Vanilla Playoffs: Where has the Hatred and Nastiness gone?

[PanniniClaus]

If you are looking for Quebec/Montreal... you will be disappointed but I've not missed many games and the intensity is pretty high. I also love fighting and found the 2023-24 reg season to be very refreshing.. Rempe was a walking fight card and there were many more teams bringing it back.. Long may it continue

 

[byrath]

It's a lot more risky to get involved in post-whistle shenanigans than it was back when a good powerplay was 15%

 

[Kimota]

Yea even the most hard fought games I have seen so far, it's like there's no emotion. It's so weird. It's like I am watching robots on ice. Even seeing the fans of the two Florida teams being so cordial after the Tampa loss I was like alright, that's it for me. I don't want to live in that World. lol

 

[Mathew Barzal]

Can someone do a stat check on historical powerplay percentages? Feels like every team on that playoffs is lethal these days and it’s not worth the potential penalty for crossing the line.

 

[DFAC]

League is soft

 

[Ezekial]

Yea even the most hard fought games I have seen so far, it's like there's no emotion. It's so weird. It's like I am watching robots on ice. Even seeing the fans of the two Florida teams being so cordial after the Tampa loss I was like alright, that's it for me. I don't want to live in that World. lol

Well luckily for you a fan was hospitalized by opposing fans in the Vegas/Dallas series.

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

Well, no, this is what Bettman wants and what a few fans cried for and now you have some of the worst playoff hockey being played in terms of entertainment value

 

[daver]

I hate to be the guy that remembers the good old days but, yeah.

The lack of cigarette burns to the other team's best player is troubling.

 

[TruePowerSlave]

It will only get more lifeless and heavily in favor of skill. The trend for some time has been to reduce physicality and take out the nastiness from the game.

 

[All Mod Cons]

I have noticed this playoff round did not have the nastiness. Now, there is the kinder gentler NHL out there and that plays into it, but I think it may have been softer even compared to 2023. A couple of theories are probably correct. There were lots of early finishes. There may not be a single Game 7 this round. 5 of the series were 5 games or under. I do think though that even last year you would see teams fighting in Game 1 and Game 2 in anticipation of setting a tone. This hasn't happened this year. For example, Toronto really needed someone to drop the mitts after Game 1 or Game 4 if only to set a tone, to show you aren't going down easy.

Overall, fighting in the regular season has seen slight bumps this year. 0.26 fights per game, which is not all that much, but it is higher than 4-5 years ago.

Someone might be right who mentioned that hockey has turned into a rich kid's game with preppy kids playing it. Not farm boys so much. Jon Cooper wasn't far off with his comment the other day about skirts when discussing his series.

You could just tell that the example would be Toronto. Just had to be Toronto. It's why they get all of the coverage.

 

[Arthur Morgan]

Canucks and Preds is probably the only series with real “nastiness”. Both those teams are already top 10 in NHL history for most hits through 5 games in a playoff series.

Leafs/Bruins have been pretty physical

 

[WillardJFredricks]

This year's first round is completely devoid of any nastiness or hatred. No rivalries, no fights, no anger... Maybe it's the playoff format, maybe it's the phasing out of fighting and violence, I'm not entirely sure... but that magical element that makes the Stanley Cup playoffs the best show on television has been glaringly absent so far in the first round. This no longer feels like the playoffs I'm used to, anybody else feel the same?

Definitely. But that's the way the NHL is now. Robots going through the motions, playoffs included.

 

[Aqualung]

Plenty of physicality between Marchand and the stripes.

 

[Jee]

No, we all hate Toronto and Montreal.

Stop lying

 

[Grigowski]

1st round series rarely have that edge - that almost always occurs in rounds 2 and 3.

This. Half of the matchups in Round 1 were pretty lopsided. There was no need to goon it up.

 

[34]

I guess you have not been watching the Toronto - Boston series

 

[Neil Racki]

Its odd. Physical 4th liner who plays 6 mins a game, injures opponent on questionable hit .. then doesnt drop the gloves when requested to

Theres no code or honor anymore

Rempe NOT fighting here is pathetic and symbolic

 

[Ray Mercer]

Fans always whine about wanting more physical play and whatnot, that is until the top player on their team gets Scott Steven'd into retirement. Blame the CTE's, they are what causing the rule changes in most sports.

I personally loved when Stevens was destroying guys in the late 90's. The Kariya hit was late and dirty but the year he blew up Langkow, Adams from Toronto and Lindros was legendary. You don't necessarily need fights but seeing guys take absolute runs at one another is awesome to watch and brings excitement. Who doesn't remember Campbell on Umberger.

 

[Ghost of Murph]

Over recent years I've watched playoff reffing get tighter, more like regular season, in the first two rounds. Hard to get nasty when the refs are nipping so much in the bud. Also, I think coaches preach staying out of the box more than in the past since PP goal differential decides games so much. I know if I was playing EDM I would be terrified of giving them PPs just in the name of nastiness. Given all of that, I've been seeing a reasonable amount of physical play considering it's round 1. Round 2 will bring more.

 

[Ararana]

They made rules to take out all those aspects. This is what you get.

Skill-based hockey? Bummer...

 

[authentic]

1st round series rarely have that edge - that almost always occurs in rounds 2 and 3.

Not true at all. The beginning of the 1st round are always intense physical battles. The first 3 or 4 games of the Boston and Toronto series all anyone was doing was hitting, now they are more focused on hockey. It's like this every year too.

 

[authentic]

Yea even the most hard fought games I have seen so far, it's like there's no emotion. It's so weird. It's like I am watching robots on ice. Even seeing the fans of the two Florida teams being so cordial after the Tampa loss I was like alright, that's it for me. I don't want to live in that World. lol

People have been saying this for about 15 years now.

 

[PaulD]

This year's first round is completely devoid of any nastiness or hatred. No rivalries, no fights, no anger... Maybe it's the playoff format, maybe it's the phasing out of fighting and violence, I'm not entirely sure... but that magical element that makes the Stanley Cup playoffs the best show on television has been glaringly absent so far in the first round. This no longer feels like the playoffs I'm used to, anybody else feel the same?

Maybe it's the way hockey is evolving.
As I watched last nights garbage game. Bs and leafs were goose eggs in the 2nd.....I though enough of the first round! Especially the east. First round has long been known as the best round. Yikes if it doesn't get better than this.
Fans seem more interested for their pools and bets than the 60 plus minute game action.

 

[Summer Rose]

Its odd. Physical 4th liner who plays 6 mins a game, injures opponent on questionable hit .. then doesnt drop the gloves when requested to

Theres no code or honor anymore

Rempe NOT fighting here is pathetic and symbolic

He was winded at the end of his shift. If anything it's rather dishonorable for Tom Wilson to be trying to pick a fight with someone who's at the end of their shift.

 

[PaulD]

If you are looking for Quebec/Montreal... you will be disappointed but I've not missed many games and the intensity is pretty high. I also love fighting and found the 2023-24 reg season to be very refreshing.. Rempe was a walking fight card and there were many more teams bringing it back.. Long may it continue

Quebec Monteal ..... the best!