@Brian, I still disagree that a “goon” (adopting Neil’s parlance) could be scared off by another goon. Like a bunch of frat dudes– they’re drawn to their own and feel more comfortable in doing goonish things.

@SA-Town, If King can prevent an injury, he’s worth the investment– but he’d have to break up a fight or stop a bad hit to do that, when I expect him to be riding the bench.

@MinorThreat, That’s a compelling point, even if it can’t be measured. Maybe the other guys will feel more secure in their own skill sets knowing that King has assault and battery covered. That way they can rededicate themselves to their core skill sets.

@Joe, Shows what you know. Ice Capades went out of business 15 years ago, dummy! Disney on Ice, however, will be at the Patriot Center from Wednesday, October 20 through October 24th. I hear they’re doing Toy Story 3!!! See you there.

That’s about one loss per season and like you said, their value is only reacting to what someoen els has done.

What I would like to see him do more, is lay a big hit to bring the tempo up, or get in front of the net. If he isnt afraid to get in the crease, he may be our #1 scoring threat come playoff time. (joking)

First off- love your site, been checkin it for a while now.

I am inclined to agree with you that we don’t necessarily need an enforcer. In the “new NHL” many teams have proved that a traditional enforcer is not needed. This was the Red Wings common recipe for success, they were similar to the caps, lotta skilled euros, low PIMs and high regular season finishes.

However- I think you’re wrong on the enforcer as deterrent theory. You can’t argue an enforcer starts too much shinto and also doesn’t play enough. It’s like woody allen’s joke; “the food is terrible and the portions are too small.” Personally I like to still believe there is a code, and you can bet that as much as Don Cherry likes to gripe about it, European players are well aware of it by the time they’re in the league. They know if they cheap shot someone they’ll have to asnwer the bell. More likely however is a Darcy Tucker type- North American regular pest. Will hit and slash to his heart’s content. That is where DJ will make his 3 mins of ice time count. Believe me a pest knows if there’s an enforcer on the other team and they definitely know the code as well. That is where they act as a deterrent. As much as these guys are “pros” getting punched in the face by a large man is not fun, especially when you have the added danger of hard ass ice below you. It may be a pest’s job to annoy a la avery and his stick blade blinding, but they won’t cross the line on Ovi or Semin if they know there are “rough men standing ready to do violence on their behalf.” aka DJ King

PS- He landed an awful lot of lefts in this vid, including the knockdown. Surprised Kolbe thought thornton caught a rut.