The Written Word: Rafe Mair Feb 27th

Tuesday, February 27, 2007 03:39 AM

I hate to get on hockey’s case again but here we have the Vancouver Province trying to decide who was the best fighter of all time.

They have done it like a tennis draw matching pairs, making up winners until there are two left then telling us who was best. Even if they can tell who would have beaten whom – a dubious assumption indeed – this method has all the frailties of match play in golf. That never tells you with accuracy who was best in the tournament but who never lost a match. Now if the “seed” had been different the ultimate winner might have lost in the first round. So even if the Vancouver Province could accurately predict the outcome of each “fight”, if the draw had been different it probably would have produced a different winner.

Last Friday I was having dinner at the Red Lion, our favourite restaurant, and there being no hockey game televised the station (TSN? ESPN?) elected to spend about an hour featuring hockey fights! Not first class goals … or miraculous saves … but fights. It reminds one of the old saw “I went to the fights and a hockey game broke out.”

The excuse offered is that this is a fast, hard hitting game and the boys have to let off steam! This is crap. Basketball, with no padding, is a fast and relatively hard hitting game and fights are simply not tolerated. Nor are they tolerated in Rugby, Football or Soccer.

Why is fighting encouraged in hockey? Because owners think the fans love them. And they’re probably right. We are a violent people and part of a violent species of animal. The Vancouver Province didn’t do its series without knowing what fan reaction would be … nor did the TV station run all those fights just for the hell of it. When the fans sit on their hands instead of cheering, when they walk out rather than asking for more – then and then only will the fights stop.

I guess when you think about it, given the cost of going to a hockey game maybe the fan is right to demand a little more bang for his buck.

What this tells us though is that Hockey is minor league, bush league, compared to the sports which penalize, sometimes harshly, those who break the rules.

Previous Story - Next Story

Email |

Print |

Facebook |

Twitter |

Digg |

Del.icio.us

Posted on Tuesday, February 27, 2007 03:39 AM in Views by Rafe Mair

Return to Home

Comments

Posted by: Chadermando on February 27 2007 4:05 AM

Hockey is the only sport where each player carries a deadly weapon called sticks. When the competitive jucies are flowing sticks tend to substitute for lack of talent. Fighting in hockey is the equalizer when use of sticks or other equally violent means are brought into a game.

Without fighting in hockey it would become a sport with no honor where the dirtiest trick wins. Not a sport I would watch or want to play. On the other side hockey without sticks would be soccer on ice and we would be watching a different sport.

The worst rule ever made in hockey was the instigator rule. I enjoy a good hockey fight when it puts the guilty party in his place. I've yet to see someone get seriously hurt from a hockey fight.

Figure skating comes to town once a year for those who like that.

Posted by: banananuthead on February 27 2007 6:26 AM

"The worst rule ever made in hockey was the instigator rule. I enjoy a good hockey fight when it puts the guilty party in his place. I've yet to see someone get seriously hurt from a hockey fight."

Then you haven't been paying attention. Players get hurt in fights all the time. Nick Kypreos' career ended because of a fight, which ended when he smashed his bare head on the ice. Or Kris Newbury, with a similar incident this season. There are tons of lesser concussions (or is a head injury not an injury in your view?) that result from hockey fights.

Oh, and the idea that fights prevent stick violence runs counter to actual history. What is often considered the worst stick swinging incident in NHL history happened in 1969 (hardly a time of peace and love in hockey) when Wayne Maki clubbed Ted Green in an exhibition game in St. Louis. Green wound up with a fractured skull.

Fights in hockey are an eventuality. It's a physical game and players lose their tempers. What Rafe seems to be saying is that glorifying it makes the sport look like a game played by thugs, and watched by knuckle-draggers. Thanks for proving him right at least on one point.

Posted by: Chadermando on February 27 2007 6:39 AM

Difference of perspective I guess.

Posted by: Palopu on February 27 2007 3:56 PM

Its a generally accepted understanding that when all else fails people will fight. However this is usually done out of fear, or to save face.

Its interesting to note that we spend time and money to try and stop bullying in schools, and then go to a hocky game to see some goon punch someone in the nose. Im not suprised by this because it just points out how ludicrous people are.

Im sure there are lots of people in the audience who would be opposed to Cock Fighting, or Bull Mastiff Fighting, but get off on watching to men slug each other.

Much like eating a hamburger or chicken sandwich and complaining about hunters.

Hockey is a highly over rated sport and has now got to the saturation level in this Country. I suspect in the next 10 years it will slip into a deep decline.

Posted by: caranmacil on February 27 2007 8:35 PM

I used to watch hockey with my dad and i enjoted it very much. However, as i grew up i decided that i no longer enjoyed the sport so much. I think a large part of it was the rediculous goon aspect. I have played hockey and other , rougher contact sports and i have felt the frustration of solid checking or worse yet being totally outclassed. While it might have made me feel better to punch someone i dont think i could do so and still teach my kids to play fair and not be bullies.
Make no mistake, fighting in hockey is not a necessity. To say otherwise makes as much sense as saying that punching a guy in the face is a good way of evening the playing field. If the other guy is playing by the rules and you are losing, live with it. Players dont need to fight to protect themselves from hockey sticks. Whats next, fighting to prevent people from shooting the puck at the goaly? Oh wait, i think they already do that. Rather than sending others to watch figure skating (which i enjoy by the way) maybe hockey fight fans should go watch some wrestling or something.
Oh yes, it doesnt look good when two or more people fight against one. I dont care who does it, even the spruce kings.