[LOS ANGELES, CA] -- Throughout the
2008-09 season, there has been continuing dialogue about the status of
fighting in professional hockey. As we reached the All Star break, the
volume and tenor of the discussion has increased to a point where a
growing faction of critics are calling for the elimination of
fisticuffs from the National Hockey League. The initial flashpoint of
this round of criticism was the tragic death of Don Sanderson in an
Ontario Senior League game early this season and was augmented this
past weekend in an AHL contest.
Then during the opening faceoff of the Manchester Monarchs and
Philadelphia Phantoms game this past weekend, Manchester's Kevin
Westgarth and Philadelphia's Garrett Klotz agreed to go at it. As
their fight went up against the boards at the team’s benches,
Westgarth landed three consecutive rights that crumpled Klotz to the
ice and caused him to go into a convulsive state. Comcast TV captured
the scariness on the ice and the fear in the faces of the Philadelphia
fans as paramedics worked to stabilize the fallen Klotz. He was taken
to an area hospital for examination and fortunately, no permanent
damage was done.
The Sanderson tragedy combined with the Klotz video has brought out
the critics again. Virtually all the negativity flows from those who
don’t cover the sport regularly, they rant about the brutality of
fighting in the sport and question why the NHL doesn’t legislate
against it. I’ve never been a big fan of fighting but understand its
placement in the texture of the sport. The reality is that fighting
won’t be extracted from the fabric of the game now or anytime in our
lifetime. The reasons are both internal and external to the NHL and
we’ll try to make sense of it all and also present the counterpoint.
With respect to the recent Klotz-Westgarth incident, it wasn’t a case
of an enforcer tracking down a team’s star and pummeling him to the
ice; both combatants are in the 6-foot-4 range and fourth line
enforcers. While Westgarth got the best of the row, the convulsions
weren’t caused by Klotz falling to the ice with an unprotected head
like Sanderson did, but rather from the rapidity and force of the
blows. Unfortunate, yes but unforeseen as well.
I asked my co-host on the "TFP Today" podcast, former NHL forward Sean
Pronger, about the potential outlawing of fighting.
"The problem with eliminating fighting
is you play a very intense, passionate game with a stick in your
hands. If you eliminate fighting, you’ll see a heavy increase in stick
fouls," Pronger related; so in essence plugging one hole would cause
as big a leak somewhere else.
The reality is that the percentage of
injuries resulting from on ice fights are minimal and when incurred
are rarely head injuries, the real culprit and much higher risks are
involved when players get hit from behind. In most of these cases, the
victim never sees the hit coming with his head and neck exposed to
boards that are not forgiving. If the NHL continues to be focus on
those types of hits, the potential devastating injuries that result
should be very minimal, further vigilant enforcement of this rule. A
potential rule change to automatic icing, thereby eliminating those
all out rushes to the puck, would cut down on injuries as well.
The opponents of fighting that possess legitimate knowledge of the
game point to one team as the model for a fight free game, the Detroit
Red Wings. They are arguably the best team in the league over the past
decade and routinely have the least amount of fighting majors in the
league. At present, their lineup doesn’t include an enforcer and they
are on track to defend their championship. While there is no designee
to protect their stars, especially the non-combative Europeans, the
team has the requisite veteran toughness on the ice (read: Draper,
Maltby, Chelios) to prevent opponents from taking liberties. A very
fair and legitimate point and frankly, a stance hard to give a
reasonable argument against.
Other detractors say that the violence (most of the time simulated at
best) prevent new fans from watching the game. Those critics don’t
have a clue with respect to what fans want when they spent the
dwindling excess income on sporting events. In a game that determined
the AFC qualifier to the Super Bowl, a play late in the fourth quarter
was more vicious as any you’d ever see on NHL ice. The Baltimore
Ravens’ Willis McGahee caught a short pass over the middle in the
hopes of getting his team back in the game. Two Pittsburgh Steelers
defenders quickly closed in on him and one, safety Ryan Clark
delivered a blow to McGahee’s head that immediate knocked the runner
unconscious and motionless while the deliverer of the shot was prone
on the ground too. The Baltimore player was then carted off the field
and Clark needed assistance as well, the hit was replayed on the live
broadcast and showed numerous times on SportsCenter with the
explanation that, “it’s a man’s game; it’s part of the game, etc.”
When asked to recant the play, McGahee
explained, "I was scared, but I didn't know how serious it was. It was
pretty intense. I didn't even see him coming. I blacked out. I woke up
when they were taking my facemask off. I opened my eyes and I was
talking. The next thing I knew I woke up in some room and they were
taking me to the ambulance."
Yet in the following days I saw no
outcries of a willingness to change football to flag or two hand touch
game.
To further the point, a couple of sporting events held in Southern
California during All Star weekend will drive home the status of
violence on the North American sports landscape. The Antonio Margarito-Shane
Mosley WBA welterweight championship was staged at Staples Center in
front of a RECORD crowd of 20,380, the largest event to see any event
in that venue. Simultaneously 50 miles down the road I covered the
Affliction MMA event at Honda Center in front of an estimated 13,000
fans. So you have over 30,000 fans bearing witness to a contest where
the goal of the combatants is to punish the other into submission. On
this evening that is exactly what occurred, Mosley systematically beat
down his Mexican opponent, dropping him twice to the floor before his
handlers and not the fighter, gave up. A few minutes later, I
witnessed Fedor Emelianenko lift the 6’ 4” 237 pound Andrei Arlovski
into the air with one punch and then had him crash to the mat on his
face. As they say in fighting, it’s never good when you fall on your
face. The cheers from the fans in both cases were loud and strong and
no one came away from either event looking to outlaw the violence or
saying they’d never return. As it relates to the NHL, the fans who
regularly attend mixed martial arts events are exactly the type that
the league wants to lure, white males in their 20’s and 30’s with
disposable income. These fans aren’t averse to fighting; in fact
they’d welcome a fairly contested brawl. Most nights in the NHL, the
loudest cheers are usually reserved for the shootout and the fights.
The reality is that violence appeals to our inner most primal
instincts, it’s in our DNA. The best example of this is a scenario I
present to people as to why I like to cover boxing and mixed martial
arts and its inherent violence --
see for yourself.
Imagine yourself pulling up to red light at a major intersection in
your town. While you’re waiting for the light to turn, you look at all
four corners and see the following. On one corner, two kids are
kicking a soccer ball, the next they are playing catch with a
football, on the third they’re shooting hoops. Then looking at the
fourth, you notice that two guys are having a fist fight. Which one
are you going to watch? If you don’t say the fight, you’re lying. The
violence appeals to an innate instinct that dates back to a time when
man came out of the water and started to walk erect on land.
You know the cat that likes fighting, he sits next to you at the game,
has a couple of brews and debriefs his friends who weren’t there by
answering the following questions, “Who scored? Who fought? How was
the beer?”
They’re relatively harmless people and
vent their frustrations of daily life by watching the likes of
Westgarth and Klotz go at each other. I can’t recall a time in my ten
years of covering the NHL where a fan came up to me and said, ‘I went
to a game and I didn’t like the fighting so I never went back.” The
fact remains that the bench clearing brawls of the 70’s and 80’s are
gone; those actions have been correctly legislated out of the game.
The people that claim that the game is too violent are the ones that
see a 30 second video clip on ESPN or the local news and never attend
games; sadly it’s the only time in most American media markets when
hockey gets extended play. The Bertuzzi and McSorley incidents weren’t
cases where players were squared up and went at each other; both were
cases of players being victimized from behind. Those actions bordered
on criminal behavior, should never be condoned but are the ones that
critics adhere to when they look for abolishment.
But don’t think the NHL doesn’t intimately know the demographics of
its fan base. When word of the Westgarth incident wafted up to
Montreal, Toronto General Manager Brian Burke, the face of what
defines old school NHL, was clear on fighting place in the game.
"If we remove fighting, we cannot create
a safe workplace for our players. If fighting were eliminated, no one
will come out and watch," the blustery executive exclaimed.
Burke added that if the subject was to
come up at a future GM meeting, "it will be a short conversation."
The man with an even larger vote
succinctly encapsulates league and ownership position, "I believe that
most of our fans enjoy that aspect of the game," said Commissioner
Gary Bettman.
To eliminate fighting from hockey will eliminate a significant facet
of fans, a decision which makes no economic sense in these most
challenging of times. As the NHL primarily derives most of its revenue
from live gate (people that come through the door), the risk of
slicing in to attendance figures is a bad business decision. In a time
where top player salaries are approaching $10 million and houses like
Phoenix and Florida are half filled most nights, all decisions are
strictly business, not personal.
TWO PERSONAL NOTES
For those uninformed about my writing background, I’ve been at it for
over a decade and its origin was entertaining. Growing up in New York,
I was a big fan of the Rangers before moving to New Jersey and
switching my allegiance in the mid 70’s to the Broad Street Bullies,
the Philadelphia Flyers. In the 80’s and early 90’s I got away from
the game for various reasons. Relocating to northern New Jersey, I met
a good friend, John Artinian who was close to the New Jersey Devils
and got re-introduced to the game at the time the Devils won their
first Stanley Cup. I got to know and become friends with the likes of
Martin Brodeur and then decided to find a way to get into hockey games
for free. I thought, ‘why not start a media company? They’d have to
let me in then.’ I formed Score! Media (which has morphed into SCORE!
Media Ventures) and started a fan newsletter dedicating coverage to
the Devils. I couldn’t have picked a worse team to attempt give
additional promotion to. Run by iron fisted Lou Lamoriello, the Devils
did everything in their power to shut me down. For those who know me,
the worst thing you can do is tell me I can’t do something, I will
then come at you with more vigor to accomplish what I sent out to do;
it’s the New Yorker in me.
While doing research on the internet, I found a site called In The
Crease that was looking for additional writers. I submitted material
and over time was entertaining enough to get my own column. I
continued to work at my craft and subsequently moved to Los Angeles
where ESPN Radio let me do national analyst work during the 2000
Stanley Cup playoffs and the Los Angeles Kings exercised great wisdom
in granting me season credentials. I had made it. When In the Crease
sadly imploded, I was fortunate enough to meet up with Dave Pagnotta,
the founder and creator of this great site and fooled him as well; I
had another soapbox for my occasional brilliance and more often,
lunacy.
Recently, it was revealed to me that others far more accomplished than
me took notice as well. During January, the Kings held an
unprecedented sale of remaining tickets for their January contests.
All remaining tickets went on sale at $11.50 and with my fiancée being
a big hockey fan, it made sense to forgo the $7 dinner in the press
room and free popcorn and soda in the press box to sit at center ice
for 22 bucks. On the night of the January 11 contest against Tampa
Bay, I got a ping on my Blackberry from a colleague, Gann Matsuda
relating that Helene Elliott of the Los Angeles Times wanted to speak
to me. If you know the sport on any level, you know Helene is the
legendary Hall of Fame writer who was one of the first women to
venture into a hockey locker room and has forgotten more about the
game than I know.
She wanted to talk to me about joining the Professional Hockey Writers
Association and to be honest I thought she had the wrong Dennis
Bernstein. When I started writing a decade ago, I thought it would be
great to just meet a legend like her. To have her consider me for
inclusion to an association of her and her peers was both flattering
and overwhelming. The association had been limited to just print
writers over the years but as the media business has evolved over the
last decade, the door has opened for individuals like me for
consideration. When Helene conveyed to me that, “I’ve read your work
and you’re certainly qualified,” it was the final affirmation to an
idea borne in a New Jersey high rise so many years ago.
For those who aspire to achieve what I have, there is a moral to the
story. I’m probably the only member of the PHWA with an undergraduate
degree in Accounting and a Masters in Finance. I got a C in English in
my first year of college and never took a journalism or creative
writing course. But I was observant, I listened instead of talked, I
was passionate about the game and was respectful of those who I could
learn from. I learned to build relationships with people that opened
doors because I believe that on balance, people do want to help others
to succeed. So because I did things the right way and believed in
karma, I’ve arrived at my desired destination. To Helene Elliott, I
owe a debt of gratitude that cannot easily be repaid but must
acknowledge her efforts in expediting my candidacy.
While I missed the All Star Game festivities, I was fortunate enough
to experience a special event last week that was a tad bit larger than
the happenings in Montreal. Through the good graces of Congressman
Brad Sherman (D-CA, Sherman Oaks), we were able to witness the
inauguration of the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama.
The Inauguration Day experience was everything that was reported; cold
(well, not Montreal cold but still), crowds, lots of waiting and more
crowds. The better part of the trip was the invitation from
Congressman Sherman to visit the floor of the House of Representatives
and the State Department. I’ve never been much of a politico (my pal
Al Bernstein of Showtime Championship Boxing once said, “Dennis is
like Switzerland. You never really know where he stands
politically,”), you can’t help but feel more involved in the process
when you’re sitting in the seats where they actually make (or most
time attempt to make) laws. Sherman provided an unexpected bonus
during our House visit by leading us from the House chamber, along the
outside of the Capitol and down to the platform where the President
took the oath as the accompanying photo showed. I’ve had the privilege
of access to places most others haven’t but even I was overwhelmed
when standing in the footsteps of history.
Dennis
Bernstein, the man behind SCORE! Media and an NHL
Analyst with ESPN Radio, is the Los Angeles
Correspondent for The Fourth Period Magazine and a Columnist
for TheFourthPeriod.com.
