The Pussification Of the NHL
Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Posted by starshockey

Mike Milbury is still at it, spewing the same garbage out of his putrid mouth every Saturday night on Hockey Night in Canada. Last night, March 5th, 2011, Milbury voiced his irrational displeasure with fighting in the NHL and stated he agreed with the suspension of New York Islanders forward Trevor Gillies.

Milbury, one of the biggest disgraces to hockey and also the man who beat a fan with his own shoe in a 1979 grudge match between the Bruins and Rangers told the entire nation that he doesn't like fighting in hockey.

I'm not old enough to have experienced the huge NHL rivalries of the 60s, 70s and 80s, but I know the players of that generation were a lot tougher than guys today. When Gordie Howe got high sticked in the first period of a game, he didn't go off to get stitched up and return in the second, he dropped the gloves and beat the shit out of whoever did it to him.

The 10 game suspension of Trevor Gillies this week is, for lack of better words, absurd. The NHL completely ignored Minnesota's Cal Clutterbuck's hit from behind on Islander Justin DiBenedetto and focused their attention on the retaliatory "head shot" that Gillies laid on Clutterbuck. From whatever angle you look at it, the hit was not a head shot nor was it from behind, nor did it really violate any NHL rule in existence.

Yet, for some reason, most the hockey world seems to agree with suspension.

I think Don Cherry said it best, "Colin Campbell's got it right now, eh. Now he's finally got it right. If it's a five game, give them ten, and the bleeding-heart media will say you're doing a good job." Colin Campbell is so out of line these days, suspending innocent players, like Gillies for outrageous amounts of time and letting guilty players off the hook.

By no means am I saying players should be swinging their sticks at each others heads, but things like the zero-tolerance policy being implemented on minor penalties like hooking and slashing is ridiculous. Nor do I think the bench clearing brawls of past decades have a place in today's NHL. But it seems the league is becoming softer every year, and I for one don't want my kids growing up aspiring to play in the show when it has outlawed fighting and it's players are criticized for playing a rough and tough style of play.

I'll close by saying that I am neither a fan nor a detractor of Trevor Gillies, I hadn't even heard of the guy until his involvement in the Feb. 11brawl with Pittsburgh.