Many people are becoming alarmed at the impact hockey fighting could have on children. (Photo courtesy of The TSN.com) Fighting is frowned upon in every major sport in North America, except one.
Hockey is one of the most physical, violent, and intense sports that often gets a lot of attention because of its stance on fighting.
Fears of serious head injuries or even death have risen following the death of a young hockey player, Don Sanderson, who died at 21. He fell during a fight and died from the head injuries he sustained.
Some will argue that fighting gives the league a bad reputation and promotes violence and fighting to a younger crowd that could get the wrong impression.
Fighting in hockey is as old as the sport itself. Fighting was the result of physical play and fierce determination meeting hot heads and bad tempers.
Players from generations past defended themselves when they felt threatened or cheated. Gordie Howe, former Detroit Red Wing great, said,”Players from our generation were more self reliant, but as the years have gone on players have been more pampered.” Those who fought also had enough talent to score and set up plays or play defense.
As hockey developed, so did the physical contact.
“Cheap shots” such as elbows to the head, open ice hits from behind and checks, targeted star players, intestinally, to get them out of the game.
This method isn’t legal and the expectation of repercussions for illegal hits is why many wouldn’t commit these acts, yet some teams take the penalties to take down the opposing team’s star player.
This has given rise to “The Goon”. A goon is a player whose main purpose is to protect and serve his team, preferably with any physical means necessary.
This presence soon spread across all teams in the NHL.
The Philadelphia Flyers were new to the NHL in the early 1970’s. Their team was full of star players like Bobby Clarke and Rick MacLeish who were targeted.
They combated the situation with Dave Schultz, a fighter who didn’t back down for anyone. His presence alone kept most of the “cheap shots” from happening.
Another flaw some see is the “Staged Fight”. A staged is when two players agree, before the face-off, that when the puck drops they fight. They fight to establish momentum for their team or show the opposing team that they won’t be bullied. This leads to more fights and potentially more injuries.
Fighting in hockey has drawn in more fans than it has turned away according to a consensus of NHL General Managers. On this logic alone they can justify fighting since more fans equal more money, even if illegal hits tend to give the league a bad name.
A reasonable solution would be to allow “heat of the moment” fights and add extra penalty minutes to those caught pre-meditating fights. That would eliminate the goons that can’t play because the teams wouldn’t waste payroll on a fighter. “You eliminate pre-meditated fights and you eliminate fighters who can’t skate,” former AHL coach Jon MacRealy said. This would make more star players protect themselves and their teammates.
Fighting is a key part of hockey because of the value in protecting your most talented players, but its intentions have been distorted over the years. With a few changes you can weed out the bad hits and keep the players safer. I think fighting has been in the sport so long that extracting it now would hurt the sport more than help it.
