I recently heard a well-known, national NHL analyst provide this preview of the Washington/Philadelphia series: "There is going to be blood all over the ice."

Nice way to describe a hockey series? No way!
Before you start questioning my manhood, I will tell you I have been watching hockey for over 45 years and love a lively fight, a good hard hitting game, as long as the teams play within the rules of the game. I have lived through the 'Bruise Brothers' era, have witnessed first-hand the Broad Street Bullies and have always appreciated what the 'enforcers" of the game do on a night-to-night basis.

But painting a picture of "blood on the ice" is not my cup of tea. Was this person trying to stir up interest? Did someone tip him off regarding the strategy one or both teams will employ? Instead...

Read Full Post: NHL playoff rivals better without "blood on the ice"

No I am not kidding you or anyone else.

So the skill of the NHL player doesn't matter? You may have given me another topic to blog about.

I have to lean towards puckbunny22's point of view here. I mean watching the goals, stickhandling and great saves is fun but lets get real here. We all know people are just waiting for the big hits and fights.

If people actually were all about the skill of the game then the hits and fights wouldn't be allowed. Period.

Just look at all the little kids who are body checking at younger and younger ages. what's that about? they're little kids and they are being tought to let out the violence.

sad.

paul, you've really lost me here. you argue against promoting fighting as a focal point of the game, but then you just trail off about who gets home ice. is that even part of the same argument? what should the use to grab people's attention instead? are you trying to tell me a headline that reads "home ice advantage" will turn as many heads as "blood on the ice"

you even used it in your own headline.

the basic fact is violence sells. it's the part of the game the most people can relate to. soccer fans like fights, football fans like fights, tennis fans like fights. i don't know anyone who doesn't like seeing someone get caught cutting through the middle as much as they like seeing a textbook tic-tac-toe goal. however, what separates the fight from the great plays as a seller is that you don't have to have played the game to get excited by a fight. there's no required knowledge to understand what's going on in the situation. if one hasn't played the game, one, i would assume, won't always be able to tell what was so smart about a lot of the plays.

this image isn't as supportive as the one from wednesday when the first games started, but it still has that team vs team battle feeling. they're going into battle to fight for survival. you didn't link to the source, so i have no idea what the article says, but blood on the ice, to me, just extends the playoff, off to battle metaphor.

either way, it's definitely a more interesting line than crosby better stick handler than spezza. the goal is to entice people to read the article, not break out the foil.