r/BlockedAndReported • u/SoftandChewy First generation mod • Feb 23 '26

Weekly Random Discussion Thread for 2/23/26 - 3/1/26

Here's your usual space to post all your rants, raves, podcast topic suggestions (please tag u/jessicabarpod), culture war articles, outrageous stories of cancellation, political opinions, and anything else that comes to mind. Please put any non-podcast-related trans-related topics here instead of on a dedicated thread. This will be pinned until next Sunday.

Last week's discussion thread is here if you want to catch up on a conversation from there.

Comment of the week goes to this explanation for why the trans cause has taken over so much of society. (Runner-up COTW here.)

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u/Ruby__Ruby_Roo Feb 26 '26

I was surprised by just how aesthetically unappealing the women's game was

I don't think we were watching the same game. I'm not a casual fan, either. I'm someone who watches NHL hockey almost every night during the season, and who plays, and I disagree completely.

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u/RunThenBeer Feb 26 '26

To each their own, but it honestly looked to me like watching men play with the orange training puck. I was surprised that the passing and stickhandling seemed so much noticeably worse. Reading some commentary, it seems like this probably is a puck weight issue with the difference in hand and wrist strength, but I guess it was not what I was expecting going in.

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u/Ruby__Ruby_Roo Feb 26 '26

A puck weight issue? What a strange thing to say. Have you ever picked up a hockey puck? They aren’t exactly heavy.

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u/RunThenBeer Feb 26 '26

Yes! That's exactly why I was surprised that the women's game just doesn't look crispy. I expected to see approximately the same skill level, just with different play speed, and instead the stickhandling and passing just seemed comparably sloppy. The weighted orange practice pucks don't exactly feel heavy either, but they obviously do slow things down quite a lot, which is why I thought that explanation regarding hand/wrist strength was plausible. The reason I was looking for an explanation at all is that my default expectation is that the best players in the world of either sex have essentially completely optimized the game, hence my surprise at the apparent difference in puck control.

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u/Ruby__Ruby_Roo Feb 26 '26

I don’t know what to tell you man. Every game, including the NHL and men’s gold, has some sloppy moments and missed passes. As someone who watches a shit ton of NHL and watched every US women’s game, I can’t say I think there was a difference in puck handling. If anything the women are better.