Success is what got me following the devils, not scrapping. I remember watching the Wembley shoot out against Murrayfield on grandstand and l was absolutely thrilled by it. I didn't understand the game, could barely see the puck but l liked what l saw and started going down the wnir.
The game has changed considerably since the late 80s early 90s and that is due to the Nhl wanting to clean up the image of the sport and make it more family friendly to rake in more $$$. Let's be honest, hockey fights are usually pantomime, over in less than 10 seconds and it's just two guys yanking on each others Jerseys. I don't understand some of the dinosaurs on here sometimes who whine because the eihl isn't a beer league, quite literally sponsored by Heineken and full of knuckle draggers who can't skate or handle a Puck.
Definitely a dinosaur in terms of my views on the physical aspect of the sport. But it's very much merited I feel.
When i consider fighting and it's impact, it's not the fight itself that's important, it's the effect it has on the players. When there's a fight, or a game with so much physicality and anticipation of it spilling over, it makes the overall game better. Every player seems to go an extra pace, throws a hit that they wouldn't normally throw. Players don't look like they're simply going through the motions (as is the case with 70% of games these days).
No game I've witnessed live had the same intensity throughout it as the Devils v Steelers game back in the 2008/09 season. There wasn't a single fight in 60 minutes, just so much intensity and bad blood that the game felt like it could erupt at any moment. It erupted at the end - with Latulippe fighting Joe Talbot, settling a score that had been escalating in the media pre-game and throughout the game.
What led to that? Previous encounters with the Steelers, leading to a ridiculous 12 game ban for Voth and antics from Andrew Sharp leading to a huge ban.
I don't even remember the score of the game, but the feeling of intensity will stick with me forever. Give me nights like that over wins every day of the week.
It's not about the fights - it's about that missing feeling in the air, when the anticipation is building on the ice for an all out war.