Good Article from DGB in the Athletic today. Good read and food for thought.
DGB Grab Bag: The problem with letting the players police...
Outrage of the week
The issue: Two of the league’s biggest stars were on the receiving end of dangerous plays recently, with Connor McDavid getting
slammed into the boards from behind by Hampus Lindholm and Elias Pettersson being
hurt on an awkward takedown by Jesperi Kotkaniemi. No penalty was called on either play, and neither team did much of anything in response.
The outrage: If the referees won’t protect the star players, then their teammates better be prepared to do it. It’s time for the players to police the game.
Is it justified: Sure. As readers know, I tend to be kind of old-school when it comes to this stuff. You can bet that if something like those plays had happened to a star player a generation ago, there would have been an immediate line brawl or worse. Nobody would have even hesitated. So sure, criticize the Oilers and Canucks for their lack of a reaction. Lots of fans are doing exactly that this week.
But do it on one condition: You have to be honest about what you’re asking for.
Don’t hide behind euphemisms. Don’t just say you want a “response.” Don’t talk about “sending a message.” Forget about sticking up for a teammate, having someone’s back, or The Code, whatever other phrasing you can come up with.
Be specific. What do you want those teams to do?
Maybe you say that a player should have gone looking for a fight. OK. But Hampus Lindholm is the Ducks’ top defenseman, so I’m guessing he’s not interested in dropping the gloves with a two-goal player like Milan Lucic or Zack Kassian. And 18-year-old Jesperi Kotkaniemi damn sure isn’t looking to fight Erik Gudbranson.
So then what? When Lindholm or Kotkaniemi or whoever else it may be next time declines the invitation to fight and turns to skate away, what do you want to see happen?
Here’s what most fans want: They want to see their guy try to hurt one of the other side’s guys. But what they don’t want to do is actually say that part out loud. So they stick with the euphemisms.
But that’s a cop-out. You’re talking about hurting somebody, or at least trying to. Maybe you’d prefer to see it done in a fair fight or through a clean hit, but those are rare these days. Just asking to fight and being turned down doesn’t change anything. Neither does a dirty look, or some trash talk, or a half-hearted facewash in a scrum. Those things aren’t payback. They’re a performance.
So what kind of “response” are you looking for? Are cheap shots OK? A sucker punch? Does one dirty hit deserve another? If the player skates away, do you go after his star teammate instead?
What happens if the next time the Canucks play the Habs, Gudbranson (or whoever) comes over to challenge Kotkaniemi, gets turned down, and throws a punch or two anyway? What happens if Kotkaniemi stays down, and later we find out he has a broken orbital bone or a serious concussion and his season is over?
Here’s what would happen: A whole lot of fans would react with horror, and say “I never wanted anyone to get hurt.” And no, maybe they didn’t want to see a serious injury – virtually nobody ever does. But there’s no intimidation without the threat of someone getting hurt, and you can’t always control what that looks like. Sometimes, a “response” ends in a black eye and a message delivered. Sometimes it ends in something worse. Canucks fans
know that all too well.
I grew up in the ’80s and ’90s, which was a very different time in the NHL. Some of my favorite players back then were guys like Bob Probert and Chris Nilan and John Kordic. They knew how to police the game, and how (and when) to enforce The Code. They also
tried to hurt people. Back then, everyone seemed pretty fine with it. Most of us aren’t fine with it today, but maybe you still are.
But if so, say that. Don’t hide behind harmless-sounding buzzwords. And if you’re going to insist on players going out there looking for revenge, don’t feign shock and horror if that “response” you were asking for ends badly. Because eventually, it will.