Post by Bret Walker on Dec 31, 2003 13:18:42 GMT -5
Or so says the NHL which has been trying to keep the seedy side of hockey squashed. Oh, sure, they let the occasional fight break out between two players. They may even let them fight until one falls to the ice. But the bench-clearing brawls of the past are exactly that: a thing of the past. And it's all because of a rule that was set in the 80's: The first player off the bench to enter a fight on the ice gets an automatic five-game suspension.
Well, despite the NHL's best attempts, fighting is alive and well in pro hockey. Witness the recent meeting between the Binghamton Senators and the Philadelphia Phantoms. The fighting was so bad during the game that at one point, Phantoms goalie Neil Little (God, I love that guy!) skated the length of the ice to DIVE into a pile of fighting players. For this, he was suspended for 2 games by the AHL. And for this, ESPN named the brawl the Number Three sporting moment of the year in their annual top-10.
If the NHL doesn't quickly learn that the fans want to see fighting, I don't think they'll ever recover from the looming lockout next season. And if they DO have a lockout, they'd better put fighting back in or they'll never get the viewing numbers that they want.
Look, I took Erin to a Flyers/Devils game for her birthday and there wasn't a single fight. She was disappointed - not because the Flyers lost 2-0, not because we were in the cheapest of the cheap seats (last row of the nosebleed section!), but because there were no fights! Three nights later the fliers played the Calgary Flames and lost in overtime - but that game was tons better in her eyes because in the first 16 seconds, there were two fights! Four men in the penalty box sixteen seconds into the game! That's a goddamn game!!! And she said "Why didn't we go to this one?"
Well, it didn't say "No fights" on the ticket.
The NHL better wise up and get fighting back into the game, or they'll lose us all.
By the way, last night's game between the St. Louis Blues and the Flyers was spectacular, because it was chock-full of fighting. The entire game was played right at the edge of chaos, and you know when that happens that the hungrier teem wins the game - as the Flyers did 7-2. There was even bad blood between the Blues players and Flyers' coach Ken Hitchcock. It was ugly. I loved every second of it, and goddamn it, the Flyers and the Blues don't meet again this season.
So come on, NHL, take your head out of your ass and give us back the fights! After all, they were once part of the game. Back when Hockey was truly the sport of kings.
Well, despite the NHL's best attempts, fighting is alive and well in pro hockey. Witness the recent meeting between the Binghamton Senators and the Philadelphia Phantoms. The fighting was so bad during the game that at one point, Phantoms goalie Neil Little (God, I love that guy!) skated the length of the ice to DIVE into a pile of fighting players. For this, he was suspended for 2 games by the AHL. And for this, ESPN named the brawl the Number Three sporting moment of the year in their annual top-10.
If the NHL doesn't quickly learn that the fans want to see fighting, I don't think they'll ever recover from the looming lockout next season. And if they DO have a lockout, they'd better put fighting back in or they'll never get the viewing numbers that they want.
Look, I took Erin to a Flyers/Devils game for her birthday and there wasn't a single fight. She was disappointed - not because the Flyers lost 2-0, not because we were in the cheapest of the cheap seats (last row of the nosebleed section!), but because there were no fights! Three nights later the fliers played the Calgary Flames and lost in overtime - but that game was tons better in her eyes because in the first 16 seconds, there were two fights! Four men in the penalty box sixteen seconds into the game! That's a goddamn game!!! And she said "Why didn't we go to this one?"
Well, it didn't say "No fights" on the ticket.
The NHL better wise up and get fighting back into the game, or they'll lose us all.
By the way, last night's game between the St. Louis Blues and the Flyers was spectacular, because it was chock-full of fighting. The entire game was played right at the edge of chaos, and you know when that happens that the hungrier teem wins the game - as the Flyers did 7-2. There was even bad blood between the Blues players and Flyers' coach Ken Hitchcock. It was ugly. I loved every second of it, and goddamn it, the Flyers and the Blues don't meet again this season.
So come on, NHL, take your head out of your ass and give us back the fights! After all, they were once part of the game. Back when Hockey was truly the sport of kings.
