One of the biggest sport arguments of all time is, “Does fighting belong in the game of hockey?” Is it a barbaric practice that has nothing to do with playing the game and only appeals to the lowest common denominator or is it a necessary aspect that helps police an already inherently violent sport while adding another level of excitement to the small extremely loyal fan base? For me there isn’t much doubt, I fall whole heartedly on the later side of the argument. Fighting in hockey isn’t only fun to watch, but is integral to how the sport is played. And if you don’t agree, I’ve been known to say, don’t watch. As much as people complain, I’ve never been at a game where the crowd boos when two goons drop the gloves, I’ve never seen someone get up to get a drink or go the bathroom while two teams are dukeing it out, I’ve never seen someone sit on their hands and bemoan the barbarianism while the ice is littered with shed hockey equipment.
That’s not to say that the sport can’t be exciting without fighting. It’s a fast paced non-stop type of game when it’s at its best with or without fighting. That’s also not to say there isn’t a point where a fighting incident can become inappropriate. There is a point where a player or a team can go to far. It’s usually these incidents that get picked up by the major media outlets and broadcast over and over giving the sport a worse reputation then is deserved. It’s usually after these types of incidents that all the anti-fighting people come out of the wood work calling for it to be removed from the game. And as much I enjoy fighting, I can see their point. Maybe the game would be better off without fighting, but it would only be better without fighting if the league stands up and becomes more consistent with how it deals with other life threatening actions on the ice like blows to the head, sticks to the face, and various other cheap shots. The worst of fighting incidents don’t just happen, they build up over time. They are usually in retaliation to some cheap shot or injury causing play or many cheap shots and injury causing plays.
One of these incidents happened last Friday when the New York Islanders decided they had enough of the Pittsburgh Penguins and started running around the rink trying to hurt anyone in a black and gold jersey. Over the next couple of days, everyone in sports media had chimed in and the verdict was that the Islanders had stepped over the line. Even old school hockey people were crying foul. The Islanders were a black mark on the NHL. While I can’t say that I didn’t cringe during the game’s biggest brawl, I also can’t say that I agree with what everyone else is saying. This didn’t come out of the blue, the Islanders didn’t just decide that since they can’t win games they might as well beat the crap out of other teams. There is a history. And if anyone is to blame for what happened on the ice, I think it’s the NHL front office that seems to pick and choose what players and what teams to punish based on who they like instead of the actual on ice happenings.
I can’t argue that it’s poor sportsmanship that the Islanders brought up the biggest fighter on their minor league team, Michael Haley for the game and him getting into three fights. I can’t argue that Matt Martin’s sucker punch on Maxim Talbot was cowardly and cheap. I can’t argue that Trevor Gillies actions that lead to the third period brawl were totally uncalled for and dangerous. Everyone who attacked those issues is absolutely right. But attacking those issues and saying fighting thusly doesn’t belong in the game is attacking the symptom and not the cause of the problem.
Let’s take a closer look at what led to the Islander’s third period rampage. It really all started when the two teams met on February 2 and the Penguins Max Talbot laid out Blake Comeau with a dirty hit. It wasn’t one of the much talked about blows to the head, but Talbot came rushing from behind and took Comeau out. Of course there was no penalty called. It could have been hitting from behind, it could have been charging, but the refs didn’t call anything. Then all hell breaks loose in the third when Matt Cooke, arguably the dirtiest player in hockey, takes out Islander goalie DiPietro. Did DiPietro go out of his way to get in Cooke’s way? Yes, but Cooke had plenty of time to avoid him. In fact his first instinct is to skate around him and you can see the moment he decides, no, I’m going to take him out, changes his direction and lays his hip into DiPietro. DiPietro then ends up going toe to toe with Penguins goalie Brent Johnson and gets dropped with one punch. If you continue to watch the TV coverage you see Johnson skate over to the Penguins bench where the players are laughing and patting Johnson on the back. This all leads to last Friday. The first fight starts when a Penguin launches off the ice to hit an Islander (no penalty called on the hit) and the second when a Penguin keeps at the Islander until he says ok. It’s not until this point that the Islanders loose their cool.
In my eyes what happened was the Penguins were taking liberties with the Islanders. The on ice officials didn’t do anything about it. The NHL didn’t do anything about it. The Penguins were taking cheap shots, picking fights, and laughing the whole time. How would you react? When you don’t feel like justice is being served you tend to take justice into your own hands. That’s what the Islanders did. I can’t fault a team that the NHL officials don’t care to protect deciding to stand up and say you’re not going to treat us like that anymore. The secret to fixing the fighting problem in hockey isn’t punishing the fighters; it’s making their jobs pointless. The problem isn’t players trying to protect their teammates, it’s the NHL and owners like the once great Mario Lemieux allowing and paying players like Matt Cooke to continue to go out and intentionally hurt others.
We all know the names, Matt Cooke, Steve Avery, Steve Ott, Dale Hunter, Ulf Samuelsson, Claude Lemieux; all guys that are or were known for being dirty, all guys who are or were know for playing reckless and hurting other players, all players who have or did have long careers. If the NHL doesn’t want the black eyes that come along with the incidents like Friday night, how about making it safer on the ice, how about getting players like this off the ice. The league needs to start to punish these types of players with some consistency and not let players on certain teams off easy. Why is it if you play for the Bruins or Islanders and breath wrong on another player you get suspended, but if you play for the Penguins or Flyers you get to do whatever you want? If Mario Lemieux is so worried about dirty play, how about not giving a pay check to the dirtiest player in the game? As long as the owners continue to give contracts to players like Cooke and Avery there will always need to be goons and there will always be incidents like Friday. Let’s, for once, use the incident to fix the problem, to shine the light on dirty players who are allowed to run around free throughout the league and not on the reaction to their behavior. Let’s address the problem and not the symptoms.
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