got me hooked - again ... it was timing I guess ... pretty close on to the 1980 Winter Olympics, relatively speaking ... then I mean ... well Savard, Secord, Larmer ... Doug Wilson's slapshot ... the ever fatalistic knowledge of getting past Edmonton in the playoffs wasn't likely to happen - but I mean, sticking it to the North Stars was something, at least. Detroit, who? (Hey they were not relevant in the 80's ... )

Why the Blackhawks? Huh? I am from there - and I did cop a lot of garbage here in Oz (back in the not too distant past), when I was wearing Hawks gear when the player fan bois gushed over was Crosby ... my line then was - the Hawks main goal in winning was to win the lottery ( and then they did ... hello, 88) ... and then some. You know I was in KC when the Hawks lost to Pittsburgh in the Finals - I thought, ok, I had to actually leave Chicagoland to get the Hawks to beat the Oilers... but then again they only won it all while I was down here ... so apparently I had to leave the continent entirely ... who, knew? I am not going to go into a list of my favourite Hawks ... it is pretty much the same as everyone else's ... I guess it is ironic that I really liked Al Secord in the 80's - but I am way more like a Larmer type of player ...well, for my level that is...
HawkintheD
Chicago Blackhawks
Location: Sick Bay, MI
Joined: 02.22.2012

Jul 10 @ 7:37 AM ET
On Hawk fandom...

Growing up in the Western burbs, I was introduced to hockey when I was 5 by our next door neighbors who were from Ontario (Canada not IL).

They would ice there back yard over every winter and all the kids in the neighborhood would go out and skate and play some hockey.

I played for the Naperville Sabres for a few years and as a result Buffalo was my second favorite team (loved the French Connection line)...but the Hawks were my first. They were the local team. Loved their jerseys, and would watch games and when I couldn't, would check out the highlights every morning on Ray Rayner's show.

When I was a kid, Pit Martin and Stan Makita were my faves along with Dennis Hull, Jim Pappin, Cliff Korrol and Maggie.

I remember I got to meet several of them at a car dealership in Naperville where they were there signing autographs...Pit Martin, Dennis Hull, Bobby Sheehan, Alain Daigle and the Builder were all on hand that day signing autographs and talking to fans. I have a pic of our Sabre team with all of them and they are all wearing classic 70's era suits...a great time to be alive but not so much for clothing.

Like Justin I was able to get tix to the 2010 Conf Final to see the Hawks sweep SJ and then for game 5 of the Cup vs Philly. Couldn't find anyone who wanted to purchase the other ticket and my wife is from Detroit and a Wing fan so I ended up taking my Dad, who's bday was the next day. Will never forget it.

Moved over to the Detroit area the same year and got to go see 3 games a year at the Joe until the Wings scurried East so now I get to only see 1 live Hawk game a year.

At least they won that one this past season.
Spec41971
Chicago Blackhawks
Location: Rolling meadows, IL
Joined: 03.04.2017

Jul 10 @ 8:28 AM ET
I'll accept middle aged though tbf I'm not sure I was alive during most of the run of Cheers. I think it ran on Nick at Night or TV Land when I was a kid.
- L_B_R


Yikes! Those didn’t even exist when I was a kid. We pulled in cbs, nbc, abc, WGN-TV, wttw and two uhf channels on the family black and white 19” tv. Most of the channels shut down around 1 or 2 am and didn’t come back on until 5 or so. Primitive times for sure.
6628
Joined: 08.24.2009

Jul 10 @ 8:29 AM ET
Traditonally that's been an issue though and what has made those players obsolete. Most of them were really bad at hockey.
- HawkintheD



Agree 100%. I love a good scrap, but it has to be in the flow of the game. There were staged fights (sorry cavemen, I know it for a fact) by clowns that shouldn't be in the show for years and it got to the point that it was embarrasing and more like a circus than an NHL game. And I say this as a 5'8" guy who played competitive high level hockey (did not make it to the show as a player) for more than a decade who lead every team I ever played on in PIMS and fighting majors with the (frank)ed up hands and arthritis to prove it. Staged fights were bullpoop.
Spec41971
Chicago Blackhawks
Location: Rolling meadows, IL
Joined: 03.04.2017

Jul 10 @ 8:37 AM ET
Do you think that they sent the weakest boys first?I understood when they felt that it was a daunting task so send out the strong in order to build moral but it sure looks like these cave divers have game.Go asst coach#buddhistmonk.
- eagle50


Thought I had heard it was weakest first to give everyone the best chance to survive. Coach will be the last one out.

Heard this morning they are down to one kid and the coach. Hope they get those two out today.

Totally agree that the divers are doing a great job under the circumstances and circus to get everyone out
6628
Joined: 08.24.2009

Jul 10 @ 8:41 AM ET
Thought I had heard it was weakest first to give everyone the best chance to survive. Coach will be the last one out.

Heard this morning they are down to one kid and the coach. Hope they get those two out today.

Totally agree that the divers are doing a great job under the circumstances and circus to get everyone out

- Spec41971




Two miles under water is one thing, but through a cave system is another thing. Those dudes are the real deal. Bless them.

Just read that all 12 kids and the coach are out. Unbelievable job.
RickJ
Chicago Blackhawks
Location: Burlington, ON
Joined: 01.12.2010

Jul 10 @ 8:56 AM ET
Agree 100%. I love a good scrap, but it has to be in the flow of the game. There were staged fights (sorry cavemen, I know it for a fact) by clowns that shouldn't be in the show for years and it got to the point that it was embarrasing and more like a circus than an NHL game. And I say this as a 5'8" guy who played competitive high level hockey (did not make it to the show as a player) for more than a decade who lead every team I ever played on in PIMS and fighting majors with the (frank)ed up hands and arthritis to prove it. Staged fights were bullpoop.
- 6628

So you were the Stan Jonathan of your era?
Matt Ross
Joined: 03.15.2013

Jul 10 @ 9:02 AM ET
This seems like a old person reference lol jk jk

Though seriously that is not a character I would know anything about - never seen Cheers or Fraiser.

- L_B_R


Haha. Not super old. I'm 32, but Frasier is one of my all-time favorites shows.
6628
Joined: 08.24.2009

Jul 10 @ 9:09 AM ET
So you were the Stan Jonathan of your era?
- RickJ



Haa. Well, he made the show and I didn't, so I guess not.
riozzo
Chicago Blackhawks
Location: Cornwallis Island
Joined: 06.17.2014

Jul 10 @ 9:52 AM ET
Two miles under water is one thing, but through a cave system is another thing. Those dudes are the real deal. Bless them.

Just read that all 12 kids and the coach are out. Unbelievable job.

- 6628

_diatribe_
Chicago Blackhawks
Location: Cornwall, ON
Joined: 01.07.2012

Jul 10 @ 9:53 AM ET
Always read, never post.....But....

How I became a Hawks fan:
In 1991, Jocelyn Lemieux scores a breakaway goal on Vincent Riendeau in the playoffs. That and the Chicago stadium celebration was insane......That moment made me a lifelong fan of the Chicago Blackhawks. Great hockey sweater, awesome history, and so much drama in the last ten years which has satisfied my appetite for years to come.

I met Bobby Hull several years ago and he was too nice. My Mom lived next door to Orval Tessier for years. Nice man, but too bad his two Stanley Cup rings are from his scouting days with Colorado. Side story: My wife dropped one of his rings and it bounced around on the marble floor....Ha ha, she didn't get to see his second ring.

I had the chance to meet Toews and Sharp during the 2009/2010 season, because Cam Barker got us on the guest list after the game in Ottawa. It was pretty special hanging around Toews, Kane, Sharp, Versteeg, Coach 'Q', Byfuglien, Eager, Ladd, and even Huet.

A real shame that the team has played the way they have in the last couple of seasons. I think Coach 'Q' needs to go and along with his other two Whalers bench bosses. Toews has value, but his cap hit makes him an easy target. Kane is great, but his cap hit isn't worth his play either. They pulled this team along for a great ride. They deserve the monies they've been given. We are lucky fans to have seen what we have. The ride has never been easy. Pittsburgh of the last few years didn't need to battle like the Hawks did for their cups.....Enjoy the season!! Cheers.
DarthKane
Chicago Blackhawks
Location: 5.13.4.9
Joined: 02.23.2012

Jul 10 @ 9:59 AM ET
Looks like Kucherov has signed an 8 year extension with Tampa. No word on the cap hit yet but it should be interesting.
DarthKane
Chicago Blackhawks
Location: 5.13.4.9
Joined: 02.23.2012

Jul 10 @ 10:01 AM ET
Looks like Kucherov has signed an 8 year extension with Tampa. No word on the cap hit yet but it should be interesting.
- DarthKane



Cap hit is $9.5 million.

I wonder if this is what Panarin will shoot for?
Beaver-Warrior
Chicago Blackhawks
Location: in my great and unmatched wisdom
Joined: 07.28.2011

Jul 10 @ 10:17 AM ET
Cap hit is $9.5 million.

I wonder if this is what Panarin will shoot for?

- DarthKane


Good luck to him.
Mr Ricochet
Chicago Blackhawks
Location: Joliet, IL
Joined: 04.19.2009

Jul 10 @ 10:18 AM ET
Took Business and Sports Management in school at Brock University in St. Catherines (near Niagara).

Then worked his way up to become the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHL) GM at a super young age. He always had a great eye for talent and took a strong interest to advanced stats.

Then moved to the Leafs a few years ago.

- Justin Lowe


Kyle Dubas has quite the background in hockey besides being a sharp SOB. Gramps and Pops worked for the Greyhounds and he started as a stickboy for the club at 11 yrs old. Googled him and SN had the best piece on him after he was hired as an assistant GM for the Leafs.

https://www.cbssports.com...ear-old-stats-centric-gm/
Matt Ross
Joined: 03.15.2013

Jul 10 @ 10:19 AM ET
Cap hit is $9.5 million.

I wonder if this is what Panarin will shoot for?

- DarthKane


I feel like the Bread Man is just going to be a hired gun and bounce around the league for the duration of his career.

A couple years here and there for multiple teams and that'll be it.
HawkintheD
Chicago Blackhawks
Location: Sick Bay, MI
Joined: 02.22.2012

Jul 10 @ 10:22 AM ET
I feel like the Bread Man is just going to be a hired gun and bounce around the league for the duration of his career.

A couple years here and there for multiple teams and that'll be it.

- Hank3Henshaw


IDk, I can see him getting a similar deal and staying put. He banked on himself and Ithink it will work out for his next deal.
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