Oh no... Damned litigious society...

[Cheakamus]

Grrr... these kind of people really aggravate me. It's hockey. It's a dangerous sport, even as a spectator. Grrr....

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news?slu...v=ap&type=lgns

Women hurt by game pucks sue Red Wings, NHL

DETROIT (AP) -- Two women who claim disabling injuries from pucks that flew into the stands at Joe Louis Arena filed suit Tuesday against the Detroit Red Wings, the arena's owners and the NHL.

The suits were filed in Wayne County Circuit Court, attorney James Elliott said.

Elizabeth Taylor, 52, from the Flint area, and Sandra Quick, 32, of suburban Detroit, would not have been hurt had the team installed nets to stop pucks from entering the stands during games, Elliott said.

Quick was injured at a playoff game between Detroit and the Colorado Avalanche on May 20, 2002. She lost three teeth and had damage to four others, Elliott said.

Taylor was hurt while watching a Central Collegiate Hockey Association game on March 16, 2001. She sustained permanent nerve damage and required plastic surgery, her lawyer said.

The NHL installed nets behind the goals before this season in the aftermath of the death of the spectator hit by a puck last March in Columbus, Ohio.

``We have yet to see any of the lawsuits,'' said Red Wings spokesman John Hahn. ``Our legal counsel will have to review it before we can comment.''

[Thairlar]

And their point? If you don't want to be hit by a puck get seats in the balcony section. The first few rows in the balcony are awesome seats. Oh, and maybe you should pay attention to the game. After all, you didn't pay $80 to sit around and talk. You can do that at home, between periods or in a bar.

Oh yeah, and before every game there's an announcement warning you to pay attention as pucks, sticks and stuff could fly into the seats and hurt you if you don't. Of course you have to get to the arena before the opening faceoff to hear it, or at least that's the way it is in Boston, or at least it was when these took place. They announce it throughout the game this season. Why anyone wouldn't bother showing up until the middle of the first period is beyond me, though.

I wonder what these people would have done in the early days of hockey when it was played on a pond with no boards and the spectators stood around the playing area and if a player went into the spectators they'd push him back into the playing area, after roughing him up a bit if he wasn't a member of their team.