"The most memorable fight I ever got into over my career would have to be the one with Bobby Hull, probably the biggest star in the game at the time," Hanson recalled. "I was with Birmingham and we were playing Winnipeg. I was trying to establish myself as a player in the league and make an impact, so I was playing pretty physical. Well, I am out there skating around and I run into Bobby, which was like running into a brick s--- house. He just bowled me over. So, when the next opportunity came later on in the game, I gave it back to him pretty good. Bobby took offense and dropped his gloves, so I followed suit.
"We were just going at it with lefts and rights, and then, all of a sudden, he just stopped. You could have heard a pin drop in there at that moment. So, I looked up at the crowd and it was like everybody was just frozen. I looked back at Bobby and I am thinking to myself, 'Something doesn't quite look right here.' Sure enough, I looked down at my hand and I'll be damned if his wig wasn't caught in my knuckles. I had somehow caught it and ripped it right off of his head. It was unbelievable.
"They tossed me in the box and threw the book at me. I got two minutes for elbowing, five minutes for fighting and 10 minutes for pulling hair. Well, Bobby skated off and came back out with a helmet after that. Later on, I wound up in the faceoff circle with him and said, 'Mr. Hull, I am really sorry.' Bobby just looked at me, smiled and said in his deep, raspy voice, 'Ah, don't worry about it kid, I needed a new one anyhow.' Bobby and I later became good friends, but to this day, we have never spoken of that night."
this is an excerpt from a book called, The Code: The Unwritten Rules of Fighting and Retaliation in the NHL, by Ross Bernstein i will be getting this book within the week (the guy in the above excerpt is none other than one of the hanson brothers from slapshot)
Joined: Wed Mar 02, 2005 6:18 pm Posts: 5622 Location: hiding amongst the chimpanzees
There is a code to fighting in hockey, that is no real secret. There is respect between the combatants for the most part (there are also a few douches who don't respect anyone but they rarely last very long anyway)
It's not mindless violence, they are there to do a job and that's to protect the stars of their respective teams. It's really more along the lines of boxing on skates. It's a real shame about the instigator rule and the american pressure to take it out of our game.
All of that said, I've only been in 2 hockey fights.
_________________ Twenty years for nothing, well that's nothing new, besides, No one's interested in something you didn't do Wheat kings and pretty things, let's just see what the morning brings.
There is a code to fighting in hockey, that is no real secret. There is respect between the combatants for the most part (there are also a few douches who don't respect anyone but they rarely last very long anyway)
It's not mindless violence, they are there to do a job and that's to protect the stars of their respective teams. It's really more along the lines of boxing on skates. It's a real shame about the instigator rule and the american pressure to take it out of our game.
All of that said, I've only been in 2 hockey fights.
technically i have been in two, one during the game and one after. neither was a true hockey fight in the sense of the article. a oversized defenseman (bout 6'5 and 280) crosschecked my brother from behind after the whistle and the other a kid sucker punched me while i was trying to talk to him, and i turned my head to see who was coming up behind me
in our league, there was an written rule. dont run the score up in the regular season. its fine if your scrub players continue to score goals in a 7-1 thrashing, but when your best player is trying his best to get a goal in a 12-2 drubbing with 10 seconds left in the game, everyone knew someone was getting put on their ass.
i actually had someone come up and hit me in that very situation, but it was playoffs, best of 3 and in game 1, we were up like 7-2. their best player comes up and crosschecks me into the boards as i had possession of the puck. i looked up at him and laughed and told him hes going to have to try harder than that. god i love to get under peoples skin
There is a code to fighting in hockey, that is no real secret. There is respect between the combatants for the most part (there are also a few douches who don't respect anyone but they rarely last very long anyway)
It's not mindless violence, they are there to do a job and that's to protect the stars of their respective teams. It's really more along the lines of boxing on skates. It's a real shame about the instigator rule and the american pressure to take it out of our game.
All of that said, I've only been in 2 hockey fights.
No disrespect, bizarro...and I'm prepared for the backlash as I'm going to state an opinion that is likely very unpopular...
Fighting in hockey is illegal, dishonoroable, and it is a display of poor sportsmanship and disrespect for the game.
Hockey fights commence in similar fashion to any given street fight - some dude is talking shit, some dude checked you really hard, some dude fucked up your play...so someone gets all pissed off that things aren't going right, drops his gloves, and decides he is going to fight someone. The other guy pretty much has no choice but to follow suit, if this is the "honor" you speak of.
I love when people say it is part of the game, when there is a penalty for fighting someone, and if intentionally injuring a player from another team by illegal means (fighting) is the fair thing to do, then hockey fans have a skewed view of what sportsmanship is all about.
awww...somebody hit you hard and you want to fight him now? Fuck that, suck it up and play the fucking game. Fighting in hockey is merely a spectacle. Fighting in hockey is merely a spectacle, and it's just somethign the fans want to see. It's completely and utterly pointless, and it has absolutely nothing to do with how the game is played. Hockey players enjoy the combat aspect as a means of making their sport look "tougher."
there is nothing at all dishonorable about fighting in hockey, nothing
it has nothing to do with awwww you got hit hard. it has everything to do with who you hit and how you hit
if a player intentionally goes after a superstar, and tries to injure him, he is going to have to drop the gloves, its a fact. gretz had his protection, mario his and so on. fights do not start cause of trash talking, unless its between what is commonly referred to as goons, then they can talk all the shit they want, drop the gloves and let their fists decide who talked a better game.
hockey doesnt need to look tough, its already probably the most grueling team sport out there, conditioning wise, with maybe rugby or austrailian rules football a very close second. the amount of strength needed in ones lower back to skate for a paltry 1:30 seconds is astounding and unless you train specifically for it, the average athletic person cant even come close to doing it.
fighting allows the players to police themselves. this is one reason i was pissed about the bertuzzi situation. when he first made his illegal hit and broke the guys neck, the very next game, the other teams goon (sorry, im drawing a blank on the team) went right after bertuzzi. bertuzzi beat the snot out of him, and that should have been the end of the situation. but other team sent another goon after him in hopes of someone finally exacting revenge.
the best thing anyone can do in hockey, is just go up to the other teams best player (hopefully the player going up to him isnt of major importance or can be sacrificed) and tell him this horseshit needs to stop and needs to stop now, or else his ass is the one thats going to get hit.
in just my rec league, i had done this several times, even though the guy i threatened wasnt doing the hitting, he got the message that he would get roughed up if he didnt reel in his team mates
the best thing anyone can do in hockey, is just go up to the other teams best player (hopefully the player going up to him isnt of major importance or can be sacrificed) and tell him this horseshit needs to stop and needs to stop now, or else his ass is the one thats going to get hit.
Listen to this, peeps. This is shit talking. If someone is dicking around and making illegal hits, then he'll get called for it.
I'm not going to go on with this too mcuh longer, because, like I said I don't want to disrespect the people here who play hockey, and besides, I rather enjoy the sport.
But if you're going to tell me there is nothing dishonorable about going out of your way to committ actions that are against the rules, then....
the best thing anyone can do in hockey, is just go up to the other teams best player (hopefully the player going up to him isnt of major importance or can be sacrificed) and tell him this horseshit needs to stop and needs to stop now, or else his ass is the one thats going to get hit.
Listen to this, peeps. This is shit talking. If someone is dicking around and making illegal hits, then he'll get called for it.
I'm not going to go on with this too mcuh longer, because, like I said I don't want to disrespect the people here who play hockey, and besides, I rather enjoy the sport.
But if you're going to tell me there is nothing dishonorable about going out of your way to committ actions that are against the rules, then....
while its true that fighting does have a consequence (5 minutes) but so does icing the puck, playing the puck with a highstick, too many men on the ice and so on and so on.
im thoroughly confused by your first two sentences. what is shit talking? telling another player that if his players dont stop taking cheap shots that the ref cant see, then he will get hit? no its not shit talking, unless you dont back it up.
i could say that in the UFC or PRIDE or whatever federation you watch and participate in, thats its dishonorable to strike a man when he is out and falling to the ground. the problem is, its not dishonorable, its part of the sport. it doesnt detract from the sport in the least, and neither does fighting in hockey
Again, I'm not saying hockey players are a bunch of mindless goons just trying to start fights. Hockey is a fine game. Easily my favorite of all the popular American sports.
I'm just puzzled by the acceptance of the fighting element in the game. It makes absolutely no sense to me. Fighting and hockey are entities that should be kept separate from each other.
Again, I'm not saying hockey players are a bunch of mindless goons just trying to start fights. Hockey is a fine game. Easily my favorite of all the popular American sports.
I'm just puzzled by the acceptance of the fighting element in the game. It makes absolutely no sense to me. Fighting and hockey are entities that should be kept separate from each other.
fight is fun and a way for players to police themselves. its not all that confusing
_________________ Feel the path of every day,... Which road you taking?,...
Again, I'm not saying hockey players are a bunch of mindless goons just trying to start fights. Hockey is a fine game. Easily my favorite of all the popular American sports.
I'm just puzzled by the acceptance of the fighting element in the game. It makes absolutely no sense to me. Fighting and hockey are entities that should be kept separate from each other.
The fight is fun and a way for players to police themselves. its not all that confusing
It's great fun. I just don't see what it has to do with the sport of hockey.
Play as hard and as rough as you want. There's a man in stripes whose job it is to police people if they're going overboard. It shouldn't be up to the players to determine whose playing too hard and who "deserves" to have a fist in their face.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 4:34 am Posts: 12700 Location: ...a town in north Ontario...
mowbs wrote:
Peeps wrote:
the best thing anyone can do in hockey, is just go up to the other teams best player (hopefully the player going up to him isnt of major importance or can be sacrificed) and tell him this horseshit needs to stop and needs to stop now, or else his ass is the one thats going to get hit.
Listen to this, peeps. This is shit talking. If someone is dicking around and making illegal hits, then he'll get called for it.
I'm not going to go on with this too mcuh longer, because, like I said I don't want to disrespect the people here who play hockey, and besides, I rather enjoy the sport.
But if you're going to tell me there is nothing dishonorable about going out of your way to committ actions that are against the rules, then....
This is my second year of playing rec hockey... I never have, and never would fight anyone. The only thing I see dishonourable about fighting would be if it wasn't 2 guys who consent to fight.
And mowbs, I completely respect your opinion and your stance on the issue, but I completely disagree. A fourth line winger who contributes little to the team goes and throws an elbow to the head of the other team's star player... the winger gets a 2-minute elbowing penalty. The star is either injured, shaken up, or just a little rattled. And a 2-minute penalty is the result? The fact is that if you took fighting out of the game altogether, goons would be attacking stars all over the ice because the penalty would be worth it. Even if it's a ten game suspension... if it sends the other team's player out for an extended period, it's worth it because the goon wasn't contributing much to his team anyway. Without making the guy pay with a fight, the retaliatory play would be another dirty hit... it may be stupid, but it's a fact. That's what happens. And that will only get worse if fighting is taken away.
_________________ I think we relinquished enough... and it's still dark enough... and it goes on and on and on...
Again, I'm not saying hockey players are a bunch of mindless goons just trying to start fights. Hockey is a fine game. Easily my favorite of all the popular American sports.
I'm just puzzled by the acceptance of the fighting element in the game. It makes absolutely no sense to me. Fighting and hockey are entities that should be kept separate from each other.
The fight is fun and a way for players to police themselves. its not all that confusing
It's great fun. I just don't see what it has to do with the sport of hockey.
Play as hard and as rough as you want. There's a man in stripes whose job it is to police people if they're going overboard. It shouldn't be up to the players to determine whose playing too hard and who "deserves" to have a fist in their face.
even the refs recognize the part fighting serves in hockey, thats why they let them fight until someone falls. i think you are just trying to get hockey players to join your MMA stuff
_________________ Feel the path of every day,... Which road you taking?,...
i could say that in the UFC or PRIDE or whatever federation you watch and participate in, thats its dishonorable to strike a man when he is out and falling to the ground. the problem is, its not dishonorable, its part of the sport.
Well yea, it's also not illegal
In UFC, stomping on someone's face while they're on the ground is illegal, it would absolutely be considered dishonorable, and the situation would be stopped immediately.
It's just funny to me that fighting is against the rules, but they'll just let it go as long as they see fit.
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