The SBP Archives - Your less than frequent dose of SBP!

Fantastic point Rob.
 

Here here!!!! Great point Rob could not have said that better myself...
 

A five minute penalty for fighting means it is condoned. In NFL, MLB, NBA, and pretty much every other professional sport on the planet, if you decide to throw your fists you will get a suspension, fine or both. It’s not even a slap on the wrist, it’s a pat on the back as I had mentioned before, it gives you a pro contract. It doesn’t make any sense that a former OHL player of the year like Corey Locke is toiling in the AHL while an unskilled bum like Aaron Downey has a pro-contract to play two minutes a game so he can earn a five minute penalty.

To compare a minor penalty like tripping to dropping the gloves & trying to break someone’s nose is apples and oranges. You cannot control tripping, as it is too easy to, for example, try to jimmy the puck out of the boards with you stick and in the heat of the moment, it gets tangled up in someone’s skates. A decision to fight, however, has nothing to do with trying to score, impeding a pass or making a play of some sort. Basically, the only goal of fighting is to try to injure someone.

I propose that if fighting were banned in hockey, Bertuzzi would have never even gone after Moore and Moore would still be playing today. Because the NHL condones this behaviour, these retributions come into play and you get results like the Brashear and Moore incidents.

The best hockey I’ve ever seen is the 2002 Olympics and no one was fighting. Playoff hockey is 10x the quality as regular season and again, each team’s goon is watching from the press box. I can’t wait for playoff hockey and the regular season to be over with.

Rob, I am sort of disappointed you use the term “crying” when I am trying to make an educated opinion on a subject that I think is important to the health of the NHL and its players. If you want to disagree with me, fine, but no one’s crying here, I’m a hockey fan and I’m offering an opinion to make the game better. I’m not an idiot, I know 90% of hockey fans think fighting should remain and I’m in the minority. But by the way, who’s your favourite player of all time? I hear it’s Steve Yzerman. How many fights has he gotten into? My guess is zero, and if he has, you could probably count them with one hand. He finished his checks, blocked shots, played a hard-hitting, gritty style of hockey and no one considered him a dirty player. No fighting required, and he never injured one other player. That’s the hockey I like. When I see stuff like the Kypreos fight, it makes me sick.
 

Probably a bad example here. Kypreos wasn't exactly a saint on the ice. He was the hired goon and dropped the gloves as much as the next guy.

Oh, and the best hockey you ever saw was in 2002? What about '06 buddy? Keep in mind, the reason the Olympics rocked, apart from Canada winning, wasthe fact that we had the BEST players on the ice. Ever sat down and thought what the NHL would be like now with 6 teams? It would be unreal. But expansion has watered down talent and created a place for today's enforcers. Gordie Howe had no enforcer, unless you count Terrible Ted Lindsay...but he also won a scoring title and made it to the hall of fame.

Hockey is what it is and I wouldn't expect any dramatic changes any time soon.

And Patrique, don't you already subscribe to the European hockey channels? I know you never miss a Frolunda game now that Mats Naslund is coaching.
 

Hyprocrite thy name is SBP.

You want fighting outlawed but you like a good fight.

You want wrestlers to stop dying yet your favourite matches (TLC, HITC) guarantee a lifetime subscription to pain pills. At least that lifetime will be short.

I don’t mind fighting in hockey, I think it helps keep the other team honest in regards to taking liberties with the superstars. Most fights last all of a minute and they’re inevitably broken up by the referees.

It's sad to see Kypreos-like incidents. Even sadder that he retired to a life of boring hockey fans on SportsNet.
 

Both Rob and Ben make fine arguments. Ben moreso in his second response to Rob. Rob after reading your response I was very impressed. It was very well delineated and was rife with what every writer strives for - elegance.

The problem with Ben's initial post that I want to comment on is the statement that someone will have to die on the ice before the general population wake up. If that's the case we're going to be waiting a damn long time for this awakening. Though careers may be cut short compromised by an ill-fought fight or lucky misguided right no NHLer will ever die on the ice from fighting. Perhaps Ben you were being sensationalistic in saying this, and if that's the case then fine. But if you really believe in the possibility of death from fisticuffs consider this: the Kypreos braining is about as effective as a bareknuckle braining gets. A straight on smack in the lower jaw which causes smoothmuscle spasm in the blood supply to the brain. Like the engine of your car getting a constriction in the gas line the engine will stall. But smooth muscle unlike skeletal muscle will not spasm for long, just long enough to drop you from your skates to the ice, where in the Kypreos case he apparently re-brained himself on the ice and then began to bleed. The bleeding only APPEARS concerning. Bleeding from the head is always in copious amounts, especially in a riled up athlete, it doesn't mean severe damage occurred. THe head which contains the brain needs a lot og gas (blood) so it has a huge gas-line (vasculature) and hence bleeds vigorously when compromised. However don't be fooled even the Kypreos blood loss was a drop in the bucket. Dangerous and fatal blood loss from a smack in the face or a head gong on the ice is actually internal blood loss that cramps the brains style puts a stop to breathing, but in order for this to occur you generally always need a tool to generate higher mechanisms of impact that fisticuffs provide. An exception to this may be pugilism. Some cases of death are documented here. Most are due to much more complexe injury patterns than an NHL goon can dish out even on good and lucky day. Keep in mind the skill and training that goes into pugilism and the fact that when in the ring when the fighters begin to breakdown and throw caution to the wind and abandon their style, composure and skill the announcers commonly quip that the contender appears to be about ready to start playing hockey.
 

Damn that's some good ol'fashioned bloggin'!
 

I totally admit I'm a hyprocrite. I see a fight, I cheer, I don't reach the remote to change channels or anything. But if fighting left the game, I wouldn't miss it.
 

Very true Ben, it is an enjoyable aspect of the game for fans but the game would be equally (or more) enjoyable without it. The game would only be less enjoyable with it if it brought early ends to the careers of the Lemieuxs, Gretzkys, Crosbys and Orrs of the game, which history and Robs point about Dave Cement Head Semenko indicate won't happen. So long live the cheer "shoot, pass ... kick 'em in the ass."