New School vs. Old School

Happy Thursday ya'll, you know what that means. Thirsty Thursday obviously, so go down to your local pub and grab a round, it's on me.. HA

So Adam Oates decided to be the first to open his mouth about the UNBELIEVABLE Tomas Hertl Goal. Honestly, I thought it was going to be Don Cherry, because we all know how much he loves Europeans. Oates went on to explain that the goal was 'disrespectful' towards the NHL. He also went on to say this:

"I'm upset. I was just talking to George [McPhee] and he said all the kids do that nowadays, which I understand. But would he have done it on his first goal?" Oates said. "He hasn't scored yet tonight and gets a breakaway, is he going to do that on his breakaway? We'll see."
"I think it was a little bit of a mood thing, which I'm sure they talked about, because they didn't play him after that," Oates continued. "I'm glad the coach did that because this league, it will bite you if you're not sharp. Don't disrespect the league. I'm sure it was a rookie mistake."

Easy cowboy.. You're making this into a much bigger deal than it needs to be. The kid was in the moment, it's his first couple NHL games. Let me tell you something, if I had the creativity and skill to pull that move, I'd have done it in a second, hands down. That's also because I'm in the same age range as Hertl.

You saw how George McPhee said, "Kids do that nowadays." I'll bring up a conversation I had with the worlds most interesting man, AKA my grandfather. He asked me what music I was listening to, as we sat in the waiting room for a doctors appointment. I lent him one of my ear buds and said, "It's hip hop poppy."  He looked at me with a scowl and said,"what kinda music is this hippity hop? Doesn't anyone listen to Glenn Miller anymore?"

Case and point. The league is not following the same rules as it did when you played Mr. Oates. They may not have pulled that in your time, but we're in an era of spin-o-rama's and lacrosse style goals. Whether YOU think it's disrespectful or not, means nothing, because I guarantee someone is going to score another goal like that at some point this year.

Now I do understand hockey has a lot of unwritten rules: the enforcer 'rule', the offer sheet 'rule', etc etc.  To that I say this, Tomas Hertl, the league knows who you are now: Watch your back. Obviously he's not going to get away with this every night, but everyone in the NHL knows who this kid is. They're going to be gunning for him left and right. Cue the enforcer rule. God I love the NHL's set of checks and balances.

So Adam.. Relax a little bit. I know you're not taking anything away from the kids goal but let him have his moment. You and I both know he's not going to pull that again without a serious problem from the other team. The old time hockey purists need to calm down. There's no difference between Hertl going shelf between his legs during a blowout, and Lebron James doing a 360 windmill dunk during a blowout. You're not wrong Mr. Oates, you just have to realize that the times, they are a changin'. For those who haven't seen the goal yet.. you're crazy but.. here it is.

OOOOOWEEEEEE!!!