[Willie Lanier]

Originally Posted by Bearcat

It wasn't only to fight, but teams definitely had goons who were there to be overly physical.... the difference being there's no place to hide in hockey.

A safety destroys a receiver, then....? Maybe that safety gets cheap-shotted later if someone goes out of their way to do it?

In hockey, you could get destroyed the very next shift, or as you said, have to answer with a fight.

Who knows how much of a deterrent it really was (and fighting isn't even allowed in college, the Canadian leagues, international play), but most of the goons are out of the league as the game has shifted to be faster and more skilled after rule changes years ago... and they've had review committees in place for a while that will get players suspended for targeted/dangerous hits.

There are still a few players around who just don't get it.... the NHL definitely isn't aggressive with their suspensions by any means, but they actually produce videos of what they saw and the reasoning behind each suspension, including the player's history and comparisons with other suspensions, which is of course incredibly transparent and forward thinking.

IMO, they could do more to get rid of those players who don't get it, and impose lengthier suspensions in many cases.... but, overall, the goons are gone and fighting is way, way down.

Yeah goons are pretty much non existent in today's game...