Hockey Fights: The New Model

The Rangers and Flames had a bit of a contentious affair last evening in New York. The game featured 3 fights, which we don’t ever do not, never not love… ever. You could say, that the way in which said disagreements initiated, is a microcosm of the current era in hockey fighting.

New Hotness
All three scraps happened after one player leveled another, and then their teammate took on the guy that did the leveling. Got that? Before I get accused of being an old man yelling at a cloud, I will explain.

Back in the Day Donnybrooks
In the days of yesteryear, bodychecking was done as predatorily as it is now. The equipment was archaic and not very protective. If a guy ran another guy hard it would hurt them as much as the guy doing the running. And these guys didn’t even wear helmets for Christ’s sake. No need to open-ice-destroy a man when there’s a risk he could smash his friggin’ head on the ice and bleed all over the place. And yet…

There was a respect factor that existed back then. The NHL was a winter job for a lot of these guys and there was a level of community which isn’t there anymore. If I know a guy just came off injury, or maybe it’s night 2 of a back-to-back. I have the choice to run him or separate him from the puck gently – but firmly enough to accomplish the mission of reestablishing possession. I’m taking the firm but gentle option every time.

When and Why?
I can’t say when the new way of fighting started, or why. The “staged” fights are largely gone form the NHL. Also gone are the days when the 4th-liners would come out and the crowd would start buzzing because they knew what was coming. Occasionally you see fights like last week where Wayne Simmonds took it upon himself to try and turn the tide of a game. It worked, BTW. For a little while anyway. Now it seems if you want to start a fight, just lay a heavy check on anyone and you’ll get a taker.

What I find very interesting about last night’s three fights, is the second one in particular. It all started when Sammy Blais derailed a chugging Milan Lucic at center ice.

Looooooch!
Now, Lucic is a very big boy and can take care of himself. He’s been having a bit of a renaissance this year fight-wise and is still not someone to trifle with. After Blais hit him, he was really mad, and wearing the classic LUCIC SMASH face he puts on when he’s… really mad. Ultimately, Lucic couldn’t get to him, but he certainly threw a few in at the bottom of the pile under which Blais found himself when the Flames converged. Instead, we were treated to Calgary’s MacKenzie Weegar whaling the shit out of Will Cuylle of the Rangers.

This bout isn’t close, and I feel bad for Cuylle’s… face.

I’m not complaining. I like hockey fights, however they come. I just don’t get the logic. The NHL says “no”, we can’t have two big guys – that know how to fight going out to fight for the sake of fighting – but “yes”, it’s OK to have a near fucking line brawl every time someone lays the body to someone else in the course of gameplay. It’s quite typical of the NHL and in a lot of ways, it’s not their fault.

I get they can’t openly endorse fighting, but fighting in hockey is one of the many things that makes the game unique. It’s one of the reasons people still watch to this day. The hope of a fight gets them to tuning in.

I’m interested to hear other thoughts on this. If I were smart enough, I would put a poll in this post, but alas I don’t have the technical perspicacity. Here’s the question. Do you mind the current hit, and “you have to fight model”, or would you prefer the old staged fights approach?