Wendel Clark Tribute Night

[mrusse01 0]

Ironically I think the enforcer/star dynamic that exists in today's game has a lot to do with Clark's career. Here was a first overall pick, a tremendous talent, and he probably lost roughly half his career due to injuries...many of which were sustained in fights. Can you imagine a first overall pick coming into the league now and playing like Wendel did? There's no chance a team would ever let it happen.

You look at a player like Luke Schenn, a first round pick this season that has come in and stood up for his teammates on numerous occassions by dropping the gloves...and as much as the fans (and I presume his teammates) love him for it, he's been maligned by the media for risking injury to himself, and there's been cries that the Leafs need to go out and get someone else to do that job for the team because you don't want someone as potentially valuable as Schenn getting into fights.

Here's another link; the tribute for Clark at the ACC Saturday Night. If you have any questions about Wendel Clark's skill set, scroll ahead to the 1:55 mark...that goal against the Rangers....sweet fuck, Clark is awesome.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIY2HzsU0Yg

I'd like to also give a hand to MLSE for that tribute, I thought they did a fantastic job, and furthermore they didn't shy away from the physical aspect of Clark's game like I was kind of afraid they might. Seeing Clark kneeling over an opponent who he is presumably trying to kill with his bare hands may not translate to today's game, but it's part of what made Wendel so great, so kudos to MLSE for having the stones to put it up on the big screen.

[Chadd 916]

That type of player is probably gone forever and it is unfortunate. I wonder though, how much of that is because of the specialized goon. How can you expect a player to fight at a the same level as a fighter who concentrates almost entirely on the skill of beating another player senseless while on skates?

In Clark's and Tocchet's day, it seems the fighting was a secondary skill not the focus of as many players.

No, there were a ton of goons back then. The Norris Division alone had a dozen guys who were heavyweights -- it seemed like each team always had at least two, sometimes more.

That said, these days the true enforcers are bigger and often have better training. With first-line guys making $5M/year, maybe it just doesn't make sense for them to ever fight a heavyweight. I love Iginla, but it wouldn't be smart for him to fight Boogard even if he could win.

But even guys like Kocur or Probert could score as well as fight. Most of the goons of that era were still more productive players than the goons of today. Most of the guys that fight today can only fight, they aren't able to offer much outside of that.

[Down Goes Brown 0]

But even guys like Kocur or Probert could score as well as fight. Most of the goons of that era were still more productive players than the goons of today. Most of the guys that fight today can only fight, they aren't able to offer much outside of that.

Well, to some extent everyone was more productive back then because of how much more scoring there was.

But off the top of my head, guys like Basil McRae, Shane Churla, Ken Baumgarter, John Kordic, Craig Berube, Todd Ewen... none of these guys could really play. Yes, they had seasons with five or six goals, but in the 80s it would be hard to play 80 games and not score that many (although Bomber managed it). Even Kocur really only had one good season.

Probert was the exception. Nilan too, and there may have been a few others.

[LkptTiger 1]

Seeing Clark kneeling over an opponent who he is presumably trying to kill with his bare hands may not translate to today's game...

Granted, I don't know if there was any sort of history surrounding these two players (and I'm too young to really remember that much about the way Wendel played the game)...but I'd consider a move like that to be a pretty big violation of The Code - once a guy goes down to his back, it's done (unless he takes a poke at you). Christ, though - that poor bastard still had one of his gloves on! There's an etiquette that should be adhered to...and Wendel threw it out the window right there.

[mrusse01 0]

Clark didn't fight by the code. He tried to kill you. Period.