JelloPuddingPop wrote: ↑Fri Nov 14, 2025 11:23 am
Ronning's Ghost wrote: ↑Wed Nov 12, 2025 12:52 pm
Rick Rypien (with perhaps some guidance from his father, Wes) figured out some technical elements of hockey fighting that still do not seem to have been widely adopted. It's why he was able to be so effective against much larger opponents, and an important part of my argument of why it would be possible to coach much more of the fighting element of hockey toughness into a given lineup, irrespective of past pugilistic proclivities, if a management or coaching group believed it would help.
I do agree you can teach the aspects of hockey fighting - I still remember it used to be the tough guy's job on the team to show the basics to rookies coming in, George Laraque comes to mind with the Habs.
Rypien's blocking technique wasn't widely seen, and the ability to throw a quick jab with that blocking arm caught a lot of opponents off guard.
Yes, those, but the thing that I think was an equalizer for Rypien against heavyweights was an insight (or perhaps experimental discovery) about punching mechanics on skates, and one that few others seemed to have picked up on, or else lack the necessary skill to exploit. For most punches, skates and Newton's 3rd law work against you when trying to transmit forces horizontally, and so in most hockey fights they're really only throwing arm punches. Some of the players are so big and strong it still hurts, but you'll notice that a smaller number of punches landed between equally large boxers ends the fight in a knockout. What Rypien noted, though, was that ice reacted just as well as canvas against vertical forces, so when he threw a well-structured uppercut driving with his legs, he was actually hitting far harder than most of the big men throwing looping haymakers.
Another coachable aspect would be fighting for grips on the jersey, which is something judo competitors practice all the time. I have seen getting the better grip be decisive in many hockey fights. I think there would be other transferable skills from judo, though some posters have argued that those would seen as an escalation beyond the implied social contract. But we have been speaking in terms of a "nukular" deterrent.
JelloPuddingPop wrote: ↑Fri Nov 14, 2025 11:23 am
I think what made him so successful, was his ambidextrousness - hard to teach that, and being able to throw with both equally was a game changer for Rick.
Ambidextrous would be asking a lot, but every boxer can throw at least some punches with either hand. If the player's preferred hand was doing the gripping, and that led to enough of a control advantage on the grip, second-best punches that actually landed would be enough to win a fight.
Madcombinepilot wrote: ↑Fri Nov 14, 2025 11:51 am
… and throw fast.
His punch count was off the charts..
Yes, speed is very hard to coach. But don't most (or at least, many) hockey players have fast hands, anyway, for stick-handling and tucking in loose pucks around the net? I don't why that wouldn't be transferable, with a little practice. Maybe some throw slowly because it's an unfamiliar motion, so they have to think about it? Or, lacking skill, they think they really have to wind up to throw anything worth landing ?
My own strong preference would be that the League and its officials enforce the rules, but ultimately, they are selling an entertainment product, and seem to believe that current level of enforcement is what their paying audience wants.* So until and unless the League makes that shift, the Canucks should be pursuing advantage in that element of the game with the same vigor as any of the other aspects.
*as a counter-point to that position, observe the rigor and millimeter precision with which North America's most financially successful professional league enforces the rules. They still get it wrong sometimes, but they make a convincing showing of endeavouring mightily to get it as right as mortals can.
