I’ve loved Stanley Cup hockey. Until now.
After you read this, you’ll either say “Yessssss” or call me naive or a wimp.
I think fighting should be banned in pro hockey, and I loudly applaud the National Football League for how it is dealing with bounties for injuries in pro football.
As a native of Minnesota, I’ve been a big fan of the Stanley Cup playoffs, mainly for one simple reason: fighting has usually been minimal. Players and coaches know the margin for error gets very short in postseason play. The NHL has never had to sell me on hockey by promoting fighting. But that all changed on a recent weekend.
I watched an early playoff game in disgust. I was naive for thinking players would cut it out in the post season. I tuned in to game three of the quarterfinal series between the Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins. Three minutes into the game, I was watching a martial arts exhibition combined with a barroom brawl. One player left the ice injured (thankfully, he returned), and several key players on both sides were ejected or spent a lot of time in the penalty box. Concussions, suspensions, and serious injuries are up, good hockey is down.
Think about it, fans. Does it make any sense for two of the top hockey players in the world to drop their gloves and sticks and start swinging in pursuit of a Stanley Cup? Did either of them get any closer to hoisting it (the dream of all players) by doing so? Many officials and coaches, and virtually all players, say fighting is inevitable in a big-contact sport and is a legitimate method of arousing emotions and energy to win games.
Nonsense. No Cup champion team has ever won because they were the best fighters or because they piled up the most penalty minutes. They won because they played the best hockey. Fighting exists because the league allows it. NHL officials perceive that fans like it, and they say it’s “just part of the game.” One of the TV commentators in the Flyers-Pens game said, as players brawled all over the ice, that “Hockey is a game played by children.” I agree, immature children.
Fighting was a tiny part of the Blackhawks-Phoenix series, and there were five exciting overtime games. In game seven of the Florida-New Jersey series last week, there was no fighting, not even any pushing or shoving. There were 85 minutes of exciting hockey, with impressive playmaking, goaltending, and skating. It is one of the most exciting and interesting sports to watch, on TV or in an arena. What a concept: a playoff game with a lot at stake on a big stage can be played without fists.
Why can’t hockey just be hockey? Colleges and high school leagues control fighting; why does the NHL have to market brawling?
Another TV broadcaster (a former coach) said, “Pittsburgh was down 3-1 and something had to be done. They were not playing well. The fights served a purpose of energizing the team.” More nonsense. The Penguins were down 3-1, got back to 3-2, but eventually lost the game, 7-4. Their best defenseman was ejected early, and their blue line became a sieve. Was that the purpose envisioned when the fists started swinging?
Can highly paid professionals only be motivated by brawling or watching teammates do it? Some say pro games would be boring without fights. Still more nonense. I watch a lot of college and high school games, and the hockey is exciting.
Penguin players and fans came out looking for a fight that day, not goals. They sullied their game. Bullies, called “enforcers,” and wimpy coaches are compromising the NHL. Punishments are laughably inconsistent. Hockey has become a game where referees watch players brawl and league officials suspend a player 25 games for an “illegal hit” on another player.
If Roger Goodell of the NFL can take millions away from New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton for tolerating and lying about bounties in the NFL, the NHL can restore order to the ice and make players play the game for which they get paid.
Goodell seems to get it, but he’s probably in the minority. The NHL doesn’t appear to have a clue. The old joke that says, “I went to a boxing match last night, and a hockey game broke out,” is no longer funny. It’s just sad.
