I know he's supposed to be a deterrent to those mean people on the other side but he's rarely out there when stuff happens. No disrespect to MacIntyre who could wipe the floor with me and pretty much everyone reading this, but it's clear that an enforcer doesn't stop much from happening to the skilled guys.
Steve MacIntyre 10-11
- 5x5 points per 60: 0.50 (14th among forwards but DNQ)
- 5x4 points per 60: nil
- Qual Comp: easiest faced among forwards but DNQ
- Qual Team: 10th best available teammates among forwards but DNQ
- Corsi Rel: -29.1 (by far the worst among forwards but DNQ)
- Zone Start: 53.1% (4th easiest among forwards but DNQ)
- Zone Finish: 47.4% (3rd worst among forwards but DNQ)
- Shots on goal/percentage: 6 shots/0
- Boxcars: 34gp, 0-1-1
- Plus Minus: -1 on a team that was -52
- What do these numbers tell us? The Corsi is incredible based on qualcomp and zone start. In real terms, the play began in the offensive zone and ended up in the Oilers zone with such great regularity that the Oilers were basically shorthanded for all of his 120 even minutes. There's no hockey argument that can sway these numbers.
- How could these numbers be better? They can't. Hey, I'm not picking on him but it's impossible to say this without being blunt. Steve MacIntyre was paid to mash people and intimidate and anything beyond those two things spelled disaster for the Oilers.
- How can he help the team aside from getting off the ice? He could take fewer penalties. MacIntyre took 14 minors, a very high total for someone playing 3 minutes a night. Over 34 games, SM took a penalty almost once every second game.
- He hits a ton. 23 hits according to nhl.com for the entire season. Give me Reddox instead.
- Tom Renney likes him. Yes, yes he does.
- He's very loyal. Yes, and I think he's probably a great guy. I saw him trying to teach Ryan O'Marra how to fight which is kind of like teaching someone to take your job.
- He's going to have a long career. No, he isn't. The end is near, as concussions and the things we learn from the brains of Reggie Fleming and Bob Probert educate us about what we're doing to the Steve MacIntyre's of the world.
- Oh you freaking bleeding heart. Quite right. When I was a kid, my Dad and I watched heavyweight boxing and he'd tell me about the old timey boxers like Joe Louis (the best story my Dad ever told me was the Louis-Schmeling duels. He told them in such detail that--and I'm not making this up--years later when I was telling the story my new Mother-in-law sat bolt upright in her chair and said "I heard that fight on the radio!" so it must have had an impact). But you know what? It isn't right. It's wrong to pay money to watch a man put his future in danger and we're getting to that point as a society. I don't think it will take long now.
- It sold tickets in the 1970's and it sells them now. True, there is an element of society (including me) that enjoys a fistfight but the dangers are too severe. I had no idea the kind of impact it has on people and now that we know it needs to go.
- Steve MacIntyre would have been an excellent Fred Shero Flyer. No sir, not true. Shero's guys had to skate and backcheck and that they did; I'm not saying the Schultz, Saleski and Kelly were finesse guys but they could keep up and they could help win hockey games using more than their fists.
- You're as wrong as wrong can be. Could be, but there's some traction and a lot of evidence to suggest it's the right thing to do.
Could not agree more. Nice guy, hope so. Good team guy ...yup! Can he play hockey ...not a lick
ReplyDeleteAs a fan of the sweet science and the hockey tough guys, I reluctantly am leaning towards agreement with you.
ReplyDeleteWhat is the point of a super-heavyweight in an ocean of middleweights? Unless the heavyweight can hold his own on the ice.
That is why I was so certain Theo Peckham would find a spot on the roster eventually. Shero would have loved him, just like Grapes does.
100% support on the fighting thing from me. I've watched hockey for 30 years, and I'm ashamed to bring my kids (5 and 7) to a WHL game because there are so many fights.
ReplyDeleteIt's bloody pointless. For the die-hards: why is playoff hockey so great when there are barely any fights? We are damaging young people for our own enjoyment, and it's a damn shame.
Okay, no more ranting for now.
The game of hockey is more than ever a game of initiatling and not retaliating. Once the Oilers figure this out, it will be one less problem out of the way.
ReplyDeleteBig Mac is a good ambassador to the Oilers much like Strudwick is. But neither of them can of them can play a lick (anymore).
I still think physical aggression is still a part of the NHL. Physical players are still important, but now more than ever players need to be able to handle the puck, skate, throw a hit in order to be effective. The Oilers had MacIntyre, Stortini and Jacques and all three of them might as well not even hae bother to bring their stick off the bench.
I love when LT gets to the dregs of the lineup because you get gems like this post.
ReplyDeleteThought I'd let everyone know that I'm still sketching Oilers as LT posts 'em. I post previews on twitter (lgwgreen) and I just finished scanning a big batch (Hemsky through Reddox). If you're interested, check out the last couple posts at my blog for the (slightly more) polished versions. Thanks for putting up with my self-promotion LT :)
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ReplyDeleteI love when LT gets to the dregs of the lineup because you get gems like this post.
ReplyDeleteSeconded. I read you at least as much for the news and analysis as for the writing, but this post (and "Crystal Ball", for different reasons) are just terrific, and would be if they imparted no relevant information.
Also, thanks to you I spent the entire drive from Montreal (well, Longueuil, for those of you who are FPB) to Fredericton listening to Dylan. It started with a desire to hear his version of "Follow You Down", which I listened to about thirty consecutive times the first time I fell seriously in love...but "TMI", as the kids say.
12. The players like him. Why can't you? Are you a dink?
ReplyDeleteNo.
Boogaard died today. This is sad to me.
ReplyDeleteDerek Boogard found dead as per Sportsnet.
ReplyDeleteI just read that over at ON. Awful news. Just terrible.
ReplyDeleteFigure a thread about Smac is a good place to remember the Boogie man. Whether you like them or not Enforcers have are those off ice softies that we often lose tragically.
ReplyDeleteSmarmy - well said. Very sad that a guy is paid to play such a narrow roll and can be viewed as a demon by the opposing fan base - but in real life is a good guy.
ReplyDeleteSadly ironic that this happens at the same time LT posts on Smac. I agree w/100% of what you say about him sir.
Very brave post, LT -- thank you for taking a stand.
ReplyDeleteThe right stand.
I never knew Boogard as a hockey player. He came to the East only last year (on a ridiculous contract to boot) so he's just a name to me.
ReplyDeleteBut between Crosby and the others, this post is signing in tune with the times, methink. We don't know what happened to Boogard (yet), but let's be blunt: there are a bunch of us who tought steroids or concussion. Either way, short of being a soldier on the battlefield (and even then, I have a few quibbles about the fact that those who call on wars aren't actually fighting them, but hey, I *am* a bleeding heart) it's awful to think we should say it's okay for a 28 years old ox to die because he did his job, whatever his job is supposed to be.
A bunch of people called on the media hype surrounding the Pacioretty/Chara thing (and a media hype there was), but what can I say... I'm young, I'm only beginning, really, and I'm 35. And that guy, 7 years younger, dies and you look at his job and I stood there watching that 22 years old kid wondering "Is he dead?!" and, well...
Look, maybe his girlfriend stabbed him, that's not the point. The point is, IMNSHO, that we crossed a line: every time something bad happens to one of these kids, a whole shitstorm starts brewing about something that, at the end of the day, comes under the umbrella opened by Geoff Molson: there is a problem with players safety in the NHL today.
Time will tell if I'm full of it or not, but I guess Sid was the only one who could shake the whole thing into some kind of movement. Pangea-splitting slow moving, but moving nonetheless.
If mac could skate he would be usable. he gets some penalties just because the refs are scared. How often does a guy get really hurt throwing them he follows the code. If Mac enrolls in power skating and works on foot speed he could still be a force but he cannot keep up with most of the cruiser weights that the teams carry. And Huggy bear just needed to learn to throw them better.
ReplyDeleteSorry about to hear about the Boogie Man. Will see how that shakes out RIP he did his job well and was a usable player.
It is a hell of a way to make a living. I don't wish it on anyone (which is reason #3245 my kids won't play organised hockey, no offense to anyone) and I feel every day for a guy like SMac. Even moreso when you read the personal accounts of recent tough guys and understand the torment they go through thinking about how to keep their job. Just ask Stortini what happens when you have a bad fight or two.
ReplyDeleteThe Boogaard thing was simply the exclamation point on this post. A huge, neon red, blinking exclamation point. Go with God Boogie-man.
Boogaard was a good guy. Most guys that make their pay cheque with their fists are good guys even if they live the sort of lives that end short. I remember Darren Kimble as a junior living in a shithole and drinking like it was going out of style. Still a nice guy off the ice. (Couldn't imagine a kid playing CHL hockey living like that nowadays) These guys usually have time for any kid that wants it. Hell think of Laraque and how much time he dedicated to the community.
ReplyDeleteOh well. I'm usually the guy who acts like this stuff doesn't matter so I'll shut up and go to bed.
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ReplyDeleteWell said, LT. I'm with you 100% on this one. Nothing against Mac personally, and goodness knows he overcame incredible odds to make the show, but he belongs in a different sport.
ReplyDeleteSad news about Boogaard. One awaits the details with bated breath, but it's not apt to be pretty.
Amen on the tough way to make a living thing.
ReplyDeleteThe fighter role was captured really well recently in that Caps-Pens HBO series when they did an interview with Matt Hendricks about how he was a scorer when he was young but eventually came to the realization that doing a ton of figbting was the only way he was going to be able to stay in the league - you hear this all while watching footage of the training staff patching up the various wounds caused by his nightly pounding.
Whatever happened to Boogaard, I'm sure the business he chose didn't help matters.
RIP
Mac hurt Ivanans. Bad. Yeah, Raitis knew the dangers. But still.
ReplyDeleteWhat if that had ended up Boogard-serious? Tragic. Would we have turned our backs on our Bertuzzi? After our cheering in the past?
There's a reason why the visceral is so distracting in this world methinks. And I am certainly guilty of watching too.
^I, for one, felt queasy watching Ivanans collapse like a rag doll and seeing the crowd at Rexall go bonkers with glee because of it.
ReplyDeleteHopefully one day -- and one day soon -- we'll stop applauding one human being causing brain damage to another.
Hopefully one day -- and one day soon -- we'll stop applauding one human being causing brain damage to another.
ReplyDeleteWhile beer is entertaining over use (like rough fighting versus bed fighting) can kill the brain. Back to prohibition I say.
Oh and listening to PC people talk about anything including fighting in hockey kills brain cells. no more talking about this you Serial cell killers.
While beer is entertaining over use (like rough fighting versus bed fighting) can kill the brain. Back to prohibition I say.
ReplyDeleteCall me a radical, but I prefer drinking beer to getting punched repeatedly in the face.
Steve Smith
0-2 amateur boxer
Excellent post as always LT. I am in full agreement that an enlightened society shouldn't make sport of our fellow human beings inflicting brain damage on each other.
ReplyDeleteThat said, there are a couple points I would play devil's advocate on.
"The end is near, as concussions and the things we learn from the brains of Reggie Fleming and Bob Probert educate us about what we're doing to the Steve MacIntyre's of the world."
There is no 'we' in this equation. My watching the Oil on tv doesn't make me complicit in MacIntyre's personal decision to choose this life. Smoking is a good analogy. It's a harmful and foolish life choice but people have that choice in a free society. In many ways, enforcers are like prostitutes, using their body to make money despite the obvious and numerous risk factors. What does this all mean? Clearly, smoking like prostitution should be illegal. lol
"It's wrong to pay money to watch a man put his future in danger and we're getting to that point as a society. I don't think it will take long now."
I love your optimism but I think the growing popularity of the brutal bloodsport charitably called UFC tells us otherwise. The sad reality is the Romans didn't stop going to the see the gladiators when their empire started to collapse around them, they went more.
''Clearly, smoking like prostitution should be illegal. lol''
ReplyDeleteOr not. People will do that anyway. Might as well make sure the risks are minimized and we get taxes out of it.
FPV, note the lol after the statement. I was being facetious.
ReplyDeleteLee: Haha. So hard to detect on the interwebz at times. Sorry.
ReplyDelete"...but I think the growing popularity of the brutal bloodsport charitably called UFC tells us otherwise." -Lee
ReplyDeleteLet me stand up for the UFC for a minute. Unlike boxing there are literally dozens of ways for a fight to end that don't involve rendering the opponent unconscious by repeated blows to the head. As well, fights are much shorter (3 rnds vs 10 or more), and fighters can quit with honour by tapping out rather than having the stain of quitting dog their entire careers ('no mas').
MMS is the evolution of combat sports away from the blood sports of the past and is indisputably safer for the fighters than boxing.
That all said, standing on frozen ice in skates and tossing overhand rights until you are exhausted or knocked out is really a hell of a way to make a living. I have long been a fan of the tough guy who can both play and fight (Neely, Tocchet, Probert, Iginla, Lindros, etc), but they are less and less a factor in today's game. Maybe it's time to let them go.
Capsem = what an Oveckin hat trick does to a team.
Neely, Tocchet, Probert, Iginla, Lindros, etc
ReplyDeleteOne of those things is not like the others.
Nice mention of UFC/MMA. It is a brutal sport, but it least it doesn't have pretenses about what it is.
ReplyDeleteI'd like the fighters to stick to fighting and the hockey players stick to playing hockey. The fans of both can do the same (or watch both) and hockey can be a safer game for everyone.
Also, am I alone in thinking that hockey fights are exceedingly dull affairs? A good time to get a drink?