Are hockey handshakes a facade?(Counterpoints)

Yes--they are all about phoniness

Say you've just annihilated an opponent. The last thing you'd want to do is shake hands with the pukes you had just pounded; you'd want to move on to bigger things. Similarly, if you had been humiliated, all you'd want to do is get the heck out of there. It wouldn't matter if the series were tight or a blowout--win or lose, you'd want out of there. Why expect NHL players to be different?

Don't even try to talk about sportsmanship. The sanctimonious boobs who cite these phony exchanges as displays of sportsmanship usually proclaim themselves to be hockey purists (yes, the same Neanderthal nitwits who say fighting has a place in the game). These same boobs whine about how the modern player, by savagely slashing and spearing the body and attacking the head, doesn't respect the game and his opponent's right to a livelihood. You can't have it both ways.

If these guys are the monsters the purist boobs say they are, shaking hands with the targets they just tried to eviscerate is beyond hypocrisy. If they did care about sportsmanship, they wouldn't be willing to maim and Bertuzzi opponents--whatever it takes--to ensure the paychecks keep coming.

Hey purists, get real: Modern NHL players aren't monsters, and the handshaking ceremony is a sham.

No--they are ...