Fighting in hockey

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
I have a message for all the hockey fans who think fighting is bad for the game.



SUCK IT.



The Red Deer Rebels were in town tonight to play the Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL). It was a sellout (have sold out every home game this year), and a really great game. Tigers took it 6-1.



There were 3 or 4 really great goals - highlight reel stuff. But halfway through the third period, the Rebels know they're done. They're going to be 3 points back of the Tigers after this game... time to send a little message and set the tone for the next game, baby.



A couple of good tilts, the crowd goes nuts. Then we get a fight by the bench, then a couple of others go, next thing you know it's a line brawl. Like a wedding party sharing the first dance, we've got 5 pairs of guys going toe to toe. The place was going INSANE. Bigger cheers than the goals were getting.



Fighting is a part of hockey, plain and simple. To anyone who thinks it's too rough, bad for the game... either grow yourself a ball sack and drop some testicles into it, or start watching figure skating.



That's it. Discuss or whatever.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 39
    matsumatsu Posts: 6,558member
    Bring it on!
  • Reply 2 of 39
    You want a piece of me?
  • Reply 3 of 39
    murbotmurbot Posts: 5,262member
    What, ya wanna go? Huh?
  • Reply 4 of 39
    My Hero







  • Reply 5 of 39
    scottscott Posts: 7,431member
    I think fighting in hockey is the dumbest ****ing thing in the world. It's like a Professional Wrestling in the middle of the game.





    Maybe when I'm at work on Monday and I get behind I'll just pound my fist into the guy down the hall? Set the tone for the rest of the week.
  • Reply 6 of 39
    I think if you did do that you find yourself being a lot more productive. And that guy down the hall would stay the hell out of your way.



    Drop the Gloves!



    There is a lot wrong with hockey today, fighting is the least of their concerns. It's the obstructions and a clogged up neutral zone. It's unskilled players making a career out of clutching and grabbing. If they got rid of the instigator penalty enforcers could get back to doing their job by punishing those cheap morons that are killing the game.
  • Reply 7 of 39
    matsumatsu Posts: 6,558member
    Domi is such a pussy.
  • Reply 8 of 39
    buonrottobuonrotto Posts: 6,368member
    Depends on the fighting. Sometimes emotions just boil over. That happens a fair amount of the time. Other times, it's one guy's way of clinging to his roster spot. I can sort of forgive the situation mentioned above where a guy starts a fight to try to spark his team. It's a cheap way of doing it rather than working your butt off the whole game, but I can why desperation sets in and you feel like that's what you have to resort to. I don't have mush patience or sympathy for the "enforcers" who have nothing else to offer their team though. I don't know why an self-respecting star player or team for that matter would tolerate someone with those "skills" on the roster. It's one thing to be a pest, Claude Lemieux being the archetype, or to be a menace like Scott Stevens, but it's another thing to just be a dirty player, like Darrien Hatcher.
  • Reply 9 of 39
    rageousrageous Posts: 2,170member
    Tie Domi is one of the most colossal pussies ever to play the game...



    Quote:

    12/11/1999

    Mike Johnson vs. Luke Richardson

    2pd 12:40



    Comments: Domi skated away from Berube first. McCarthy pushed Berube out of the way and then Domi literally turned tail and skated away as fast as he could. Mike Johnson grabbed Richardson, who is known for just starting to throw during a brawl, and that started the donnybrook. Domi stayed on the outside only until McCarthy's back was turned and he was pounding Khristich. Somewhere during this Domi is cut and he skates away again. Domi then decides to double up on Adam Burt. Richardson then sees this and goes after Domi. Domi then hides -- Tie Domi, who has fought Bob Probert 12 ****ing times -- from Luke Richardson behind Tomas Kaberle. Then, after McCreary gets Richardson away, Domi tries to fight Brian Boucher, who is locked up with Curtis Joseph. If you saw the CBC/HNIC or whatever Canadian feed that I have, you don't see all of the above. Try to get ahold of the other feed of this incident. Other Penalties: Berube received a roughing and misconduct; Richardson a game misconduct; Domi and McCarthy a misconduct and game misconduct; Brian Boucher and Curtis Joseph both received a leaving the crease penalty.



    Quote:

    "I'm tired of his talk, talk, talk. He's supposed to be a tough guy and he won't drop his gloves with me. He hides behind the refs and then sucker-punches our guy [Burt]."

    -- 12/99: Philly's Sandy McCarthy on Toronto's skating chicken, Tie Domi



  • Reply 10 of 39
    murbotmurbot Posts: 5,262member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Scott

    I think fighting in hockey is the dumbest ****ing thing in the world. It's like a Professional Wrestling in the middle of the game.





    Maybe when I'm at work on Monday and I get behind I'll just pound my fist into the guy down the hall? Set the tone for the rest of the week.




    That's genius; taking a physical, sometimes violent sporting event and applying aspects of it to an office job. Maybe stick to crapping on the political threads?



    heh



    And yes, Domi sucks. When he does want to fight he's pretty tough to take out though.
  • Reply 11 of 39
    my question would be this, where does this tradition come from?? does any other sport have this?? even rugby, possibly the most brutal sport out there, have very few fights. football? not really, pushing and slapping once and a while. baseball...almost never, and even then it is a mass of people....other than boxing (which is all about two people punching each other), how many other sports have and allow two people to just start punching each other??



    not that i care, just wondered how this came about....



    i also see why hockey is such a "see it live" sport and why it isn't nearly as good seen on tv...live at the venue the fights are great with the crowd roaring...at home it is not really the same...two idiots punching each other on skates falling about pulling at each others jerseys...not graceful, actually kinda clumsy and comical...hard to get the bloodlust rolling sitting in the living room...but eh, ey surely no canadian be....





    the real question i find interesting is will they still keep fighting as the neew guys coming up get use to the money...few football players fight because they don't want to risk injury and lose that 5 million a year paycheck...will these multi-millionaire players risk fighting?? and, if not. will murbot only get to see fights at medicine hat games with minor league players?





    g
  • Reply 12 of 39
    rageousrageous Posts: 2,170member
    Fighting is not prevalent in hockey by any means. Small scraps and pushing and face rubbing occur all the time. But fights aren't very common anymore.



    As far as where the "tradition" comes from:



    Hockey is different from many other sports in that players are at times specifically targeted to be taken out during a game by an opponent, in order for that opponent to gain an edge. These players that are targeted are often the more elite players on a lineup. Unless the guys who are sent out to take players out of a game are dealt with, then teams will suffer the loss of their best players. This is how a large number of fights come to be in the NHL.



    Also, hockey is a much more intense physical contact sport than a lot of people realize. They've got constant speed, a small playing "field", and unlike other physical sports they're confined by the boards, which affords one the opportunity of smashing their opponents up against. When you have a game being played at such high speeds with so much full contact, adrenaline really gets ramped up.



    Lastly, it's my opinion that hockey players play their sport with much more emotion and heart than most other sports. There isn't nearly as much ego as you see in the NBA and NFL. The players are passionate about their sport in ways that most other athletes in other leagues simply are not, and it's the passion for the game that gives it the more intense physicality.
  • Reply 13 of 39
    I'm all about fighting in hockey. Being a water polo player (for those of you who don't know the sport, it can get pretty violent) I understand the frustrations that some hockey players go through. The amount of fist fights in water polo is right up there with the amount in hockey. I'm not saying that violence is the answer to our problems, but it gets the job done. You have all had an instance where you felt like punching someone in the face because they made you angry. Well, with hockey, the players are afforded this opportunity on a daily basis. They don't keep their anger in, therefore, due to fighting, hockey players will live longer.
  • Reply 14 of 39
    bungebunge Posts: 7,329member
    Fighting in hockey is essential. Taking it out of the game would be like taking it out of boxing.
  • Reply 15 of 39
    HIT SOMEBODY!!



    -warren
  • Reply 16 of 39
    buonrottobuonrotto Posts: 6,368member
    Rageous basically said it:



    1. the intense phyisical aspect of the game is a lot more than even football, though basketball seems to aspire to be more like hockey all the time. Guys just lose control sometimes, their adrenaline boils over. It just comes withthe very limited territory.



    2. Guys like Wayne Gretzky, who couldn't check the boards let alone another player (and unlike Gordy Howe!) were targets that big fourth line forwards and defensemen went after. So to counter this, teams would but someone like Marty McSorely on their fourth line and go after the guys who were going after the "skill" (read: wimpy but fast)players.



    3. There was a time just after the NHL started expanding from the original six, where talent was spread thin, the defensive hockey of the previous years wasn't selling and a lot of otherwise average players had to deal with a few exceptionally good players. Fighting sold tickets when there wasn't enough hockey talent to fill the league.
  • Reply 17 of 39
    alcimedesalcimedes Posts: 5,486member
    it also probably helps that it's hard to really T up on someone when you're a skates. you can't brace like you can in most situations to throw your entire body behind a hit.
  • Reply 18 of 39
    Hockey has traditionally had talented guys and goons, occasionally some with both skills.

    Gordie Howe was known as Mr. Elbow for a while... Rocket Richard was street fighter tough.



    The earlier era of fighting is before my time, though I remember some brutal Boston and Philly 70s teams.



    Gretzky's early Oilers had an enforcer called Semenko, who was bodyguard to the Great One.

    Part of the plus to Messier was a blend of talent and toughness.



    Nowadays, the big thumping guys with goal scorers hands are prized more and more...

    Bertuzzi and Jovanovski as Canuck examples, even if they're slumping a bit lately.



    Few of the real elite players ever fight (why risk broken hand/lost $$$$).



    Part of me still likes the intensity (if my guys win), part is appalled and thinks fights are medieval.



    As for those who are truly obsessed with hockey fights...



    Putting on the Foil!







    Old Time Hockey!
  • Reply 19 of 39
    argentoargento Posts: 483member
    Fight Fight Fight Fight Fight Fight
  • Reply 20 of 39
    matsumatsu Posts: 6,558member
    I remember seeing the first Europeans in the NHL fight with their gloves on... hahahaha great stuff.
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