NHL Fighting Debate Just Got More Interesting!
I don’t often do this. In fact, this is the first time it has happened on this site. I am going to directly use a journalist’s article as the basis for one of my own.
Much has been made about fighting in the NHL. Even I have chimed in several times. LastWordOnSports even had a poll asking our viewership to vote on whether fighting should be left as it is or completely abolished. The voted ended with the vast majority opting to drop it from the game.
No matter what side of the debate you are on, it is a hot issue right now, and became even more heated the other night when Jay Beagle took it upon himself to knock Kris Letang’s helmet off. Soon after, in true NHL tough guy fashion, Arron Asham stepped in and had his feelings, all ten of them, expressed on Beagle’s face. For most that is part of the game, and will unlikely leave it anytime soon. But what occurred afterwards is what is making headlines.
Asham celebrated his knock-out in true Ovechkin-esque fashion. Proudly displaying his make-believe heavyweight belt, he paraded around like a rooster. Afterward he was remorseful on his Twitter account, regretting his actions.
Much ado about nothing? I’m not so sure.
I am not going to get into the debate again, not now, but what I do propose is that a line needs to be drawn. It is one thing in the heat of the game to break into a tussle, but the circus act Asham exhibited should certainly be punishable.
Like you, I love hockey. There are aspects I don’t like, and this is at the top of my list.
Few write like Bob McKenzie does. He offers a great article on TSN’s website, which can be found at: http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=378076.
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Grant
October 14, 2011 at 5:35 pm
Wow, a 3rd anti-fighting article, with a link to a 4th… It seems Last Word on Sports is strickly one sided when it comes to this issue… Well… until now… I’ll be dropping my gloves real soon!
Mike
October 14, 2011 at 5:57 pm
Grant… you mistake me… I meant it not to be about fighting, rather the antics surrounding one particular one. And my link is to an article that takes no stance on the issue.
Grant
October 14, 2011 at 6:52 pm
really Mike? You named the article NHL fighting debate just got more interesting, the article pertains to a guy that got hurt fighting last night, and a guy that celebrated a guy getting hurt fighting last night, sounds neutral to me…. And then you linked an article by anti-fighting activist Bob McKenzie. Like yourself, he stated that his article wasn’t a push in either direction, and maybe that was the true intention. But when your that passionate about something, it’s hard for your feelings not to leak through. A few examples; “I might be inclined to suggest that’s a somewhat ignorant view”, “for those who are anti-fighting or who believe in the absurd incongruity of penalizing headshots but permitting fighting, it’s a perfect time to champion the anti-fighting cause.” Then theres the whole “an alien senario” comparing a blindside hit, to a fair, consented fight. Hey, if Clutterbuck consented to that blindside hit in some way that i’m unaware of, then I’m all for comparing them…
Grant
October 14, 2011 at 7:05 pm
And then at the end of the article he takes “subtle” shots at Shanahan, the committee, the players, etc. for not actually looking into the issue of fighting. The issue of fighting is only an issue if your against it… And whether I agree with him or not at least Don Cherry is straight up and honest with his stance and intentions, and he gets knocked for it constantly…
Mike
October 14, 2011 at 8:17 pm
Sorry, wrote from my cell phone… what I mean to say is that i meant the article to be mroe about the antics of Asham post fight rather than opening up another “yes or no” debate. In fact I conceded that fighting is part of the game actually, and went so far as to differentiate between a tussle that breaks out in heated battle vs. a more premeditated affair. I thought fighting proponents would like that side of me… :0)
I must disagree with your analysis of Bob McKenzie though. First, no matter who you are you are going to have a bias in virtually every article you write. So yes, I am biased, as are you when you write articles, as is McKenzie and Cherry. “Voice” is one of the most important aspects of writing, so my “voice” is of course slanted. It isn’t meant to provoke, though, rather it is meant to highlight my opinions. I felt McKenzie’s article was not so biased as you thought. I felt he showed three different viewpoints of the same issue, and he, being on the sports writers side, naturally had a biased opinion and I don’t fault him for that.
Cheers!
Aaron
October 14, 2011 at 11:18 pm
If we’re going to take showboating out of fighting, we might as well take showboating out of scoring. Oh, and showboating after winning the Stanley Cup. We need to make it clear that being proud of your accomplishments does not belong in the sport of hockey.
Mike
October 15, 2011 at 12:05 am
I am not talking about showboating over a goal so why bring that up? Many people are against it vehimently, hence the most successful league in the world, the NFL, banned it. My commentary was about a guy who knocked another senseless and the paraded around signalling he was put to sleep. Okay, I watch ufc and there is a huge diff between a fight there and in nhl….equipment, doctors, insane protocols re: suspensions, etc. The debate will go on and we can agree to disagree. Here is another good article on this fight… http://m.torontosun.com/2011/10/14/ashams-classless-actions-dont-warrant-ban
ScottyJ
October 15, 2011 at 8:26 am
Showboating is either acceptable or unnacceptable completely by circumstance. The bully on the schoolyard who beats up an innocent kid and then gloats about it is not respected for it. When that bully gets his ass knocked out, there’s every reason to celebrate. When a fight gets personal you can expect it to bring emotions out. That is why I will always be pro fighting and, in most cases, pro celebration. I’m not defending Asham just defending the fact that hockey is a high intensity emotional game, the players are people and those emotions will come out from time to time. Hey at least it gives us something to shout about!
B.Kerr
October 15, 2011 at 4:37 pm
Circumstances come into play.
Asham left Beagle lying on the ice and out cold, yeah he’s an opponent, but he’s also a human being.
Put me down for not being a fan of the showboating after the fact.
Anonymous
October 16, 2011 at 1:10 am
showboating, after afight yes I agree has to go. But the ones against fighting in hockey, well you guys are all hyprocriats, the north americans always talk down to the europeans, now you want to take fighting out of hockey, wouldnt that be just like the european leagues.
Mike
October 16, 2011 at 1:20 am
Not against fighting, just don’t like goons in hockey. Hockey is an aggressive sport, and guys get caught up in heat of the battle. I’m okay with that. I just don’t care for guya whose sole purpose is to fight, adding nothing else to the team.