Enough is Enough: Get the thugs out of the NHL

Just two nights ago, the Philadelphia Flyers' resident goon struck again, where Jody Shelley made a brutal and unnecessary hit on Torontos Darryl Boyce, this not only shows us why the Flyers need to cut this man, but we have a serious problem in the NHL. The NHL has a serious goon problem, clowns like Jody Shelley take up space that a skilled yet hard nosed forward should be filling, notably someone like Zac Rinaldo.

If you have not seen the video of the hit that got him suspended 10 games, here it is below

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=js1MyNjOwg0

As you can see, Shelley was not moving very fast, and could have easily turned after Boyce stopped skating.

It's not just this incident, it is a primal need for a lot of teams to have "an enforcer" someone like Jody Shelley that if it were not for his size and willingness to fight like it's a business would not even be in the NHL. I can't find a rational reason to have a player who's sole job on the team is to fight when called upon. The NHL has no need for this kind of player, I have no problem with fighting in hockey, in fact I love the uniqueness of a league which allows players to get their emotions out with their fists instead of their sticks, too bad it has lead to these kinds of players being in the lineup.

Last year Jody Shelley had two goals and two assists for four points, the goals were one away from a career high for a man who's played 596 NHL games, this begs a simple question, why do you need a player like this on your team who will hurt you more than he'll help you?

It's not just Jody Shelley, Zenon Konopka last year led the league with 307 penalty minutes, scored a grand total of nine points in 82 games for the Islanders. It seems to be a need in the NHL to have a "tough guy" or "enforcer" on the team, and ever since I've watched and played hockey, I've hated some of these names because they decorate what it really is, a thug, a man who is put on the ice for the sole purpose of fighting, and in Shelleys case he doesn't even win all of the time. do teams really need these kinds of players? or can we just bring up a grinding young forward who can play good defense and take the body to others, Aaron Asham is a perfect example of this. Asham played for the Flyers for two years, and I was sad to see him go because not only did he fight well "even for being a little guy" but he played great defense and played with emotion, an energy and defensive player, that is the kind of "tough guy" or "enforcer" I want on my team, not some emotionless and lathergic fighting robot. There's no need for this kind of player on the team and there certainly is no reason to sign him to a 3 year contract paying him 1.1 million per season.

Thank you for reading and Go Flyers!