From: kalford@sol.uvvm.ca (Keith Alford)
Subject: Re: War on Violence a Joke (Scott Taylor)
Followup-To: rec.sport.hockey
Organization: University of Victoria, Canada
Date: Thu, 28 Jan 93 02:10:22 GMT


In article <C1AG25.9nD@ccu.umanitoba.ca>, kdc@ccu.umanitoba.ca (Ken De
Cruyenaere) wrote: [MUCH DELETED  TO SHORTEN]

> Its first intermission in Calgary (Jets are up 1-0 :-) )  and Scott Taylor
> column in today's Wpg Free Press is another one of fairly general appeal
> so here goes:

>  At the start of the 1992-93 season, the NHL's general managers ...
>  were going to cut down on fighting and unnecessary  stickwork and it was 
>  going to happen immediately.

>   It's now reached a point where the only infraction that will result in a
>   penalty call requires a transfusion.

>  And to make matters worse, the guy who doles out subsequent penalties
> for serious infractions has decided that money is significantly more 
> important than fair play.

>   Gil Stein is a typical American.

>  He doesn't believe for one second that guys play hockey for any reason but
> money.  Instead of fining and suspending players, stein's policy is to suspend
> players on "working days".  It costs them a lot of money but they don't miss
> any games so it doesn't "hurt the fans" who would be deprived of having good
> players in the lineup.

> What a crock.

>  When Doug Gilmour broke Thomas Sandstrom's arm with an intentional slash, the
> L.A. KINGS lost one of their best players for what is now going on 2 months.  
> Gilmour, meanwhile, has played every game and is being touted by the Toronto
> Sports Network as an MVP candidate. 

[Other injuries deleted]

> The NHL still fuctions like the World Wrestling Federation. It has no rules.

> Fights are still an integral part of hockey and while the number of fights 
> might be down, they are still being used as a tactic to get good players out
> of games.

> As ridiculous as this sounds, what the NHL might want to do is put 3
> linesman on the ice and then stick the referee in the press box with a horn,
> a microphone and a TV monitor so he can watch replays.  That way, if he misses
> what he usually misses (or ignores) on the ice, then he can have a second look.


> Scott Taylor  Winnipeg Free Press
> reprinted _with_ permission
> ----------------------------

I been reading and re-reading this posting for days now.  And while I agree
with ALL of it, I don't think it goes far enough. 

If you're a parent with a young kid in minor hockey , you hate NHL fights
with a passion.  
If the kid is natural athelete, you suggest baseball over hockey (baseball
players make FAR
more money and the sport is a LOT safer).

Outside of boxing and wrestling, I can think of  no sport other than hockey
in which INTENTIONALLY hurting a player isn't cause for the stiffest
penalty.

I know a lot of people who refuse to go to or watch on TV local WHL or NHL
hockey because of the fights. Many of these watch international hockey and
love it.

We got a little guy on the WHL Victoria Cougars named Scott Fukami who can
do things on skates I've yet to see some NHLers do. But his team owners
doubt he'll make it into the NHL because of his size -- I guess they 
forget about Fleury. There is something wrong with a sport when the best of
any local team has little chance of making it on a professional North
American team simply because people think he can't take the punishment. No
one doubts Fukami has a great future in international hockey.

If money is all important to owners, what I don't understand is how they
accept illegally caused injuries to the likes of Gretzky and Mario. Owners
have millions invested in these guys, and yet they don't protest the rules
that allow them to be blatently injured.

One can't enforce rules without penalties. There should be more refs on the
ice. There should be TV monitoring. There should be an escalating series of
penalties. First offence, a game misconduct. Second offense, a seven game
misconduct (game not "working days"). Third offense, a season misconduct.

It is a money in some aspects. And I think hockey will LOSE money if it
shortly doesn't clean up its act VERY quickly.
Newsgroups: rec.sport.hockey