The sports league with the worst reputation for stopping violence, penalizing and fining appropriately its offending players is the National Hooligan League or the NHL as many hockey fans would call it. There has not been consistency in suspending players and it seems that many are only interested in protecting the violent nature of the game.
Courtesy of http//photobucket.com
The media is largely to blame, constantly glorifying fighting by showing fights and commenting on this “great scuffle” or that “good ol’ donnybrook”. Donnybrook is a suburb of Dublin, Ireland, and was previously the site of the annual Donnybrook Fair. These Irish fairs were well known for their copious alcohol consumption and the unavoidable results: all-out drunken brawls. In fact, as a result of the violence, the fair was abolished in 1855. Of course, this was after more than 600 years of "We promise we'll behave next time." The word "donnybrook," meaning "free-for-all" or "public quarrel," came from these fairs, and was first seen in print in 1852. [1]
The suspensions that the NHL levies are soft and laughable. The fines are a complete joke and mere pocket change for its multi-millionaire players. Most suspensions are in the 2-3 game range and fines in the $1000-$2500 range. When compared to other leagues that do not tolerate fighting, the NHL should either re-vamp their penalty structure or be abolished like the Donnybrook Fair.
The NHL has recently come under fire for Zdeno Chára’s vicious hit March 8, 2011, on Montreal Canadiens forward Max Pacioretty who suffered a non-displaced fracture to the 4th vertebra and a severe concussion. The force and location of the hit resulted in Pacioretty colliding with the turnbuckle at the end of the bench. He was taken off the ice on a stretcher after lying motionless on the ice for several minutes. For delivering the hit Chara received a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct, and videotape of the play was sent to NHL VP of hockey operations Mike Murphy for review. Mike Murphy decided no further punishment was warranted. The Montreal police announced that a criminal investigation would take place. Chára is merely a goon in the NHL with 111 goals, 252 assists and 1297 penalty minutes in 12 seasons.
Courtesy of http//photobucket.com
When will the goonery be halted? If the NHL has its way, this will never be resolved. There are a percentage of people who believe that fighting in hockey is part of the game and defend it with vigor. Is fractured vertebra and concussions part of the game? How does Colorado's Steve Moore feel after his hit from Todd Bertuzzi? That vicious hit on March 8, 2004 would prove to be the end of Steve Moore’s career. Yes, Todd Bertuzzi was suspended for 20 games, but was that enough? Can we afford to have players like Sidney Crosby sit out with concussions?
Courtesy of http//photobucket.com
The NHL needs to quit defending the gang warfare that poisons the league. Anytime an opposing player gets too close to another team’s goalie or player along the boards with an incidental bump, the “gang” must now defend their turf. What basically ensues is the team with the “blue colors” threatening the team with the “red colors” to back out of their turf or else.
Coutesy of www.freakingnews.com
In December, the NBA levied a 15 game suspension to Carmelo Anthony, then of the Denver Nuggets for punching Mardy Collins of the New York Knicks. He did not receive a 5-minute fighting penalty or a game misconduct, he was tossed out of the game for fighting and suspended. Since hockey is a sport that allows body checking and penalizes fighting, fighting should not be part of the game. In reality, the NHL should not have 5-minute fighting penalties; they should have 15 game suspension penalties. If a player repeat offends then his next suspension should be 30 games, then 40 or 50 until the player gets the message that fighting is not allowed or is driven out of the game.
Hockey is wonderfully entertaining game that has an exciting pace without fighting. With scintillating goals, great checks, wonderful passing plays, superb penalty killing, overtime, shootouts, tremendous rivalries and the march to the Stanley Cup, who really needs fighting?
Sources:
