Thread: Don Cherry rips Stu Grimson, Chris Nilan and Jim Thomson.

"Is that ridiculous? I'll tell you one thing there. You people that are against fighting you should be ashamed of yourself. You took advantage of that to make your point on fighting. You should be ashamed of yourself for doing something like that.

I did a little research. Since 1999, there's been eight guys commit suicide and not one of them was a fighter. And when I played, I remember four guys commit the suicide. Not one of them was a fighter. But you jumped on this with both feet. You should've been ashamed of yourself.

But the ones that I am really disgusted with -- and I hate to say this when the kids are listening -- with Georges Laraque(notes) said about ... but the bunch of pukes that fought before: Stu Grimson, Chris Nilan and Jim Thomson. 'Oh, they reason that they're drinking drugs and alcoholic because they fight.' You turncoats. You hypocrites. It's one thing I'm not, it's a hypocrite.

You guys ... you were fighters and now you don't want guys that make the same living you did."

Video: Don Cherry rips

They just had a segment on this on On The Fly. They showed the responses and those 3 guys are not very happy to put it nicely. Don Cherry has never realized that times have changed.

Originally Posted by NastiMarvasti

They just had a segment on this on On The Fly. They showed the responses and those 3 guys are not very happy to put it nicely. Don Cherry has never realized that times have changed.

Michael Landsberg had Thomson, Nilan, and Grimson on O.T.R. today responding to Cherry's comments. I'll try and post the video if/when TSN uploads it. Was pretty interesting

I know Don Cherry is supposed to be an 'icon' or something but I cannot stand him. Never have liked him, never will. He is so full of himself!!!

He's not wrong.

Originally Posted by Drunken Crunker

Michael Landsberg had Thomson, Nilan, and Grimson on O.T.R. today responding to Cherry's comments. I'll try and post the video if/when TSN uploads it. Was pretty interesting

I think this is it here.

TSN Video Player

Well, IMO, he IS wrong regarding suspensions...I mean, he (and many others) enjoy Stevens' type hits...ok. But concussion resulting hits MUST be prevented, because that ruined too many careers of very talented players. One thing is hitting, and another is reckless hitting. And who cares WHAT caused all this inquisition, if it's Crosby, then so be it. It needs to be dealt with. In my case, the fact that I'm more afraid one of the Kings gets seriously injured than the Kings losing the game is enough to fully support what Shanahan's been doing. And I'm sure I'm not at all the only one.

But he isn't wrong regarding fighting. Fighting, IMO, is a bit out of fashion (even in hockey), but it's done by players who are WILLING to do it. Players don't get a question "hey man, can I hit you in the head, so you'll miss the remainder of the season because of concussion?", but they do get "you wanna fight?". And I'm not sure there is really much connection with fighting and suicide, though you NEVER know...but one thing is for sure: going out and saying "Oh, the reason that they're drinking drugs and alcoholic because they fight." is RIDICULOUS.

EDIT: now that I watch their response, it looks like they DIDN'T say that at all...so, yeah...Don was too harsh.

Originally Posted by Bollocks

Well, IMO, he IS wrong regarding suspensions...I mean, he (and many others) enjoy Stevens' type hits...ok. But concussion resulting hits MUST be prevented, because that ruined too many careers of very talented players. One thing is hitting, and another is reckless hitting. And who cares WHAT caused all this inquisition, if it's Crosby, then so be it. It needs to be dealt with. In my case, the fact that I'm more afraid one of the Kings gets seriously injured than the Kings losing the game is enough to fully support what Shanahan's been doing. And I'm sure I'm not at all the only one.

But he isn't wrong regarding fighting. Fighting, IMO, is a bit out of fashion (even in hockey), but it's done by players who are WILLING to do it. Players don't get a question "hey man, can I hit you in the head, so you'll miss the remainder of the season because of concussion?", but they do get "you wanna fight?". And I'm not sure there is really much connection with fighting and suicide, though you NEVER know...but one thing is for sure: going out and saying "Oh, the reason that they're drinking drugs and alcoholic because they fight." is RIDICULOUS.

EDIT: now that I watch their response, it looks like they DIDN'T say that at all...so, yeah...Don was too harsh.

The problem isn't the hitting. I've said this 100 times. The problem consists of three things:

1. The players are now faster than they were 10/20/30 years ago. They cover ground quicker. They accelerate faster. Newton is in effect here. Mass x Velocity and all that.
2. The rinks are, because of #1, effectively smaller than they were years ago. There's a reason why you don't see these big hits during the olympics. The larger ice surface nullifies some of that speed. They need to make the rinks larger. Also, reduce the size of the neutral zone. Almost all of these hits are while coming through there or just entering the zone. Shortening that makes zone entry faster and less time to line someone up.
3. The equipment. It's too advanced now. The guy doing this hitting has these solid caps on their shoulders that diminish the force throughout their body. The guy getting hit has nothing like that on his chin. If the guy doing the hitting feels it, they slow down. Human instinct.
Bonus 4th: Get rid of the instigator penalty.

Suspensions won't do anything but (potentially) change the game.

Well, sure there's Newton, but were there REALLY that much less injury-resulting hits in the "old" hockey? I mean, surely those Stevens' hits you see weren't just "bruise-makers"? And even if it is faster...how much faster? If it's on average 1m/s faster (and it isn't), the difference in energy really isn't that big to it being an excuse. And because you brought up the equipment, don't players wear better helmets, too? And for the hitter, if he hits a player in the chest/shoulder (legally), he might get shaken in the process, true. But if he hits the head...then believe me, advanced equipment makes very little change: it's quite undramatic, because unfortunately, our heads tend to act like a boxing ball when hit.

Covering the ice is true...this is a bit of a problem here. But...basically, what you're saying is "Let's stop pestering reckless behavior and work towards legal hitting, let's enlarge the ice and avoid the hitting instead."
Look...there was one Shanahan's review where he said that a player turned his view down prior to the hit: it was his own fault he got hit in the head, because the hitter couldn't adapt so quickly. But when the hitter aims for the head or recklessly throws his shoulder where it wants to go or he hits the player into the column or he just nudges his shoulder a bit when an unaware player flies by...he should get suspended. Sorry, in most cases, the problem lies in ill discipline among the players, and you correct this with a fair punishment for it. And that will change the game just as much or less than (let's say) widening the rink.