The NHL has long seen enforcers on the ice. Remember what we called them? Goons! They were there to do 1 thing and 1 thing only. Protect the talent by fighting those that tried to hurt them. There was little else they were expected to do. No scoring, no defense. Just protect the star. Well, this isn’t your dad’s NHL anymore. For quite a while fighting and the role of the enforcer went to the wayside along with huge open ice hits, aggressive slashing, and cross checking in front of the net. It seemed the role of the enforcer was eliminated from hockey.
But, something happened in the NHL. The talent got much younger and faster. The need for size from your star players seemed to diminish and was replaced by incredible skill. A new age of enforcers are coming and some are already here. Organizations have selected generational talent to be the face of their franchise. Look at the Chicago Blackhawks. After many years of success, they collapsed to irrelevance. But who came along? A young, 18-year-old player by the name of Connor Bedard, with some calling him the new Kid (a homage to Sidney Crosby). Bedard is listed at 5’10” and 185 lbs. Blackhawk fans rejoiced and saw light again with their team. And what happened? A 6’1” 200 lb Brendan Smith broke Bedard’s jaw with a crushing hit. There goes your generational talent for weeks and weeks.
The response of the Blackhawk organization? They signed on waivers a 6’6” defenseman named Jaycob Megna who is not afraid to drop the gloves. I wonder why?
The NHL has always had enforcers and always will.
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