>     No offense but "the Mask" and the No Fighting rule has got to be the
> stupidest thing hockey has ever gone to. Former Flames, North Star and
> FIGHTING SIOUX Perry Berzin basically said that the mask was the reason
> college hockey was so rough and tumble (Stick work, etc). Look at the NHL
and
> stick incidents and you will see that the Europeans are way more careless
> witht their sticks and lot of it has to do with the lack of fighting and
the
> wearing of the Itech shield.
 
This is purely anecdotal -- I never hear it from any hockey players except
Canadians. I don't believe it, but I could be wrong to - there's nothing to
validate it than selective perception based on your own biases.  From my
experience, I see nasty stick penalties all the time, and most every one of
them comes from Canadians. I've been with a pro team for two years that has
had Swedes, Russians and US College players -- and my personal observation
are the exact opposite of what you state .... but maybe that's my bias
showing.
 
Personally, I think two-handing someone as a form of checking is way more
prevalant today among ALL players.  Watch Classic Sports and you'll see what
I mean.  Today, using your stick like a lacrosse stick is very popular, and
dangerous.
 
 
> make the decision to wear or not wear a sheild. Ever notice when a player
> leaves college hockey how many of them keep wearing the mask, NADA.
 
Part of it is peer pressure, I think.  PART of it - though I hate wearing a
shield myself.
 
AW
 
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