When someone thinks of the sport of ice hockey, one of the first things they think of is the fact that fighting is a common occurrence in it. It is almost a guarantee that if you ask someone who is not an avid fan of the sport what their favorite element is, they will say something about the fights. A commonly heard and repeated quote is “I went to a fight the other night, and a hockey game broke out.” However, over the past few years the question of whether or not this component should still be allowed in the game has been a cause for argument and controversy. There are suggested pros and cons for what impact banning fighting from the sport of hockey might have, but for now nothing has been done to change the rules and regulations. The question to look at is, how has fighting in hockey evolved throughout history to get us where we are today, and should it remain in the game because of its history? Or should it be banned because of its history? I have been a huge hockey fan my whole life, and have experienced it first hand. I manage the team here at West Chester University, and grew up with two older brothers who play. Because of this, I have a preconceived idea that I have always been pretty steadfast on. When I watch my friends play on the team here, people that I spend a good amount of time with and I know both personally and athletically, or when I watch my brothers play or even my favorite professional players, I don’t necessarily want them to get into a fight. But when they do, I am proud, especially when they win or hold their own in the altercation. You may wonder, “but don’t you see them get hurt? Doesn’t that make you want them to stop fighting altogether? Are you condoning fist fighting?” And my answer to a... ... middle of paper ... ...know" (The Canadian Press, 2013). Hockey is one of the most difficult sports out there, and dropping the gloves and looking another fighter straight in the face is one of the most challenging parts of it. Getting rid of fighting will not necessarily make the game safer, and it could potentially cause a decrease in the number of fan viewership. The players and leagues understand what they are getting themselves into and they are aware of the culture of the sport, which is rich with fighting history. They respect that aspect of the game, and they respect their opponents as players and fighters. There will never be a time when everybody is happy about the state of fighting in hockey, but for now, the NHL is taking the right steps toward maintaining this historically important part of the game, while also making adjustments to keep the players as safe as possible.
To understand this phenomenon we must go back to March 13, 1955. On this date, the Montreal Canadians were playing a game in Boston against the Bruins. One of the opposing players, Hal Laycoe, high-sticked Maurice Richard, injuring him to the point of requiring eight stitches on his scalp. Richard retaliated by smashing his own stick over Laycoe's head and shoulders and slashed him with another player's stick until it splintered. Becoming annoyed with the official's interference in the fight, Richard then turned and punched him. Since hitting an official was the least honorable thing to do, Richard was expelled from the game (2000).
As stated in my thesis statement, the sport of hockey has been forced to compete with the growing mass popularity with other sports such as basketball and football. There once was a point in time where hockey had just as much popularity as those sports but because people are finding more interest in those sports, the National Hockey League found itself in a “drought” of unimportance with other sports. With not televising the sport as “commonly” as other sports.
The sport of hockey has a long proud history of being one of the best sports in the
most dangerous version of the sport. Professional leagues such as the NHL play contact hockey.
The toleration of fighting during official hockey games in the National Hockey League has the power of changing the future of hockey as it is known and is, especially to minor-leaguers, which consists of children aged nine to fifteen, a great danger. The dangers, which are likely to result into injuries might potentially affect their physical and mental development. … The aspect of fighting in the men’s game of hockey is strictly regulated and allows two players to be involved in a single fight, although several fights may take place at the same time. All fights must be conducted under mutual approval of both hockey players. According to the official NHL webpage, fights are considered to have occurred only when at least one player, including the goalkeeper, punches...
Would you rather have a couple of guys who have beef with each other dropping the gloves to settle their differences or a couple of guys trying to get the best cheap shot on their opponent? Fighting is a much less dangerous and bloody way to settle things. People still take cheap shots, hitting each other in the face with their hockey stick, but that type play would be seen way more often if fighting were taken out of the game. Emotional guys with short fuses would lead to more cheap shots. Fighting is a way for players to police each other. If somebody takes a shot at one of your teammates and it looks to be even the littlest bit of dirty, you’ll see that offending player on that team to get some revenge. Players can handle suspensions and fines but if they know that a player is going to knock their teeth out, then they might think twice about taking those cheap shots. Hockey will never become mainstream. It’s unique to a sport to allow this kind of fighting to happen. Sports don’t allow fighting. Without fighting in hockey would be a mainstream sport, it wouldn’t be hockey.
Millions of people are registered throughout North America for participation in Canada’s national sport and pastime, ice hockey. Most young hockey players have the dream of making it to the National Hockey League (NHL). Because of this incentive to keep striving towards their ultimate goal in their hockey career, they idolize the players in the NHL. Therefore, youth players may obtain certain habits from the elite, whether those habits are good or bad. Some cases are of bad influences, such as young players obtaining the dirty playing habits of the professionals. The primary action that influences the youthful population is body checking. With the thought of losing a game, it is no wonder why players have the urge to play rough and potentially hurt the opposing team in order to be victorious. For that reason, hockey is a strong collision sport that requires great skill and motivation. Although body checking is believed to be a useful tool in the winning of hockey games, it can be the cause that leads to injury among players. Because of the rougher play, lasting brain injuries are becoming a worry and too many players are exposed to the lasting effects of the head injury. According to Michael Cusimano July 22, 2003 the article entitled “Body Checking and Concussions” states, “With the rising incidence of traumatic brain injury in hockey, too many players are exposed to the lasting effects of such injuries, some of which are not fully realized until the brain completes its maturation.” For this reason, new equipment and regulations need to be devised for use in the near future.
First, in the USA Hockey league, which is the non-professional, non-collegiate, levels, the “golden” rules of hockey have been passed down from the very beginning, as well as in the NHL. For example, one golden rule is that the game is played with a black puck made from vulcanized rubber, and you have two goals, which is a golden rule that is passed down to every hockey game everywhere. Another golden rule that is the same for both leagues is that there is always going to be body contact. Without body contact in the game of hockey, it would be like playing tennis. Golden rules, more so, common sense rules/ethics have been passed down from the very beginning of hockey in 1875. Now, though, USA Hockey and the NHL have differing rules from each other. For example, in icing situations, or where an attacking...
Hockey is a very quick game. Probably the fastest game out there. The speed really helps with entertainment. Watching the players go back and forth, scoring chances everywhere. The watchers blood pumping quick and hardly any stoppages in the game. It is they only sport that actually allows fighting to occur. This entertains and gives pride to the fans when their teams player wins. As said before, any quality of other sports can be found in Hockey, In this case it was Boxing.
March 8th, 2004 was supposed to be nothing more than a competitive and action packed regular season hockey game between feuding rivals, the Colorado Avalanche and the Vancouver Canucks. The game slipped away from the Canucks, with the Avalanche up 6-2 heading into the third period. The heated contested already had its fair share of fighting majors, but an incident that happened late in the third period shocked the more than 18,000 fans in attendance at Rogers Arena, the hockey community, and North America. After failing to instigate a fight with Avalanche forward Steve Moore, Todd Bertuzzi of the Vancouver Canucks grabbed the back of Moore’s jersey, landed a vicious punch to the back of Moore’s head, before slamming him face first on the ice and falling on top of him. Moore had to be helped off the ice on a stretcher, and has never returned to the NHL. Bertuzzi, on the other hand, was suspended for 20 games by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, and is still playing in the NHL for the Detroit Red Wings. This is one of many examples of deviance in sports, and how a win-at-all costs mentality can drive athletes to act in extreme manners. As a result of the growing commercialization of sports, athletes are socialized at young ages to believe that winning is everything, and that stopping at nothing will help you succeed. Athletes will do almost anything to gain the upper hand in their respective sports, whether it is through engaging in excessive on-field violence or through the use of performance enhancing drugs, excessively committing themselves to their sport, or by violating league rules and policies. In sports, deviance is viewed in a different light than in the outside world. As professional athletes strive towards conforming to spor...
Sink M. (2002, January 31). HOCKEY; Youth Game Postponed After Fight by Parents. Retrieved November 1, 2010, from New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/01/sports/hockey-youth-game-postponed-after-fight-by-parents.html
When I think of what it means to be Canadian, one of the first things that come to mind is hockey. This is true for many Canadian’s as hockey was and is an integral piece of the formation of the national identity. However, when people think of playing hockey their attention usually turns to the men in the National Hockey League or other top men’s leagues and tournaments. Even so, Canada has come a long way from its beginnings, when women were not even considered persons under the law until 1929. While it has taken many decades for women to receive more recognition in the world of sport, today shows great improvements from the past. A key reason that women are not treated the same way as men in regards to hockey is due to how the game began;
Contact sports in America, like football and boxing, carry a rich history of the spirit of the game, and the feeling of victory. These games bring us together as we cry out and cheer for our team or fighter as they deliver the winning touchdown, or the knockout that brings them the undisputed champion belt. However, these players are facing injuries that can destroy their career and affect their brain for the rest of their lives. We shouldn’t outlaw contact sports, but we should force safety to become more important. If we want to keep our players safe and continue the tradition of the contact sports we enjoy as a country, then we must evolve our safety in sports, and change the way we view contact sports as a country.
This study showed that there was a significant difference in the amount of concussions between these two leagues. There were 69 teams consisting of 829 players from Calgary and Edmonton that participated in this research. Both of these areas allow body checking. The leagues that didn’t allow body checking were from Kelowna and Vancouver. There were 33 teams and 379 players from these two areas that participated in the study. This study classifies severe concussions as greater than ten days time loss from being eligible to participate in hockey. The research showed that there were 83 concussions and 53 severe concussions in the body checking league. However there were only 15 concussions and 10 severe concussions in the non-body checking leagues. The researchers suggest that there is a 60% lower risk of having a concussion or severe concussion in these non-elite Bantam teams when body checking is not allowed based on local
Sports show how athletic a person is or how well they at doing a certain thing. If you're good at running then you could do track. But some sports may require a lot of skill, such as hockey. Hockey is a sport that you play on the ice with ice skates.You play 82 games plus playoffs, and multiple games per week To play hockey you need to know the basics, know the rules, and how difficult it can be.