Rich writes:
>    I'm one of those fans who could provoke major flames here by supporting
>goons-on-ice in hockey. I have one of those Hockey fight highlight tapes, and
>will show it at a tailgate party before the freakout here at RPI this
>Saturday. If there were no "incidents" or penalty-causing infractions at all in
>the game, hockey would be a bit boring after a while. If it was non-check,
>ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!
 
I'm not sure why you would follow college hockey then.  As an example of
how great the game can be without fights or cheap shots, I need only go
back two days to Monday's Beanpot semifinal between Northeastern and BU.
Some are already calling it one of the greatest games ever played in this
area.  Bob Ryan in the Boston Globe called it "the way hockey was meant to
be played."  There were a lot of crunching checks and play was very physical,
but I think only about six penalties were called in the game and none in the
third period.  With 15,000 people on the edge of their seats for the entire
third, I think you would have a hard time calling this boring.
 
>    What nicknames do hockey players have, really? Is there a "Dr. Hook",
>"The Backside Slasher", etc. What are today's actual players called by their
>pals in the locker room, and/or by adoring fans in the arena?
 
I will say that we in the press box jokingly called former Northeastern
forward Rico Rossi "Mr Atra".  Rico was pretty good with his stick - sometimes
cheap, but more often than not just pushing the boundaries of the rules.
When Hockey East came out with its Gift Line a few years ago, we wondered
if one of the items would be a Rico Rossi razor, shaped like a stick. :-)
 
I don't condone stick fouls and Rico wasn't as bad as some others, but these
two comments regarding him were too funny to let go.  Rico did set the
all-time Northeastern career record for penalty minutes before his sophomore
year was finished, however...but without him, NU wouldn't have won the 1988
championship.
 
Of course, after four years of Rossi wearing #7, Northeastern recruited Dino
Grossi, who came in and continued the tradition of #7.  They used to say
that they just took Rossi's jersey and put a "G" in front. :-)
 
BTW, my view is that physical play and hitting most certainly have their place
in the college game.  Fighting and cheap shots do not.  Some of Rossi's
stunts were embarrassing, but he cleaned up his act as he got older and he
certainly was a character along with most of that 1988 team.
 
 
- mike