Why the Game of Hockey Needs Fighting: Fighting Can Never Die

We are a bloodthirsty society, plain and simple. If you don't believe me, just remember what we would-be journalists and writers learn in our news classes: if it BLEEDS, it LEADS. It is with this that I make a stand against all the naysayers of the good ol' donnybrook in a hockey game: we need fighting, we love fighting, and we will never let it die.

Hockey players are known as the roughest of rough, the "salt-of-the-earth" type guys that don't mind having their top teeth missing along with some five o'clock shadow (makes the look complete). For as long as hockey has been a major sport, one of the defining elements of it is fighting. The bench clearing brawl, the payback for hitting a star, and the rare goalie fights all make hockey stand out from its rivals. So why is it that after so many years of this significant characteristic, the NHL is all but trying to abolish it? The answer first starts with the NHL's clueless commissioner, Gary Bettman, and his current reign of stupidity running the league. Dan Wetzel of Yahoo! Sports recently wrote an article marking the 15-year anniversary of his ownership of the NHL, making the comment that "[Bettman] has never figured out how to change his marketing plans to fit the product of hockey. Instead, he changed the product to fit his marketing plans". If you remember how bad an idea the glowing puck was, you understand what this comment means. Bettman doesn't seem to understand that in his quest to gain new fans, he has increasingly infuriated all the existing fans, the die hards that stayed strong throughout the lockout. One major change that he instituted that has caused the biggest ruckus is the instigator penalty. It is with this one small move that he has begun to change the face of the game and possibly it's entire future.
If you watched hockey back in the day and up to 2004 (the lockout wiped out the 2004-05 season), the last 5-10 minutes were what everyone was waiting for. Frustrations ran high for the team that was down, aggressions were mounting as teams jockeyed for the upper hand, and paybacks were handed out for taking a run at a star player. It was these situations that fueled the excitement of the game and made you stay till the very last horn, because who knows what might happen. Now, if your team is up, you can head towards your car in those final ticks because you know nothing is going to happen. The instigator rule states that a player who is deemed to be the instigator of an altercation in the final five minutes of regulation time or at any time in overtime, shall be given an instigator minor penalty, a major for fighting, a ten minute misconduct and an automatic one-game suspension. The length of suspension will double for each subsequent offense. In addition, the player's coach shall be fined $10,000 -- a fine that will double for each subsequent incident. So to sum it up, the coach can't send out the enforcers to regulate, the star players are at risk because some idiot out there can smoke him and know he won't get any retaliation, and the fans get a very unexciting end product. Bettman, however, didn't care when he instituted this rule, because instead of thinking about the tradition and integrity of the game, his eyes lit up with dollar signs with the thought of marketing the skill players. In doing this, he effectively ended the careers of players such as Krzysztof "The Polish Hammer" Oliwaand ending any chance for players like Brandon Sugden to get his shot at the NHL. Hockeyfights.com did an interview with Sugden in which he stated "it's [the instigator penalty] a stupid rule because that obviously leaves room for idiots to pick fights or beat up on goal scorers and not have to worry about repercussions. I hate it when it's 3 minutes left in the game and it's like 6-0 and my fans are leaving the building. Back in the old days, my fans would all pile into the building at that time because they knew that's when all the fights were going to happen". The majority of hockey fans agree with Sugden, and the days of the "policeman" look to be fading all too fast.

What the league never took in to account was "what do the fans want?" Instead of asking they assumed and somehow decided that to get a casual fan to swing to devoted, that they needed to cut out as much rough stuff as possible. The reoccurring comment throughout the fan nation is the same: in trying to gain the new fans, the NHL is neglecting the one's who have always been there! Instead of focusing on the heart of the sport, Bettman centered on what he thought would sell, and while the product has become more exciting offensively, it has become a side show to the 3 other major sports, even losing ground to NASCAR. One sport the league could have easily taken a not from is the National Lacrosse League and Major League Lacrosse, both of which garnered much attention during the lockout. Lacrosse promotes the rough-stuff, even condoning it during games with fighting and liberal usage of the stick to defend against opponents. It has gone from a little known past time to a national sport gaining network coverage, major sponsorship, and fans coming out in droves for an exciting product. Watch the next NLL game on Versus and check out how many fans are in the arena. On some nights it rivals what you would find in many NHL arenas on any given night.
There is hope for us who relish the fisticuffs though. With all these new changes, players must become more complete, better skaters, and not a defense liability. Conditioning is more important then ever and the fighters that understand this and work at it will have their spot. Players like Chris Neil, Brendan Morrow, and Ryan Clowe are all more than willing to throw down the gloves, but all of them are able to score goals, making passes, and be defensive assets in their own end. Furthermore, youngsters like Dion Phaneuf and Shea Weber throw thunderous checks nightly and fight when necessary, but are among the most steady defensemen on their teams. Even golden boy Sidney Crosby throws checks and sticks up for himself, refusing to be pushed around. These players and others prove that whether Bettman or fighting abolitionists like it, fighters will not go away. Still need proof of the immortal fighters mentality? Look no further then the Rangers v. Capitals games, when Brendan Shanahan, 38 years young and leading his team in goal scoring took on tough-guy Donald Brashear for taking liberties with another Ranger. Shanahan is not counted on to fight yet as a hockey player he felt it was his duty to stick up for his teammate. That is the loyalty and selflessness you find in the game, and it is the reason why fighting will not die unless the NHL dies with it and until that happens, we the loyal will keep the hockey fight alive in our hearts.