Tough to stop progress. Yes, even in hockey.
Lots of folks – "real" hockey fans, we’re told – didn’t want visors to be mandatory in the NHL.
They’re now mandatory for everyone coming into the league.
Many of the same folks didn’t want a crackdown on head shots. Trying to take hitting out of the game, they charged.
They cracked down on head shots anyway.
Many argued angrily that women didn’t belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
They’re now in the Hall of Fame.
On and on the list goes. The conservative element drags it’s feet – always – and eventually change always come.
These days, that’s basically where we are with fighting in hockey, a simmering argument that exploded again last week with Connor McDavid’s injury.
The health element alone should dictate that putting an end to fighting in hockey needs to happen quickly. Players shouldn’t be exposed to that risk. Listen to Derek Boogaard’s grief-stricken father, Len, and you understand just how bad this can all end.
There are few pure enforcers left. There remain too many players who would never skate a period in the NHL if not for their ability to fight, or their willingness. There’s an unfortunate anti-hitting culture that has developed that says great body checks – Dion Phaneuf on Patric Hornqvist, Evgeni Malkin on Dan Girardi this weekend – must be answered by fists, not equally hard-nosed hockey.
So we wait. Like we did for visors, for action on head shots, and for women in the Hall of Fame.
Those things all happened. This will too.
Other weekend takeaways:
1) The Montreal Canadiens are an interesting mathematical equation.
They are 14th in goals scored per game, 11th in goals allowed, 27th on the power play, ninth in penalty killing, 27th in shots for per game and 20th in shots allowed. Their possession numbers are nothing to write home about, down in the lower range of the entire league.
Yet the Habs are first overall and looking good. Sustainable? We’ll see.
2) Taylor Hall returned to the Edmonton lineup on Sunday night, but unfortunately for the Oilers, Devan Dubnyk found his way back to town as well.
Dubnyk had 33 saves for the Coyotes in a 2-1 win over the Oilers, and there are strong indications like others before him, he has rediscovered his game under the tutelage of Sean Burke in the desert. He’s 4-0-1 for the Coyotes making $800,000 per season after making more than four times that last season.
3) Jamie Benn hasn’t scored in 11 games and Dallas has one win in nine home starts. On the brighter side, room was made for 22-year-old Swedish defence man John Klingberg by the trading of Sergei Gonchar, and in consecutive games Klingberg has played 23:46, 25:29 and 25:44. He’s only played four NHL games, but the more Lindy Ruff sees him, apparently, the more he likes him.
4) Yessir, that’s former Halifax Moosehead Jakub Voracek at the top of the NHL scoring list. Now if the Flyers can just find a left winger to skate consistently with Voracek and Claude Giroux, with Brayden Schenn getting the most looks. Three years after trading Jeff Carter to Columbus and then watching him win two Stanley Cups in L.A., the Flyers are at least getting some satisfaction that Voracek, acquired from the Jackets for Carter along with first and third rounders, is turning into a star.
5) Jonathan Drouin had to deal with a busted thumb this season, now he’s dealing with a little dissatisfaction from the head coach.
Drouin was a healthy scratch for Tampa on the weekend, no surprise to those who have watched him struggle in recent days after a strong debut.
6) As reported by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman on the weekend, look for NHL general managers to recommend dispensing with the dry scrape after regulation time when they meet in Toronto on Tuesday. Seems there’s concern too many fans are using the four-minute break to head home.
7) While the McDavid scrap got lots of attention, it’s worth noting that the OHL put in several new anti-fighting regulations last summer and fighting is down 13 percent this season and 42 percent over the last six seasons. The league’s competition committee meets this week, but fighting is not on the agenda.
Erie, meanwhile, is 0-2 without McDavid after starting the season 16-1 with him.
8) Stylish forward Josh Ho-Sang arrived for the second period on Friday night after being traded to the Niagara Ice Dogs by Windsor. The New York Islanders’ first rounder was acquired for a player and three second round picks as the Spitfires continue to try to recoup the futures and picks lost when they were hit with recruiting sanctions in 2012.
9) Injury-ravaged Columbus pretty much had to make a move when Fedor Tyutin went down with a hand injury, and Jordan Leopold was the solution in a trade with St. Louis.
10) Has to be worrisome for Dallas that winger Valeri Nichushkin, so impressive as an 18-year-old rookie last season with 14 goals and a plus-20 rating, has been lost four months to hip surgery. Seems awfully young to be dealing with that issue.
11) Jake Gardiner will be a big-time NHLer one day. Right now, it’s just a question of whether the Maple Leafs have the patience to make sure that happens for them, not some other team. They went through this same dance with Al Iafrate once upon a time, and Iafrate ended up playing his best hockey for the Washington Capitals.
12) The next Brendan Gallagher? Maybe it’s Alex DeBrincat, a 5-foot-7 buzz saw with the Erie Otters. All the attention has been on McDavid and Dylan Strome, but DeBrincat, who wasn’t even drafted in the OHL, has 21 goals in 20 games.
13) Red Wings prospect Anthony Mantha made his pro debut for Grand Rapids on Friday night and scored on Saturday. With Detroit struggling along 17th in league scoring, in seems inevitable now that Mantha has recovered from a broken leg, he’ll get a shot this season to see if his scoring excellence (57 goals in 57 games with Val d’Or last season) will translate quickly to the NHL.
14) Jori Lehtera has been a point-per-game centre in his first NHL season, although it’s worth noting that at 26, he’s ineligible for the Calder Trophy.
The Blues, meanwhile, are still hoping Vladimir Sobotka will eventually return from the KHL, if not next year, the year after. That’s why they went through that salary arbitration dance last summer.
15) We’ll see if sentimentality gets in the way tomorrow when the New Jersey Devils play in Winnipeg. If Cory Schneider opens in the blue paint, it would be his 19th consecutive start, which would tie Martin Brodeur’s team mark set in the 2001-02 season. Theoretically, Schneider could break the record Friday in Edmonton.
Of course, Brodeur has so many Devils records, it’s unlikely he would miss this one.
When it comes to personal records, meanwhile, Patrik Elias has some less happy results to report. He’s gone 17 games without a goal, worse than his previous slump record of 16.