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Kukla's Korner Hockey

Good Games and Bad Games

by Paul on 09/22/05 at 10:42 AM ET
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Last night's Wings/Avs game was a well played game, filled with action and both teams seemed to understand and play by the rules. Of course, a few obstruction calls were made but in my mind, all of the calls were correct and kudos to both refs for making the consistent call. The only thing missing was the hitting, but I feel that will come as players adjust to not using the stick as an obstruction tool. On the other hand, the Flyers and Islanders by all accounts, played an ugly game: from the Daily Times,

There is a huge question the NHL needs to begin asking itself: Is this really what we want? That’s because, the game of hockey being presented to the fans this preseason is clumsy, uneven and has no flow. Case in point was the Flyers’ second preseason game Wednesday against the New York Islanders. Consider the following ugly statistics: 12 combined power plays, six hooking penalties, two more for delay of game when players clearing the puck accidentally shot it into the stands. And that was just in the first period. The infractions slowed up a bit as the game progressed, but the sparse crowd at the Sovereign Bank Arena was disinterested by that point. The irrelevant final score was Flyers 2, Islanders 1, but there are graver concerns at this juncture of the exhibition season than wins and losses. Sure, the games don’t count right now and some of the players that are playing won’t be in the NHL, but even games at the AHL level last season weren’t this ugly. Not only is the game a bad product, but the players are full of uncertainty. They seem to be fighting their own instincts to play the game the way they know how. "That’s the new NHL and that’s what they want and that’s what they’re going to get," said a disgruntled Chris Therien. "They’ve gone from one extreme to an absolute other extreme, and that, as a player, is frustrating."

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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

From breaking news to in-depth stories around the league, KK Hockey is updated with fresh stories all day long and will bring you the latest news as quickly as possible.

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