 Hockey Doesn't Need Fights.
Published: January 4, 2009 - By Hockey5|  Print  Email
The recent death of Whitby Dunlops defenseman Don Sanderson has re-opened the debate in the hockey world on fighting. Sanderson died as a result of injuries he suffered over three weeks ago when his helmet was knocked off during a fight and he fell into a coma after striking his head on the ice.Injuries of this sort are extremely rare. The last time a player had died as a result of a hockey fight in an organized league in Canada was a century ago, and it was obviously an accident.It won’t take long however before this tragic incident passes and little if anything will happen regarding fighting’s place in the game. I’m not a shrinking violet or a bleeding heart and I’ve enjoyed a good hockey fight as much as the next fan, but as I stated several years ago after Todd Bertuzzi ended Steve Moore’s career, I believe fighting should be taken out of the game. Those who support fighting in hockey claim that without it, instances involving stick fouls and dirty play will increase. Many defend it as a necessary emotional “safety valve”. Fighting has been a part of hockey in general and the NHL in particular for decades, and some of the game’s greatest players weren’t averse to dropping their gloves to defend themselves, but over the past three decades we’ve seen the rise of players whose sole talent or claim to fame in the NHL is their pugilistic skills. In recent years those players have been able to at least play a regular shift on the checking lines or as a fifth or sixth defenseman, but if it weren’t for their fighting ability most probably wouldn’t have made the NHL. When most hockey fans think of their favorite games, or when panels of hockey experts and pundits make their selections of the greatest games or moments in NHL history, those involving fights almost never make the cut. In most NHL playoff games teams usually either severely restrict the ice time of their enforcers or banish them to the press box. Fights during the playoffs have become a rare thing over the past twenty years, and players usually attempt to be more disciplined with their play in the post-season, not willing to risk taking a penalty, especially those involving stick fouls like cross-checking, slashing and high-sticking. The same holds true in international competition. Given how much higher emotions are in playoff and tournament competition, the relative absence of fighting in those games compared to regular season games punches a big hole in the “safety valve” argument. Some also defend fighting as a significant selling point of the game, pointing to crowd excitement whenever the gloves are dropped. The crowd also gets the same level of excitement over a goal or a well-executed play, a great save, or a big bodycheck. The game of hockey is exciting and physical enough without fighting, and as I’ve noted above, its virtual absence from the lists of hockey’s greatest games and moments suggests it’s not something whose disappearance would hurt the game. If the NHL or hockey in general needs fighting to sell tickets, then it should stop all pretense of marketing itself as a professional sports league and market itself instead as roller derby on ice I’m not suggesting physical play has to be taken out of the game. Bodychecking belongs in the sport, except for deliberate attempts to injure via head shots or hitting from behind. I also don’t believe for a moment that the players will become wimps if fighting is taken out of the game. These are people who are among the toughest athletes in sports, who’ll play through pain that would sideline other athletes and certainly send average folks to the hospital to lace up and play a big game. That would be no less diminished if fighting were taken out of the game. Quite frankly, I’ve outgrown the need to see a good hockey fight and I question the rationale as to why we should have it in the game at all. If I watch an exciting well-played game I don’t feel cheated if a good fight didn’t break out at some point. In fact, I don’t even miss it. That’s one of the things I love about playoff hockey and international competition, because I know those games won’t be delayed by a mindless fight that has no part in the outcome of the game. Some would argue otherwise, how a good fight can spark a losing team to rally, but quite frankly, if that’s what it takes to shake a team out of its lethargy, I’d question the ability of the coaching staff and the supposed leaders on the roster. I realize I’m just in a minority, and like Damien Cox of the Toronto Star I don’t won’t the late Don Sanderson to be a poster child or martyr against hockey fights. I just don’t believe there’s a place for fighting in hockey anymore. Too often in the American sports media the only time hockey gets mentioned is if there’s a major brawl or if someone gets injured from a hockey fight. If the NHL is to grow as a serious professional sports league in the United States, it needs to realize that it doesn’t need fighting to sell itself. If the game itself isn’t exciting enough to sell the game and it needs fighting to do it in the United States, it’ll forever be relegated to the fringe. Maybe that’s what supporters of hockey fights would prefer, but it certainly doesn’t say much about the quality of the game I love. No matter, though. Sanderson’s death will be a tragic footnote in hockey history and hopefully no one else will suffer the same fate. There’ll be the usual debate in the media and on message boards, and then the storm will pass as it always does, with little action taken to address the issue. Same as it ever, same as it ever was.
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