Oh Hockey Fights Where Have You Gone?

[rmackman]

I love all sports, and I can honestly say I'm one of the few people in South Florida who has already attended multiple Florida Panthers games in person. However, one thing really gets to me. It sucks that there are almost no fights anymore. My first ever NHL game was a Hartford Whalers vs. NY Islanders game when I was about 9 years old with my dad and my brother. To this day my dad tells everyone "They stood up on the seats yelling KILL THE GOALIE, HIT HIM IN THE FACE!" I guess this amused the fans around us to see two little kids getting excited over the game.

Later four years later in 1993 the Panthers played their first season. Immediately the fans favorite player included Paul Laus because he was the team's enforcer. People always cheered for their team's enforcers. It was just a fun part of the sport. Women even came to watch the fights. When I was old enough to drive I began taking girls on dates to hockey games, and they'd get all giddy for the fights. Some of them later became real hockey fans. It was great. The fights really brought a spirit to the games.

Nowadays I go, and yes I do thoroughly enjoy the games themselves. However, when I see a game without a fight I feel like it was missing something. If your team loses, but you saw a good fight, sometimes you don't mind it as much. The refs dive in as soon as they think there is the possibility of a fight. I hope the league doesn't go so far as to outright ban fighting because I think they'll lose more fans that way. At least that's my opinion. What's yours?

[NJTank]

The 1 on 1 hockey fight are nice and should be allowed.

[STL FANATIC]

The Blues fight quite a bit.

The Blues lose quite a bit.

The Blues actually don't seem to want to let the old style of hockey die. They play physical, they don't allow guys around the crease who have no business there, and they fight.

I love those things, but they're not allowed in today's game. As such, penalties and losses.

Dag.

[Brendan]

i love fighting but when there are lots of fights in a game it make the game less enjoyable. i would personally rahter see nice passing and hitting than a good fight and i think alot of people agree with me. Its funny because i enjoy fights much more when i see it in person than on tv.

[Suigi]

We'll likely never see the '04 Flyers/Sens mega-brawl ever again.

[ColeJ]

watch more stars games, if you like fights.

especially a stars/hawks game.

[Coast2CoastAM2006]

watch more stars games, if you like fights.

especially a stars/hawks game.

The last fight I saw was I believe the Stars/Kings where Steve Ott got into a fight. I think Ott gots ass handed too him and got hurt in the fight, but it was fun none the less. Otts always good for a good fight but hes out. for about 4 months.

granted i haven't watched much hockey and i always like to catch a stars game every now and then to see a fight. if i'm not throwing bricks at my tv at frustration over the isles.

[KevinMcD]

If you want to talk about a bad fighter look at Andrew Peters. He is horrible. All he does is size up the other player or just hold on until the refs come in, almost no punches connect.

I like fights, but I would take a hard hitting, good skating, nice passing game over a fight night.

[Shumway]

It seems like every AHL game I go to has a fight...in some cases, several.

I can think of two separate occasions where I saw the same two guys go at it at least twice. Once, Dennis Bonvie(then of the Bears) beat the crap out of a Wolfpack player after he scored, because he knocked the water bottle off, then took a drink. Bonvie ended up having 2 more fights. In the other occasion, Ben Eager(now of the Flyers) fought Dean Arsene(Hershey Bears) twice, if not 3 times in one game.

[PaperAirplane31]

I'm pretty sure there was a few fights in the stands during that game. Double the fun.

[Shumway]

Since we're posting pics:

Ahh, the classics:

Good Ol' Goalie Fight

Do you see what happens, Larry?

Probably one of my favorite pics:

This message approved by the Detroit Red Wings

[jkrdevil]

The goon fights need to go. They tend to be planned and sort of fake, not WWE fake but theylack emotion. A spontanious fight between two guys who have been getting chippy with each other is fine.

I also think the NHL went to far with the rule enforcement and need to let some of the battles in front of the net and in the corners go. Keep calling the center ice stuff though.

[Coast2CoastAM2006]

That wings/avs game where Vernon and Roy got in to a fight was probably one of the funnest games i watched that year.that was when wings/avs matchups was must see tv on ESPN.

[-Helix-]

Personally, I'm happy that fighting isn't as common in hockey anymore. I hated it when everyone associated the sport to fighting and how some people wrote off hockey as a "secondary sport" because fighting was allowed.

Not to mention, most fights were usually pointless and interupted the flow of the game. A few years ago I used to get pissed off when there was a fight because it got to the point where they were just annoying. I'm a hockey fan, not a boxing fan.

However, I do think it is part of the game's tradition and therefore should have it's place AT SOME TIMES. Classic brawls like in the Red Wings - Avalanche rivalry, or when two hated players meet up and one of them wants revenge for a loss earlier in the season. Those are good storylines and show the emotion of the game. I like those kinds of fights, but most of the fights in recent years were just annoying occurances.

I think one reason there is a decrease in fights is the lack of major rivalries. The Colorado/Detroit rivalry has died down and there hasn't really been a MAJOR rivalry to take it's place. Although Calgary/Nashville had it's fair share of brawls. I think the Devils/Rangers, Flames/Oilers, or maybe the Penguins/Flyers have the potential to bring those rivalries back. Unfortunately none of those teams really have the enforcers or names that would take part in big fights or brawls.

There are still plenty of enforcers and goons in the league though (Bertuzzi, Avery, etc) so I don't really think it's a shortage of fighters. It's more likely the current state of the league. The NHL needs to get the emotion back on pre-lockout levels. Even in the playoffs there were times when I didn't see much emotion. The Stanley Cup Finals were great hockey. But some of the earlier series seemed kind of mild to me. Atleast from what we are used to seeing in the NHL playoffs.