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Wingnut

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Pepee's Pornn Palace

To Dive Or Not To Dive

There is a loaded question for today's NHL players. At the slightest feel of an arm, or the fail pull of a stick do I fold up and fall like a wet rag? Or should I be the true gritting hockey player that can take a hit and still keep on playing like a warrior?

If they fold up and go down they have an 80-90% chance of drawing a penalty call and giving their team an advantage. They have a 1% chance of getting the dreaded "diving" call and putting their team a man down. Should they decide to play though the hold or stick work, there is a 50/50 chance the penalty will be called.

Seems like an easy choice for a newer player in today's league, it's all about advantage and victories (and fat contracts). It's not such an easy choice for some of the veterans around the league that is not the type of hockey that has been engrained into their style of play. Not to mention that they are not great actors and their attempts at the "dive" are so obvious they are the ones who wind up in the penalty box.

As a fan of the game and one who is fanatical about watching as many games as I can, the amount of diving has come to a point where it impacts the outcome of many games. I have watched many games where the ensuing power-play after a "dive" generated penalty results in a game winning goal. Regardless if the call would have been made without the dive, it takes away from the game and letting the abilities of the players decide the outcome.

I'd like to see the league really clamp down on the diving and call the penalty for doing it. It would result in more four on four time which has proven to be very entertaining hockey. If nothing else it would start to have the reverse effect on the outcome of games, if neither team gets an advantage out of offsetting penalty calls, the outcome will still be based on the players ability to play the game. The players have shown in the past that they can adapt to the way the officials call a game and adjust their play accordingly. This is one change I think they would all be willing to accept.

The NHL needs to make some quick and drastic changes to mold the level of play back to the real meaning of a good hard played, hard fought victory on ice. Seventy-five years of tradition demand it, the fans demand it, and the price of a game ticket demands it. Come on, lets not keep Lord Stanley rolling over in his grave.

Wingnut