Comments on: Hockey’s summer of tragedy turns debate towards whether to keep fighting in the game

By: schnaidt20

schnaidt20 — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 16:03:05 +0000

yea becuase punching a cop in the face is a game… you must be a girl becuase your ranting emotionally and not making sense! no offense to woman. Please stop watching hockey. you do not understand the game.

By: schnaidt20

schnaidt20 — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 15:58:15 +0000

hockey is a much different game than baseball and football and any other sport. fighting has been around in the league and if it leaves i will never watch it again. Just becuase three people sadly took their own lives does not mean it has to do with fighting… its just a freak summer. Stupid players like matt cooke have no place in the game. Its the fastest game on earth and you have little time to think. Emotions run very high and sometimes to get the frustration out two players will throw down. If any of you people have ever played the damn game you would know that… To say it is utterly ridiculous is incredibly stupid. People are getting hurt from illegal hits to the head and hits from behind. Very rarely is someone beat up so bad they have to miss a few games or are out for the season. If anything happens they break a wrist. Some of the best players to play the game were dirty… Gordie HOWE is called mr. elbows for a reason!

By: 1943mrmojorisin1971

1943mrmojorisin1971 — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 01:35:26 +0000

And let’s make tripping a 5 minute major while we’re at it…..

By: 1943mrmojorisin1971

1943mrmojorisin1971 — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 01:33:11 +0000

I enjoy a good debate and even the odd heated exchange, but unless you’re 12 years old you should be ashamed of posting this incoherent crap on a public forum

By: pjmarn6

pjmarn6 — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 20:15:41 +0000

Fighting is only condoned and allowed in hockey and it is sickening. As sickening as your twisted thinking. Baseball umpires have the authority to immediately remove a pitcher who throws at a batter and immediately warns the other team about retaliation. The few fights are followed by suspensions and hefty fines. The same goes for basketball and foot ball and in rare cases soccer as there is less fighting.
Playing hockey is a skill game. Boxing is a physical game where you beat up your opponent, trying to deliberately hurt him to the point that he is knocked out or can’t answer the bell. Hell you want to fight or see fights go downtown on a Saturday night to most major cities and you will see lots of fights. Deadly ones too. That is what you want to watch.

By: pjmarn6

pjmarn6 — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 20:01:13 +0000

And yea anyone who fights in hockey deserves what he gets, a fractured skull, stitches in the face, broken ribs, broken ankle, concussion and a shortened life span and a poorer quality of life. They choose this life so go and get it. OH BY THE WAY, FORGER ABOUT MOHAMMED ALI AND HIS PARKINSON’S DISEASE BROUGHT ON BY GETTING HIT TOO MANY TIMES IN THE HEAD AND THE AVERAGE 15-20 YEARS LESS THAT A BOXER LIVES.
1943MRMORJOISIN, I find your comments offensive in relationship to the quality of the game and in general you are a moron to condone fighting on the ice. In soccer, any sort of deliberate contact gets you carded and finally expelled. People go to watch the game not players getting beat up. But it appears you go to see the fights. When I was a kid, there used to be Saturday night fights. Maybe you can find some on the internet, guzzle a few beers and pizzas and really enjoy yourself.

By: moosewing

moosewing — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 19:53:00 +0000

They should eliminate both fighting and the cheap shots. Simple fix. Suspend and fine the players. Ban them from the sport. Prosecute them for assault.

Watching the Olympic hockey is awesome. Watching the average NHL game is ridiculous.

By: moosewing

moosewing — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 19:47:03 +0000

In basketball, football or baseball, if you fight, you are fined and likely suspended. How about this – fight and get a 10 game suspension and a $25,000 fine. Fight a second time and it’s a 40 game suspension and a $100,000 fine. Fight a third time, and you are banned for an entire season with a $1,000,000 fine. Think fighting would still just happen?

By: pjmarn6

pjmarn6 — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 19:44:32 +0000

1943mrmojorisin1971 If you throw at a baseball player you are expelled from the game and you get a suspension and loss of pay. If you deliberately hurt a player, that suspension can be a serious suspension and a substantial loss of pay. The people who pay to see a baseball game do not come to see a baseball thrown at a player. Fighting in hockey is juvenile and ridiculous. And anyone who supports that is more juvenile and ridiculous than the players who are allowed to fight and that includes you and your ridiculous arguments.
It sure does teach the youth sportsmanship and the finer points of the game! YEA bring your son to the next game and teach him how to rip his gloves off and tear the hair off his opponent and slam his head into the ice or the wall. See that is how the game is supposed to be played! THAT IS CALLED GOOD SPORTSMANSHIP! ITS NOT HOW YOU PLAY THE GAME, ITS HOW BAD YOU CAN HURT THE OPPONENT! NEXT TIME A COP STOPS YOU, PUNCH HIM IN THE FACE AND SEE HOW LONG YOU SIT IN A TIME OUT BOX.

By: moosewing

moosewing — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 19:44:13 +0000

There is a set number of players on a roster. If you eliminate a goon, somebody else would take that spot. There quite possibly would be more players who can actually play (skate, shoot, pass, etc.) that would continue if the fighting was not there.

By: stakex

stakex — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 02:54:58 +0000

Fighting has always been part of hockey. Since before any of us were born, guys were fighting in hockey. Just becasue three guys that happened to be enforcers died within a year of eachother, does not mean it has anythingt at all to do with fighting in the game. Perhaps it was a coincidence? Maybe it has to do with the medication these guys might have been takeing? Perhaps in the most recent case it was simply a failure to adjust to life away from the game. None of that has anything at all to do with the fighting in hockey…. and there has never been a problem with enforcers dieing in droves before.

Id also like to point out that anyone who is currently a fan of hockey, became so while fighting was a big part of the game. You knew damn well how the sport was when you started watching. There is no reason for the game to change becasue your offended by the fighting for some odd reason. If you don’t like it, go watch a less violent (and much more boring sport) like baseball or something, because hockey is a violent sport… and clearly thats not for you.

If the NHL should do anything, its work on how it punishes cheap shots and head shots. I can’t recall too many, if any, fights that have seriously hurt a player. I can however, think of a ton of cheap shots that have damaged/ended players careers. If the NHL really cares about protecting its players, thats where it should start. Then it should take a good hard look at how it handles players mental states…. which seem to be more responsable for the deaths this year then any other factor. Fighting on the other hand? Why remove a popular part of the game thats not hurting anyone… especially when there is absolutely no desire for the players to see it removed? It makes very little sense.

By: stakex

stakex — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 02:40:50 +0000

Fighting has been a large part of hockey since before you were born. Its part of the sport, and there is no reason it shouldn’t be. Don’t like it? Find a different sport.

By: wrister1

wrister1 — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 00:06:24 +0000

Really? Fighting in hockey has been on the decline. Like there are no blatant fouls in basketball, late hits in football, beaming in baseball, all of which can lead to serious injury. Fighting in hockey is one of the most controlled aspects of the game- by the fighters themselves. Singling out hockey for cheap shots is an incredibly ignorant argument. The only reason there are cheap shots is because of the instigator rule. The losers are allowed to pull cheap plays and can just skate away. If they are grabbed, they turtle, don’t stand up for actions and may get their team a power play. This is what needs to be removed from the game. There already has been a death in hockey a long time ago but there are many more players who have had their careers ended early cause of these clowns are not held accountable. Fighting makes the game safer. The instigator rule makes hockey more dangerous. You claim to be a fan but use problems many games have as an excuse to jump on some bandwagon some opportunists created by exploiting the terrible, unnecessary deaths of three young men. Hockey fan….right.

By: 1943mrmojorisin1971

1943mrmojorisin1971 — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 22:19:54 +0000

The NFL, Aussie rules football, rugby, the UFC, and there’s probably a few more I can’t think of right now. They should get rid of the “hired goons” in hockey, the sport was never having these problems before those players became an unfortunate part of hockey

By: 1943mrmojorisin1971

1943mrmojorisin1971 — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 22:16:47 +0000

Oh I just noticed you’re the same guy that posted that garbage under my first comment. Seems to me you’re no better than those “stupid rednecks”, if you’te not a hockey fan get off this board and spew your nonsense somewhere logical people won’t have to listen to it

By: 1943mrmojorisin1971

1943mrmojorisin1971 — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 22:13:52 +0000

What about the pitchers who throw fastballs at opponents heads? Those guys are class acts, right?

By: 1943mrmojorisin1971

1943mrmojorisin1971 — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 22:11:02 +0000

snotienose: there’s no need for that remark. If you know so much about depression in pro athletes and how it is linked to fighting perhaps you should be working on Dr. Cantu’s team instead of trolling this site insulting people. I do not suffer from depression but have been in my fair share of hockey fights and know others that can say the same. Can you? If not, please share your uninformed opinion somewhere else

pjmarn6: fighting does and will continue to have its place in hockey. You cite sportsmanship in baseball, but is throwing a 100 mph fastball at an opponent’s head really better than punching them in the face? I say no, but I understand each sport’s athletes have a way of policing themselves whether we agree with them or not. Hockey is no different. What needs to be eliminated is headhunting cheap-shots and goons who only play 1 shift a game in order to fight (removing the instigator rule would help deal with both). Those have absolutely no place in hockey but fighting does

By: pjmarn6

pjmarn6 — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 21:46:56 +0000

They want to fight, put on the gloves and step into the ring. I am sure they can make a living there. Hockey is a sport. Baseball is a sport, Basketball is a sport and Football is a sport. In Baseball, Basketball and Football, you fight you are out of the game.
I find allowing fighting in hockey utterly ridiculous. Put in the bans on fighting, play the game, win or lose and get the game back to it being a game and not a boxing match.

By: tommytd

tommytd — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 21:35:14 +0000

The fighting is B.S. and they would be well served to tone it down. What other pro sport condones that level of violence? How about zero tolerance for headshots? My god, DO SOMETHING.

By: snotienose

snotienose — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 21:34:54 +0000

“To call fighting’s role into question at the point is not only wrong but illogical”.

Maybe someone should hit you in the head a few hundred times and see if you suffer from depression. Oh, you have a hard head.

By: snotienose

snotienose — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 21:27:12 +0000

Hockey is the most disgusting example of sportsmanship I’ve ever seen. Fighting should be banned and anyone fighting should be prosecuted for assault. Like I said, hockey is a sick disgusting sport for stupid rednecks with their teeth missing and scars on their heads.

By: ksctychiefs

ksctychiefs — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 20:31:52 +0000

i love hockey ,guys come off the ice sweating hard,dont see any fat players like football,takes alot of skill………but, i used to watch alot,use to have center ice,cancelled my subscription…..why? … too much fighting,too many cheap shots…refs stand back and let so much ‘fight time’ proceed which is only what the league wants to promote….. the bottom line for me is that the cheap blind shots are deplorable,and some day some one is going to die,and actually be dead,from a broken neck,between the time of a really high cheap shot and his body hitting the ice……there will be some fighting as it is a hard hitting emotional sport much like football,but the cheap shots need to be punished severely ,and taken out of the game to prevent an on ice tragic fatality….

By: krakondack

krakondack — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 20:26:48 +0000

It’s true that the regular season has things spill over and there may arguably be a role for fighting in settling scores. But things are not what they once were. Bobby Orr dropped his own gloves and duked it out when he felt he needed to. What’s the chance he would do that today? If it was Jean Ratelle who made him mad, then today you’d have Boston’s goon beat up the Rangers’ goon. Is that what you call settling things? Neither star player would be involved today. Instead we have a WWF-style appointment-fight between two guys who had nothing to do with the original problem. It’s staged, feels artificial, and has no real connection to the game.

Then the next point that is patently absurd is that eliminating fighting would make 75 players lose their jobs. Well, they would but they’d be replaced by skill players, so the number of jobs would be a wash. It is completely self-serving to gripe about it costing jobs.

By: nofunleague

nofunleague — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 19:28:20 +0000

Did I miss somehing in the article that would lead the writer to believe that through the years the majority of fighters, “goons” have died early? As for fighting I just see it as a waste of time. They wear themselves out before any harm is done and it takes away from the game. I am not Canadian so what do I know. It turns out looking like Dancing with the Stars. Three punches thrown, fall to the ice, refs pile on, 5 minute rest. Yawn.

By: balewsquare

balewsquare — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 19:12:53 +0000

I second 1943mrmojo’s comments in that these deaths are coincidences, albeit tragic coincidences.

To get rid of fighting in a hope to solve this situation is a knee-jerk reaction. It’s like the NFL having less kickoffs to solve kickoff injuries. These things just don’t happen with fights.

As stated in the “Belak’s mom says he had depression” article, you never really know when depression will strike. Depression is a chemical imbalance in the brain. It runs in families. To think that not one non-fighter in the league suffers from depression is ignorant.

By: 1943mrmojorisin1971

1943mrmojorisin1971 — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 18:29:14 +0000

You seem to understand exactly what I meant. There are many players (Mike Brown, Marty McSorley, etc.) that make their living fighting but have more to contribute than that. You’re trying to say goons have no place in the league, something I agree with.

I would really be interested to see some of the numerous studies ypu speak of that link fighting to depression, addiction, suicide, and other forms of mental anguish. So far I’ve only seen the one above which is still a work in progress. That indicates further study is needed. This issue is not as cut-and-dry as “getting punched in the face is bad for you” and to suggest it is really is short-sighted

By: phillynac

phillynac — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 17:39:31 +0000

What does that mean? The legitimacy of another persons livelihood? Fighters who don’t play hockey don’t belong in the league. I also think many studies have been done and multiple blows to the head cause brain problems. You are not breaking any news here. Keep your ignorant comments to yourself. You need all of the readers you can get.

By: 1943mrmojorisin1971

1943mrmojorisin1971 — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 17:33:26 +0000

The study is so we can fully understand the physical and mental toll fighting takes on a player and whether or not it is contributing to certain players’ mental illnesses

May I suggest you keep ignorant comments like this and the one in which you questioned the legitimacy of another person’s livelihood to yourself

By: phillynac

phillynac — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 17:25:07 +0000

Does there really have to be a study conducted to say that getting punched in the face repeatedly is not good for you?

By: jpelle82

jpelle82 — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 17:03:16 +0000

you have a choice to fight. you know the risks. just like on the street, there’s consequences. you cant ban fighting, i mean guys fight in basketball, baseball, football when they’re not supposed to. if its gonna happen then its gonna happen.