Fighting over fighting

"People will tell you that loving tough hockey means loving enforcers. No. Guys like Janssen, Parros, they’re a very recent invention, a product of the last 30 years or so. For most of hockey history, there was no space on rosters for anyone who couldn’t play, and the famous old-time tough guys could carry the puck and throw a hit both. If anything, hockey was tougher when players, star or checker, fought their own battles, rather than downloading the entire team’s violence onto one or two marginal players."
- Ellen Etchingham, Backhand Shelf blog 

If you're regularly reading hockey blogs, you probably know about Cam Janssen's recent interview. If not, you can check it out here. I don't really care about anything he said, after all, the fact that we actually spend time asking professional athletes questions at all is kind of silly if you think about it. Professional athletes are famous for their amazing physical abilities and that has absolutely nothing to do with being an interesting or intelligent person. Why should we expect a wise and learned response from a group of people that consists of few college graduates and many (in the case of Canadian hockey players) high school drop-outs? Obviously, there are exceptions, but if you want philosophy, shouldn't you ask the philosopher (or at least someone who took a philosophy class)? So seeing headlines like "Hockey goon shares uneducated, offensive opinions" should shock exactly no one.

But the Janssen interview did prompt a very interesting post over at that the Backhand Shelf blog. The blogger, Ellen Etchingham disputes Janssen's views and more broadly, the idea that there remains honor in being a tough guy or "goon" in today's NHL. This is related to a broader question that I've been thinking about a lot more: Does fighting still have an important role in hockey? Obviously, that question has been going on for as long as I can remember (and I'm in my 30s!). But it's a question I've found myself answering differently lately.

When I was a kid, the Red Wings had the toughest team in hockey and I loved it. Not only did they have the toughest tough guy of all time, Bob Probert who could score goals as well as knockouts, they had several guys more than ready to drop the gloves. But despite their pugilistic prowess, the Red Wings didn't begin winning Stanley Cups until they opted for more of a skill game. They still had guys willing to fight on those teams, and some memorable brawls, but more often the Red Wings earned revenge not with fists but on the scoreboard.

That evolution only continued as the team transitioned from being Steve Yzerman's team to Nick Lidstrom's. And as my favored team changed, so has my taste in hockey. I used to love a good donnybrook as much as the next guy, but now I find I'm more interested in amazing displays of agility, coordination, hockey smarts, and effort. I love the pass no one saw coming, the quick turn that leaves the defender stunned, the perfect read that allows a defender to effortlessly disrupt the pass, the hard work that allows a back-checker to pick his opponent's pocket.

I'm sure a big part of my changing tastes resulted from the fact that the Red Wings just don't fight that much anymore. But I think the bigger part is the overall satisfaction that comes with your team winning cups. Sure, the 80s Wings could leave a game with heads high, knowing they had gotten the better of their opponents in the evening's dust-ups, but that's the kind of consolation prize you hold on to when the other team has won the contest that actually counts in the record books.

The other thing that is making me question fighting is the clear toll it takes on the players and the game. I don't think fighting is any worse now or players more violent than in the past. When you hear people complain about the lack of respect in today's NHL, I think about some of those Red Wings-Blackhawks clashes from the 80s. I distinctly remember one altercation involving pushing and shoving that quickly escalated when Gerard Gallant, one of my favorite players, cross-checked a Blackhawk directly in the mouth. And remember, this was in the days of tree-limb sticks, none of this carbon fiber stuff that snaps if you poke it just right. If this had happened in 2012, Gallant would have had the book thrown at him, maybe a 20 game suspension. Back in the 80s, I'm not sure, but he may have gotten a 2 minute roughing call, unless it went uncalled all together. So yeah, I don't really think the issue today is a change in the level of respect players have for one another.

No, I think what has changed is the understanding that people's brains are kind of fragile and repeated blows to the head can leave the brain with long-term damage that does not heal. Who knew?! This was really driven home for me with the devastating piece in The New York Times about Derick Boogard. The juxtaposition of the league cracking down with steep suspensions for checks that hit the head, while sticking to the same penalties for players who punch each other in the face now seems more than ludicrous.

I know a lot of people love hockey fights and contend that it keeps players honest. And truthfully, players taking care of business themselves is something I've always thought was distinct and enjoyable about hockey. Try watching an NBA game sometime. No matter how many times Dwayne Wade slides his feet under an opposing player as they come down from a jump-shot, hoping to cause a twisted ankle, no one is going to respond for fear of being tossed from the game. Self-policing is one reason I've held off from the view that fighting should be banned. And that's what I found so interesting about Etchingham's post, the idea that maybe self-policing and "the code" are already gone from the game.

If the enforcers of the NHL are no longer enforcing anything, how can we justify fighting in the face of the high price we now know players are going to pay? Yes, these guys know the risks and feel it is worth it for a few years of making a lot of money. But should that be good enough for us, just because we want to be entertained? I encourage you to read Etchingham's entire post. It got me thinking. The role of fighting in hockey has already changed, is it time for the league to change too?