The New NHL (kinda sucks)

Well, the earth stood still this week, as Sports Illustrated ran not one, but TWO pieces about hockey:

Ever since the NHL's early days when Montreal's Sprague Cleghorn terrorized the ice, the league has housed pugnacious souls whose primary function is protecting their more skilled teammates by intimidating opponents into steering clear, and delivering swift and terrible fistic punishment upon transgressors.

It's a pretty solid photo gallery of 14 of hockey's all-time great enforcers...solid especially in comparison to recent features in other magazines/glorified-Axe-body-spray-promotional-materials.

So good for SI, but bad for hockey fans...of these 14 tough guys, only 3 are still playing today. The new whistle-happy NHL is never more depressing than when it's juxtaposed against the sport's grand history.



Gordie, forgive Gary Bettman...he knows not what the hell he's doing.

Or alternately, you could just beat the shit out of him.