:rolleyes:
yeah, real boring.

Other than the fight stopping when they fall down, what other "understood" rules are there in hockey fights?

One on one.
Goalies only fight goalies, or just stay the **** out of it.

www.hockeyfights.com

Oh okay, that makes sense.

Put on a football uniform, with extra leg pads, then some ice skates and then try to land a punch while somone is grabbing your jersey while trying not to be hit youself and see how pretty you can make it look.

Yes their real. ROFL

I'm sure there are more, but I can't think of them. They are trying to take a lot of the fighting out of hockey, which is a shame.
The fights are just a way players police themselves, much like beaning batters in baseball.

I saw that live (live on TV anyway)...awsome!!! McCarthy and Lemuixe (sp?) were kicking the piss out of one another. McCarthy was awsome.

Most of the people trying to take fighting out of the game couldn't tell you the difference between icing and the center line. Lack of understanding how the game works makes it look like senseless violence.

It's really simple: don't watch it if you don't like it.

Yes... and a good hockey fight can sometimes change the momentum of the game for a team....

I'm all for taking fighting out of hockey. When the puck isn't in play it's boring. Can you imagine NFL players fighting like they do in hockey (with the exception of someone kicking TO's a$$)? Takes away from game IMO.

Lemieux wasn't doing shit but trying to hide in his pads... fuggin cheap-shottin' turtle.
McCarty kicked his ass.

Anything is boring when nothing is going on.
But are you really trying to say that fighting adds to boredom?

I suppose they aren't boring, but they are not entertaining in the sense that I'm watching to see hockey. I want to see hockey skills on display, not boxing or street fighting.

There are obviously legimate reasons for fights to break out in most any contact sport, but to go at because someone got the better of you in the corner isn't one of them.

The fighting is at least part of why nobody takes Hockey seriously and it's getting ratings that made the brief XFL look good.

For the record, you hardly ever see a fight break out for that reason. They are mostly as retaliation for a cheap shot, or as a tool to invigorate the team.
As far as watching to see hockey... that is where the leaders of the league are trying to take it. They are trying, in order to gain a more mainstream crowd, to cut down on the fights, and moke the game more of a fluid, less grinding game, with higher scoring.
I hate to see that. I can recall a series or two the Wings won recently, simply because they worked in the corners and against the boards better than the other teams. And a good fight always makes things more exciting for me. but if the rule changes they've implemented mean more fans, and more popularity for the sport, I can tolerate some "popping" up of the game.

If you truly watch hockey for the game, and want to see no fights, you are in luck. The playoffs start this weekend, and there is RARELY a fight during the playoffs.

It may be a part, but I don't believe it's a huge part, but a very small one.
I think the main reason it's hard to get into for a lot of people is because it's not a game you can easily click to in the middle, and know exactly what has happened. Baseball and Football are easy like that. You can switch the game on at any time, and very quickly know what has happened. They are split into small, choppy segments, and you can catch an inning here and there, and it's easier to process that way. Even basketball, though it has a flowing type of game, has scores on almost every possesion. You can watch it just casually and pick out the hot team, and make a decision on how the game has gone. Games like hockey are harder because of the flow of the game. You can watch for an hour and never see a goal. Teams ebba nd flow, even during individual periods, so a team can look horrible, but that tells no story of the game. I think this is the main fact that keeps hockey from joining the main 3 sports. Like it or not, we live in a short-attention span world, and hockey does not cater to that, especially on TV.
To be honest, 15 years ago, when I was learning the game, I really had to force myself to watch a whole game. It would be on ESPN on a Friday night, and I'd switch on in the middle and quickly lose interest. But once I watched a whole game, saw the flow and the talent and the energy, I was hooked. I think that's how it is for most people. You get hooked either by watching it live, or by forcing yourself to watch an entire game. It's a drwback, and I wish there was a way to change it so everyone could appreciate it the way I do (or millions of others who are FAR more knowledgeable about it) but I doubt it will ever reach the level of the big 3 because of this.