Advice: How do you deal with goons/pests?

[Nostradanglus]

So I was playing a game this tuesday in a development league and started to realise halfway through the 1st period that I was getting special attention from two opposing players that were twin brothers. Every face-off, when we were on the bench, behind the play, they would continue to call me really bad names. I chose to ignore it and play hockey instead. But when I wasn't feeding them they started to try to take liberties with me: slashing my ankles, putting their body on me as i skated past them to follow the play. The worst part was when one of them tried to knee-on-knee me. Now, all of this would have resulted in a ridiculous amount of penalties for them two, but the officials in this league are not experienced with too much rough play.

I was also body-checked on open ice in a non-contact league by one of them. He had the stupidest grin on his face as he skated to the box. When I skated off I told him that if he ever got the puck again I would show him how to throw a check (in a non-contact league), but he wasn't the kind of player that gets the puck often.

Anyway, they got a heap of penalties called against them, I got points and we won 3-0. But it still irks me how they were just allowed to act like this by the officials, my teammates and even myself.

There are probably many ways to deal with situations like this, but I would like to hear what you people think. Tell me how you have dealt with the inevitable pest in the past so that I can prepare myself mentally for next time.

Cheers

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[Marotte Marauder]

Verbal taunts, I would laugh them off.

Unnecessary/illegal physical play would lead, after some time, to a well timed Kenny Linseman butt end under the chin. Google The Rat

 

[TCNorthstars]

I would start with a conversation or a letter to the person in charge of the league.

 

[American in Paris]

I've tried retaliation in the past and found it to be ineffective. It's not that I'm incapable of dishing out some punishment. It just seems to create an escalating cycle of violence that ends up draining all the fun out of the game.

These days I play as cleanly as possible, ignore chirping and keep my mouth shut even when guys make dirty plays on me. The guys running interference usually suck anyways so I can just outskate them.

Also, I think the goons tend to go after the hotdog skate & deke type players. If you play more of an open-ice skate & pass type of game you can neutralize most of the goonery.

 

[jazzykat]

1. Never let them throw you off your game.
2. Talk to the ref ahead of time in the next game. It sounds like they should be ejected.
3. You have to be extra aware around them and take action to protect yourself. In the course of protecting yourself you may injure the other player accept that that is a possibility and be ready to live with it.
4. Name calling, slashing, and some body are bearable. Knee on knee is unacceptable. I take my physical safety very seriously, if I was sure someone tried to go knee on knee with me I'm not sure when or what the retribution would be but it would come.
5. Where were you team mates in all of this, they should stick up for you a little as well? 2 v 1 isn't fair.

It almost sounds like they are on your team??? If that is the case just talk to your coach, manager, or captain. Either they should be straightened out or thrown off the team.

 

[Malarowski]

Point to the scoreboard.

 

[Malichek]

You got points and your team won? That's pretty much how you should handle it. Some idiots really try to hurt opponents in a non-contact league? That's just gutless. I always thought stuff like that (knee on knee tackles and open-ice tackles) wouldn't happen in a non-contact league

 

[tarheelhockey]

Make sure you look them in the eye every time you score.

 

[The Tikkanen]

Do the same thing to the best player on their team. I rarely bother with guys who aren't skilled enough to change the outcome of the game but if I feel like I'm being targeted then I'll go after the best player on their team. Why bother putting guys in the box who want to go to the box?

 

[Maupin Fan]

Go him

 

[Canadiens1958]

Age

What age group?

 

[American in Paris]

This:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNwtmW1JFLE

 

[Stephenson2*]

I've felt with a lot of pest and goons. The thing that kills them most is a smile.

Best way my team dealt with a pest. Other team was up by two goals with two minutes left. This guy in sweat pants was chirping the whole game, speared one guy in the stomach and even slashed our goalies stick in half. One guy took a run at me behind the net, I dodged as he slammed into the boards. My brother saw him coming and was already there behind me, he shoved the guy into the back of the net. He got up on his knees swinging wild haymakers. I quick jabbed him in the face and dropped him. Captain Sweat pants came flying in behind me and drilled me in the head with a cross check. I landed on the guy I just punched who in turned got me in a head lock. I told him "were good!" He let go, I got up and turned around to see my brother had Sweat pants by the collar throwing punch after punch in his face. Our goalie seeing all this take place, skated across the whole rink and tackled Sweat pants with my brother still firing punches, he began hammering him with his blocker. After it was all over, sweat pants was a mess, face covered in blood, I skated by him and leaned down. "Maybe you'll learn to shut your mouth." He learned his lesson.

 

[intangible]

Point to the scoreboard.

Exactly what I do. In addition to kindly letting the refs know what's going on and you'd appreciate if they keep an eye out for it. Most are happy to oblige because they don't want anyone injured on their watch, either.

 

[Jarick]

Assuming this is men's rec hockey,

I would ignore it. If they keep taking penalties, let them go on the PK. Most leagues will start ejecting and/or suspending players if they take too many penalties in a game or season. So long as the refs are paying attention, that's fine.

Keep your head up. If they are literally going to start trying to injure you, I'd get the stick up and defend yourself. Not saying to attack them or anything, but you want to make sure if they are coming in to blow you up in rec hockey or slash you hard enough to break something, you'll want to protect yourself.

It's been rare that someone has come after me. I've certainly seen red after a questionable hit on me (which never seems to get called) and retaliated, but never enough to get a penalty or to hurt the other person. Usually it's just knocking them on their ass on a "routine hockey play" kind of thing.

We haven't had any straight up crazy people in our league though that I know of...except for one guy who threatened to kill a ref in the parking lot and said he would do something untoward with his kids...

 

[Terry Yake]

assuming this is beer league, just brush it off and play

if they're taunting you, just ignore it and play even harder to shut them up

if they're being physical with you, take advantage of that and use it to draw penalties. and if it's getting out of hand and the refs aren't doing anything, go talk to them about it. it is beer league after all, there should be no major contact anyways

and if the situation is right and you just can't hold back, take matters into your own hands.

 

[mistrhanky]

I generally ignore them. Generally. For the most part, people don't mess with me. I am pretty big, slow and non-threatening in most hockey aspects. I end up sticking up for teammates more than issues myself. If I am not in a mood to ignore them, I will sometimes respond to them with a bible verse each time. I only know a few, but nothing seems to piss people off like someone throwing them a little religion with a sincere smile. Reggie White used to do that in the NFL, and I can tell you, it gets under there skin fast and they usually find someone else to hassle.

When I get chirped about 'learn to skate' and stuff like that, I will sometimes(ok, maybe intentionally) overrun the puck and into them. I usually apologize and tell them I am working on learning to skate. Three or four times.

 

[Royal Canuck]

Smile, point at the scoreboard and move on.

They want you to react.

 

[Ozz]

Pointing to the scoreboard is good but not when you're losing in addition to hearing crap from the other team :p

assuming this is beer league, just brush it off and play

if they're taunting you, just ignore it and play even harder to shut them up

if they're being physical with you, take advantage of that and use it to draw penalties. and if it's getting out of hand and the refs aren't doing anything, go talk to them about it. it is beer league after all, there should be no major contact anyways

and if the situation is right and you just can't hold back, take matters into your own hands.

That's what I'd say. I'm an older guy on a team full of kids who never shy away from wanting to get into a scrap. I doubt any of them could actually hurt another player in a fight. If anyone ever starts with me I just quickly and nicely tell them that I won't threaten them but I will (use your imagination). Never had to go further than that.

 

[Terry Yake]

^
that's the one thing that really bugs me about some rec league players. it seems like people forget that minimal contact such as pushing off or shoving is part of the game and take the smallest little shove as a signal to start something

i can't remember how many times i've made minimal contact with another player and had that same player come after me trying to start something. unless a player is targeting you throughout the game or comes after you with a dirty hit, there is absolutely no reason to start a fight in beer league

 

[rmartin65]

If its verbal stuff, ignore it.

 

[Nostradanglus]

Thanks for the replies! There is a lot of good stuff here.

I am mostly happy with my reaction in not feeding them and concentrating on the game. I also wrote the league co-ordinator and gave him a heads up. Apparently they have a bit of a record with this stuff.

It is in a summer development league (in Australia). I am in my late 20's and these guys looked late teens / early 20's. It is the lowest level of hockey I play. Some kids that are on the team are 15 and us older players are meant to act as mentors to them, talking to them when off the ice and setting an example in general. For me to see this at this level of hockey was pretty dumbfounding.

I think in the future I'll probably stay the course of just focusing on my game whilst knowing when pests are on the ice. Pointing to the scoreboard would have made a lot of sense given the situation and will do that next time as an example for the kids on my team for what to do if they are ever targeted.

Their attempts at mucking about after the play were not very worrisome, it's just I remember when I was skating up into the play through the neutral zone as the trailer, slipped by one of them (who was not facing the play at all and had his legs really wide to catch my knee) and just realised after some contact to my leg that I thought "Holy sheez, did that creep just try to take out my knee??).

 

[BoHorvatFan]

To me it all depends on how big and tough the rest of the team is. If they have some big guys Id leave it alone BUT if the team was smallish and nobody I feared i'd cheap shot the pest badly, try to break his wrist with a slash or sneaky Bure elbow to the chin.

Have to know when to pick your battles in the hockey world.

 

[jazzykat]

Thanks for the replies! There is a lot of good stuff here.

I am mostly happy with my reaction in not feeding them and concentrating on the game. I also wrote the league co-ordinator and gave him a heads up. Apparently they have a bit of a record with this stuff.

It is in a summer development league (in Australia). I am in my late 20's and these guys looked late teens / early 20's. It is the lowest level of hockey I play. Some kids that are on the team are 15 and us older players are meant to act as mentors to them, talking to them when off the ice and setting an example in general. For me to see this at this level of hockey was pretty dumbfounding.

I think in the future I'll probably stay the course of just focusing on my game whilst knowing when pests are on the ice. Pointing to the scoreboard would have made a lot of sense given the situation and will do that next time as an example for the kids on my team for what to do if they are ever targeted.

Their attempts at mucking about after the play were not very worrisome, it's just I remember when I was skating up into the play through the neutral zone as the trailer, slipped by one of them (who was not facing the play at all and had his legs really wide to catch my knee) and just realised after some contact to my leg that I thought "Holy sheez, did that creep just try to take out my knee??).

Regarding the knee thing, if you're sure he was going for it you can calmly talk to him after the game. Explain the rules, and explain the consequences of if he ever tries that again. If he attempts such a play again follow through with the consequences with extreme prejudice (whether that be writing a scathing letter to the league, or delivering an open ice hip check, etc.)

 

[leftwinger37]

I think it helps for the whole team to have a game plan on how to deal with players like this. Not that you have to get out the white board before the game, but when you're in the room before the game, talk about how to handle these guys so everyone is on the same page and no one is taking any stupid penalties.

You know your team better than I do, so I can't tell you exactly which strategy to take. You want to make sure that you are still playing your game and not letting this clowns disrupt that.

Personally, I would get after them early (initiating contact and finishing your checks, nothing dangerous or irresponsible). Establish a presence and make them retaliate and play to you. Look at the Boston Bruins; a huge part of their success is that they are a physical team and all too often, teams try to "out-Bruin the Bruins." That's great if you are also a big, physical team, but if you're a smaller and quicker team, you've basically already lost because you're playing their game.

If the physical game isn't your team's strength, then it is important to remind everyone what your strengths are, stick to them, and beat them that way. But as you said, ignoring them may cause them to act out even more, so be prepared for that outcome as well.

The worst thing you can ever do with a pest is justify their existance. Do not retaliate and do not chirp them; just make plays. If you're patient and don't feed into their schtick, they will almost certainly take a bad penalty and you can make them pay on the PP.