I am sure we are all well aware of the current discussions and arguments occuring in Sports Bars and Living Rooms every where about the role the fighting fills in hockey, if it has a true role at all.
Any one who read about me dancing around my workplace when Ladislav Smid fought already knows what my standpoint on the issue is, but my standpoint probably has a different reasoning behind it than you think it does. Do I recognize the entertainment value of fighting? Absolutely. The recent UFC craze illustrates just how entertaining the general population finds fighting. However, I also realize that this is a very dangerous activity; that said, I think the players involved, for the most part, are also aware of the possible outcomes of a fight.
However, those who say that we need to take fighting out of hockey need to realize that this is not as easy as most of you are proposing.
The regulation of fighting has already started, is it as sophisticated and well-developed as it needs to be? No. I do think it is possible to take fighting out of hockey, there are just some things that need to be dealt with at the same time.
Fighting has already been controlled a little by way of the 'Instigator Penalty': one of the stupidest ideas I've ever heard of. So when a player gets run by another player ala this, the Oilers cannot have another player step up against Regher without taking an extra 2-min minor penalty. What about this? Now all this only matters if the Instegator Penalty is policed with regulatiry, which all of us know it isn't, but things like this illustrate my point perfectly. Until the NHL as a league has a disciplinary system that actually works fighting cannot be taken out of the NHL. If the league won't police then players have to take it into their own hands.
Here are some of my suggestions of things to do so fighting can be eliminated safely:
1. Exactly what is with the $2000-$20,000 fines? What is that worth to a player who makes upwards of $1,000,000 a year? Coaches who question referees publicly are fined more than a player who runs another player from behind! The fines need to be revamped as far as penalized agression goes (intention to injure has to be there). The fines should be a percentage of that players earnings for the year. I think 10-15% should do it. For repeat offenders there should be a climbing scale.
2. Forget these puny 2-5 game suspensions, they need to be longer; maybe even without pay. The suspensions should range depending on the extent of injury the player in question caused. Start the suspensions at 5 games no questions asked, depending on the time the player they charged/boarded/kneed etc. is to be out of their respective line-up, the nature of the incident along with some other minor things (like whether the play was near the end of the game, whether the play is in pre-season/regular season/post-season, etc.). There also needs to be a sort of 'strike' system, if a player does these things say 4 or 5 times then he is finished in the NHL.
Again, intent to injure is IMPERATIVE to these changes.
There are other ways to solve the problem, and I'm sure you have a few ideas of your own so feel free to add them in the comments. I just don't want to see an increase in player injury because fighting is taken out of the NHL, there are other steps to follow in that process.
Other interesting Blogs/Articles on Fighting in Hockey:
SteveDangle from LFR in getting nifty in the clutch
Georges Laraque in his Sportsnet blog incase you haven't already read it.
Scott Morrison; CBCsports
Chris Selley @ Full Comment
Posts
See you later
11 months ago
4 comments:
I'm kind of mixed emotions about fighting. With the gear players wear nowadays, mainly visors, fights are starting to get ridiculous. Especially when there's pressure from above to stop fights when helmets come off. If you're going to allow fights, you have to accept there'll be the occasional severe injury, even death. If you can't accept that, then you might as well completely bar them from the game -- you fight and your career is over. I suppose I'd be happy with either extreme. Without fighting you could find a way to keep players under control. You'd need to have some pretty extreme discipline from above -- maybe something like what you suggest, like percentage pay cuts.
I've been playing hockey for 15 years. Edmonton minor hockey and beer leagues all over Canada, the States and Europe. I've only been in one game with a fight and it was a bench-clearing brawl, in Ithaca NY. When the brawl broke out, I looked over to my friend on the other team (who was an Engineering prof at Cornell) so we skated up to each other, sat on the boards and chatted while our teams killed each other. Our best player broke his leg in the fight -- the opposition goaltended (great big fatty) fell on him.
IMO fighting is mostly for the fans, and largely only interesting at the NHL level. Fights by-and-large aren't as natural as tough-guys make out. And a true non-performance fight doesn't end in a simple, clean way like an NHL fight. NHL fights are gladitorial, and they're there largely for the blood-lust of the fans. It's not really hockey.
R
Having not played hockey in my life (something I regret, and will probably resolve at some point) it's nice to hear the view point of some one who has experience in the game.
I'm not sure that the league will remove fighting from hockey: what with the fans that think it is a part of the game and the apparent market that they are trying to reach with the All-Star game (the audience that requires high-energy high-excitement entertainment to keep them interested). I just think that the league seems to have this idea that it adds to the entertainment value of the game, and to be honest I don't think I'd miss the fights if they were eliminated; especially with how excellent international hockey is (the only comparison I can make to a league with no fighting allowed).
I don't really have a definite answer to the fighting issue, I don't know that any one does. I am aware of the players needing to be safe in the game, and fighting adds to the danger, but if it is removed without fixing the disciplinary system that will add to the danger as well; especially if they increase the penalties for fighting in the process (which would be an obvious consequence of banning fighting), without serious consequences for violent players the anger could boil out into the outside world where the league doesn't have any hold.
I don't think it will come to that. Or at least I hope it won't.
I bet the U of A has a good beginner rec league for women. As long as you can skate reasonably-well, you'll be able to pick up hockey quickly. If I remember, you have to sign up for the U of A rec leagues right at the start of the fall semester.
R
I'll look into that. I'll have to see if I can rally up enough ladies to submit a team... Thanks for the idea!
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