Peluso's Injury and the Sanctity of Hockey's Traditions

[Tom Clements]

Well, our gifted fourth liner Anthony Peluso is still absent since sustaining a broken bone in his right hand after it landed squarely on Aaron Volpatti's head on March 2nd. We should specify that the incident occurred as he and Volpatti were involved in an on-ice fistfight, which basically consists of two guys on skates, flailing their arms randomly through the air, trying to connect with something vaguely resembling flesh. Of course, seeing as the two fighters are also attempting to pull their opponent's jersey over their head, and given that, as previously mentioned, they are both on skates, the odds of landing a punch on anything resembling flesh are somewhat slim. The odds of striking something hard and unforgiving, however, are significantly higher. A few of these objects come to mind easily - the boards, the ice, a helmet, bone... and I'm sure there are many more of them out there if were to put our collective heads together and think about it a bit more...

The game of hockey consists mostly of the act of using your hands to guide a stick, which in turn ushers a small rubber disc into tiny openings leading into a net. If other sports are games of inches, hockey is a game of millimetres. The dexterity which is necessary to score a goal is impressive, sometimes astonishing. One would think that hockey players value, above anything else... their fingers! And yet, guys like Peluso flail their arms randomly through the air on a daily basis, attempting to strike that elusive flesh, and jeopardizing the very things that makes them good at this game: their hands. The Jets captain also fought this month, as did other goal scorers in the Jets line up - fighting, you see, is not an exclusive domain of the dumb brutes on the ice, but "part of the game", as we are often reminded.

This of course leads to many questions, but I won't bore you with all of them. Could someone just simply explain to me who is more clueless: the hockey player who willingly smashes the one thing that makes him good at his craft squarely into inanimate objects that are built with the exact goal of being as unyielding as possible, or the scores of fans in the stands cheering for this spectacle?

I won't compare apples to oranges other than to ask another very simple question: why do you think NFL receivers do not randomly and willingly crush their hands into the helmets of defensive backs when they get a little irate? Could it be that these gifted athletes from across the border know something that boys growing up in the Canadian Prairies do not??

I just wish that proponents of the sanctity of Canada's favourite sport also understood the idiocy behind some of its most sacrosanct traditions.

Click to read more...

 

[tacogeoff]

Well, our gifted fourth liner Anthony Peluso is still absent since sustaining a broken bone in his right hand after it landed squarely on Aaron Volpatti's head on March 2nd. We should specify that the incident occurred as he and Volpatti were involved in an on-ice fistfight, which basically consists of two guys on skates, flailing their arms randomly through the air, trying to connect with something vaguely resembling flesh. Of course, seeing as the two fighters are also attempting to pull their opponent's jersey over their head, and given that, as previously mentioned, they are both on skates, the odds of landing a punch on anything resembling flesh are somewhat slim. The odds of striking something hard and unforgiving, however, are significantly higher. A few of these objects come to mind easily - the boards, the ice, a helmet, bone... and I'm sure there are many more of them out there if were to put our collective heads together and think about it a bit more...

The game of hockey consists mostly of the act of using your hands to guide a stick, which in turn ushers a small rubber disc into tiny openings leading into a net. If other sports are games of inches, hockey is a game of millimetres. The dexterity which is necessary to score a goal is impressive, sometimes astonishing. One would think that hockey players value, above anything else... their fingers! And yet, guys like Peluso flail their arms randomly through the air on a daily basis, attempting to strike that elusive flesh, and jeopardizing the very things that makes them good at this game: their hands. The Jets captain also fought this month, as did other goal scorers in the Jets line up - fighting, you see, is not an exclusive domain of the dumb brutes on the ice, but "part of the game", as we are often reminded.

This of course leads to many questions, but I won't bore you with all of them. Could someone just simply explain to me who is more clueless: the hockey player who willingly smashes the one thing that makes him good at his craft squarely into inanimate objects that are built with the exact goal of being as unyielding as possible, or the scores of fans in the stands cheering for this spectacle?

I won't compare apples to oranges other than to ask another very simple question: why do you think NFL receivers do not randomly and willingly crush their hands into the helmets of defensive backs when they get a little irate? Could it be that these gifted athletes from across the border know something that boys growing up in the Canadian Prairies do not??

I just wish that proponents of the sanctity of Canada's favourite sport also understood the idiocy behind some of its most sacrosanct traditions.

Really

your comparing a 4th line tough guy to a NFL wide reciever

based on this comparison of apples to oranges and a totally different sport........I barely even feel right responding lmao

Neither the fan or the player are clueless. The fan pays for entertainment. In the sport of hockey fighting is a form of entertainment and has been a part of hockey for years, whether it is an agreed upon staged fight or one that occurs out of passion. The players deliver said entertainment at their own expense, yet are compensated for it via their salaries. Some may not agree that fighting is entertainment but it is hard denying the fact NA sees it as entertainment when MMA and boxing are such popular sports.

Some fans do not like the violence but a majority due....hence the "scores" of fans who stand and cheer/applaud during the fight.

 

[almostawake]

Gifted 4th liner?

Look, I've been one of the bigger proponents of Peluso on this board since he was acquired, but let us be real here, Peluso's craft is crashing his hands against hard things (preferably the head of an opposing player). With out that part of the game Peluso wouldn't be in professional hockey, let alone in the NHL.

Also, as some one who played more than a few games with a broken fingers, I think you are grossly overrating the importance of hands. The carpal bones that form the wrist are critical but the metacarpals really aren't that big of a deal.

 

[garret9]

I wasn't a fan of the timing of the fight and I think staged fights are dumb...
But, I understand that fighting is a big part of the game and has its merits too.


Give an example:
Wright was injured fighting but it was because he was defending himself from a player trying to take liberties on him. That is different.

 

[PaperRockChamp]

Well, our gifted fourth liner Anthony Peluso is still absent since sustaining a broken bone in his right hand after it landed squarely on Aaron Volpatti's head on March 2nd. We should specify that the incident occurred as he and Volpatti were involved in an on-ice fistfight, which basically consists of two guys on skates, flailing their arms randomly through the air, trying to connect with something vaguely resembling flesh. Of course, seeing as the two fighters are also attempting to pull their opponent's jersey over their head, and given that, as previously mentioned, they are both on skates, the odds of landing a punch on anything resembling flesh are somewhat slim. The odds of striking something hard and unforgiving, however, are significantly higher. A few of these objects come to mind easily - the boards, the ice, a helmet, bone... and I'm sure there are many more of them out there if were to put our collective heads together and think about it a bit more...

The game of hockey consists mostly of the act of using your hands to guide a stick, which in turn ushers a small rubber disc into tiny openings leading into a net. If other sports are games of inches, hockey is a game of millimetres. The dexterity which is necessary to score a goal is impressive, sometimes astonishing. One would think that hockey players value, above anything else... their fingers! And yet, guys like Peluso flail their arms randomly through the air on a daily basis, attempting to strike that elusive flesh, and jeopardizing the very things that makes them good at this game: their hands. The Jets captain also fought this month, as did other goal scorers in the Jets line up - fighting, you see, is not an exclusive domain of the dumb brutes on the ice, but "part of the game", as we are often reminded.

This of course leads to many questions, but I won't bore you with all of them. Could someone just simply explain to me who is more clueless: the hockey player who willingly smashes the one thing that makes him good at his craft squarely into inanimate objects that are built with the exact goal of being as unyielding as possible, or the scores of fans in the stands cheering for this spectacle?

I won't compare apples to oranges other than to ask another very simple question: why do you think NFL receivers do not randomly and willingly crush their hands into the helmets of defensive backs when they get a little irate? Could it be that these gifted athletes from across the border know something that boys growing up in the Canadian Prairies do not??

I just wish that proponents of the sanctity of Canada's favourite sport also understood the idiocy behind some of its most sacrosanct traditions.

TL;DR version: OP doesn't like fighting.

 

[jetsfan8]

hockey aint a pansy sport, if you dont like fighting in the game, get over it, cause its part of the game

however, i will say, i hope the nhl puts a rule in place next year that if you drop the gloves, you drop the helmet too, if not its a game
you dont fight someone with a helmet on, thats stupid

wright and oleksy understood, you take your helmets and stuff off, then you start pounding

[mod]

 

[Potrzebie]

Well, our gifted fourth liner Anthony Peluso is still absent since sustaining a broken bone in his right hand after it landed squarely on Aaron Volpatti's head on March 2nd. We should specify that the incident occurred as he and Volpatti were involved in an on-ice fistfight, which basically consists of two guys on skates, flailing their arms randomly through the air, trying to connect with something vaguely resembling flesh. Of course, seeing as the two fighters are also attempting to pull their opponent's jersey over their head, and given that, as previously mentioned, they are both on skates, the odds of landing a punch on anything resembling flesh are somewhat slim. The odds of striking something hard and unforgiving, however, are significantly higher. A few of these objects come to mind easily - the boards, the ice, a helmet, bone... and I'm sure there are many more of them out there if were to put our collective heads together and think about it a bit more...

The game of hockey consists mostly of the act of using your hands to guide a stick, which in turn ushers a small rubber disc into tiny openings leading into a net. If other sports are games of inches, hockey is a game of millimetres. The dexterity which is necessary to score a goal is impressive, sometimes astonishing. One would think that hockey players value, above anything else... their fingers! And yet, guys like Peluso flail their arms randomly through the air on a daily basis, attempting to strike that elusive flesh, and jeopardizing the very things that makes them good at this game: their hands. The Jets captain also fought this month, as did other goal scorers in the Jets line up - fighting, you see, is not an exclusive domain of the dumb brutes on the ice, but "part of the game", as we are often reminded.

This of course leads to many questions, but I won't bore you with all of them. Could someone just simply explain to me who is more clueless: the hockey player who willingly smashes the one thing that makes him good at his craft squarely into inanimate objects that are built with the exact goal of being as unyielding as possible, or the scores of fans in the stands cheering for this spectacle?

I won't compare apples to oranges other than to ask another very simple question: why do you think NFL receivers do not randomly and willingly crush their hands into the helmets of defensive backs when they get a little irate? Could it be that these gifted athletes from across the border know something that boys growing up in the Canadian Prairies do not??

I just wish that proponents of the sanctity of Canada's favourite sport also understood the idiocy behind some of its most sacrosanct traditions.

Too late

 

[wpgsilver]

Wow.
That is likely the lengthiest first post ever about a fourth liner.
Peluso wouldn't have a job if it weren't for fighting so he's probably THE WORST example for a player deciding not to fight.
Most people would agree that the Crosby and Malkin's of the world shouldn't fight, but thats the precisely why Anthony Peluso is able to be an NHL player.
Seems like a really long and outdated post to say you don't like fighting to be honest.

 

[Positive]

I'm a fan of good fights.

On that note I don't think hockey fights qualify as 'good fights' for the most part and wouldn't really care that much if it disappeared from the sport.

But whatever, this is kind of a dead horse. In retrospect I wish Peluso was in the lineup instead of nursing an injury.

 

[Duir]

Oh god, another one of these threads.

 

[Gnova]

hockey aint a pansy sport, if you dont like fighting in the game, get over it, cause its part of the game

however, i will say, i hope the nhl puts a rule in place next year that if you drop the gloves, you drop the helmet too, if not its a game
you dont fight someone with a helmet on, thats stupid

wright and oleksy understood, you take your helmets and stuff off, then you start pounding

[mod]

Whether on not hockey is a "pansy" sport has nothing to do with fighting in it.
Neither football, nor rugby would be considered pansy sports.

Fighting in hockey has had its day and it's time for it to be removed. Especially BS staged fights between team goons.

Players removing their helmets prior to fighting adds to the possibility of a major head injury. Hands heal.

 

[garret9]

Whether on not hockey is a "pansy" sport has nothing to do with fighting in it.
Neither football, nor rugby would be considered pansy sports.

Fighting in hockey has had its day and it's to e for it to be removed. Especially BS staged fights between team goons.

Players removing their helmets prior to fighting adds to the possibility of a major head injury. Hands heal.

I'm not really "against" fighting, per se. I can see how many fights can be "justifiable". But, there will be a time when it'll be all but gone from hockey in the sense of the sports you have mentioned; I can guarantee it.

I agree about the BS staged fights between team goons.

 

[KCjetsfan]

wright and peluso, both of whom have been praised around here for their play, are both out due to fights. just sayin'

 

[Guerzy]

Fighting is part of the game. Always has been and always will be, in my opinion. I am "old school", and many won't agree with me and that's okay, I don't see it as a debate or a "right or wrong" as everyone has their opinions, but whether you're protecting yourself or the fight is "staged" it's all apart of the game for me and in my opinion it all has it's place.

Some of the best, most memorable fights engraved within the sport were staged, the list is undeniably long and involves some of the greatest and most recognizable names in the sport for their roles - whether you like them or not. Tie Domi and Bob Probert. Those old school boys circled those games/dates on their calenders. Staged. They didn't sleep/nap a wink before those games. They knew what was coming. Classics.

And while yes, I do believe some aspects and culture of the game has changed over the years, I believe fighting is engraved within the sport, whether it be staged or not. To me, I think it will always happen, it will always have it's place in the game, some way or another. Some will like it, others won't. Just the way it is.

Fighting is engraved in Hockey. Hockey is engraved in fighting. If you don't like it, there is always...

 

[Back in the Bigs]

tend to agree that it's part of the game, while teams may see less of a need for one purpose guys that just fight in the future, it's hard to see it ever fading out completely .... of course, those against it will always say "if it rarely happens in playoff hockey, why is it needed at all"

 

[Joe Hallenback]

There is no such thing as a staged fight

 

[Guerzy]

There is no such thing as a staged fight

... because they all serve a purpose, whether some like it or not.


I like you, Joe Hallenback.

 

[tacogeoff]

Fighting is part of the game. Always has been and always will be, in my opinion. I am "old school", and many won't agree with me and that's okay, I don't see it as a debate or a "right or wrong" as everyone has their opinions, but whether you're protecting yourself or the fight is "staged" it's all apart of the game for me and in my opinion it all has it's place.

Some of the best, most memorable fights engraved within the sport were staged, the list is undeniably long and involves some of the greatest and most recognizable names in the sport for their roles - whether you like them or not. Tie Domi and Bob Probert. Those old school boys circled those games/dates on their calenders. Staged. They didn't sleep/nap a wink before those games. They knew what was coming. Classics.

And while yes, I do believe some aspects and culture of the game has changed over the years, I believe fighting is engraved within the sport, whether it be staged or not. To me, I think it will always happen, it will always have it's place in the game, some way or another. Some will like it, others won't. Just the way it is.

Fighting is engraved in Hockey. Hockey is engraved in fighting. If you don't like it, there is always...

Great post. I agree with you 100% it just wouldn't be the same game without it.

 

[Sweech]

Well, our gifted fourth liner Anthony Peluso is still absent since sustaining a broken bone in his right hand after it landed squarely on Aaron Volpatti's head on March 2nd. We should specify that the incident occurred as he and Volpatti were involved in an on-ice fistfight, which basically consists of two guys on skates, flailing their arms randomly through the air, trying to connect with something vaguely resembling flesh. Of course, seeing as the two fighters are also attempting to pull their opponent's jersey over their head, and given that, as previously mentioned, they are both on skates, the odds of landing a punch on anything resembling flesh are somewhat slim. The odds of striking something hard and unforgiving, however, are significantly higher. A few of these objects come to mind easily - the boards, the ice, a helmet, bone... and I'm sure there are many more of them out there if were to put our collective heads together and think about it a bit more...

The game of hockey consists mostly of the act of using your hands to guide a stick, which in turn ushers a small rubber disc into tiny openings leading into a net. If other sports are games of inches, hockey is a game of millimetres. The dexterity which is necessary to score a goal is impressive, sometimes astonishing. One would think that hockey players value, above anything else... their fingers! And yet, guys like Peluso flail their arms randomly through the air on a daily basis, attempting to strike that elusive flesh, and jeopardizing the very things that makes them good at this game: their hands. The Jets captain also fought this month, as did other goal scorers in the Jets line up - fighting, you see, is not an exclusive domain of the dumb brutes on the ice, but "part of the game", as we are often reminded.

This of course leads to many questions, but I won't bore you with all of them. Could someone just simply explain to me who is more clueless: the hockey player who willingly smashes the one thing that makes him good at his craft squarely into inanimate objects that are built with the exact goal of being as unyielding as possible, or the scores of fans in the stands cheering for this spectacle?

I won't compare apples to oranges other than to ask another very simple question: why do you think NFL receivers do not randomly and willingly crush their hands into the helmets of defensive backs when they get a little irate? Could it be that these gifted athletes from across the border know something that boys growing up in the Canadian Prairies do not??

I just wish that proponents of the sanctity of Canada's favourite sport also understood the idiocy behind some of its most sacrosanct traditions.

I bring to you one of the greatest moments in a Houston Texans fans history:

 

[tacogeoff]

Mythbusters ^^^^^
Still not as entertaining as a hockey tilt

 

[garret9]

Fighting is part of the game. Always has been and always will be, in my opinion. I am "old school", and many won't agree with me and that's okay, I don't see it as a debate or a "right or wrong" as everyone has their opinions, but whether you're protecting yourself or the fight is "staged" it's all apart of the game for me and in my opinion it all has it's place.

Some of the best, most memorable fights engraved within the sport were staged, the list is undeniably long and involves some of the greatest and most recognizable names in the sport for their roles - whether you like them or not. Tie Domi and Bob Probert. Those old school boys circled those games/dates on their calenders. Staged. They didn't sleep/nap a wink before those games. They knew what was coming. Classics.

And while yes, I do believe some aspects and culture of the game has changed over the years, I believe fighting is engraved within the sport, whether it be staged or not. To me, I think it will always happen, it will always have it's place in the game, some way or another. Some will like it, others won't. Just the way it is.

Fighting is engraved in Hockey. Hockey is engraved in fighting. If you don't like it, there is always...

I'm going to have to disagree with you and none of it has to do with opinion or my personal likes or dislikes.

Fighting is a tactic. Whether it be energizing, protecting yourself, protecting a teammate, responding to the heat of the moment, or protecting your job (see three minute goons fighting against each other or how there are >2x as fights in pre-season per a game, in pretty much meaningless games). And like every tactic, such as pulling the goalie or choosing when to shoot or pass, there can be a right and wrong time to use it. It is rarely black and white, and even I can make the mistake of looking back with hindsight and saying an individual was wrong when it may not have been so clean cut at the time.

Fighting also hasn't always been an engraved part of hockey (and barely exists in international hockey), or even the NHL for that fact. Pure goons (or enforcers) are even only within our lifetimes, as you'll be hard pressed to find a guy that leads a team in PIM and isn't at least an okay scorer pre-80s.

There are a few reasons why fighting will get diminished substantially, even though personally I think it's unlikely that hockey will be completely removed due to entertainment and tactical factors. These reasons are interconnected and help cause each other.
1) Health and safety. It's undeniable that there is some correlation to fighting and injury. As players importance increases, especially the top players, everyone from coaches, GMs, agents and the players themselves are not going to want to place themselves at risk. This is the reason why 3 min goons who are terrible at hockey but good at fighting eventually found jobs in the NHL. But, as South Park said, there is only so far safety can go to protect these athletes, as the risk extends from what makes the game challenging.
2) Rule introduction. As more rules will eventually come in, such as instigator and visor did, it will create more incentives for non-goons to want to fight.
3) Tipping factor. Fighting DOES effect the game (even if it isn't in a very controllable sense), which is why it is used. But, as noted before, you don't want your good players on the ice so enforcers arose in the late 70s/early 80s. The problem is these players tend to not be good at hockey and are a disservice to the team whenever they are not using their pugilistic fists. Some stat savvy guys have even looked at some of the hindrance a goon causes on a team, and the average enforcer due to poor hockey play costs approximately 7 goals against a season which equivalents to approximately 2-3 wins. This doesn't take into account factors such as how matchups cannot be spread as much and that other players on that line are doing worse with them than without them. Of course, as I said there are indeed effects to fighting which is why it's used, but there is a balancing point, and as more is being learned the balancing point is being pushed back to less and being marginalized to particular individuals (which pushes the balancing point even further back, etc). While no coach is going to use spreadsheets they obviously know the countereffects of having these guys on the ice as 4th liners have been receiving less TOI and being more sheltered even over the last 4 years.
4) Change in the guard. The CHL is almost exclusively the source of fighters and where most fighters start to appear. Recently it implemented a ruling causing an automatic suspension of players with over 10 fighting majors. These new rules are a trend, as owners want to protect their investments (unfortunately for CHL kids they are unpaid investments but that's a different story haha). Add in that visors are increasing and being visorless will eventually go the way of being helmetless.

TL;DR version:
The negative effects to fighting has caused it to be marginalized to particular individuals, and the direction of NHL and other leagues shows that this is a trend and will most likely continue extensively.
The need for competitive edge has pushed a recent change in roles for players, such as 4th line players being further sheltered and seeing less TOI. Because of this, teams are constantly looking for players who are truculent and can play the game, but players like Lucic are (as Sweech has said) as rare as Byfuglien. As this continues, the importance of these players will continue to diminish.
So you have rulings and culture changes that will cause "hockey players" to fight less, and meanwhile you have enforcers becoming increasingly marginalized. This will cause a reduction in fighting, but the question is where will it stabilize. I argued (kindly) with a friend recently, saying that I personally think that due to recently implemented tradition, the NHLPA trying to protect the jobs of enforcers, and the entertainment value, it will never be removed... but there are many, like my friend who disagree, and they are growing within the hockey fandom.

 

[Guerzy]

We agree to disagree.

 

[cbcwpg]

I really don't care either way. I can watch hockey without any fights or with a lot, makes no difference to me.

The thing to remember about fighting though is...

IMO fighting is only part of the game as long as the players agree to partake. No one is forcing them to fight, they do it by choice. If the day ever comes where they no longer want to, then you will see it gone.

 

[Sweech]

Mythbusters ^^^^^
Still not as entertaining as a hockey tilt

It is when it very rarely happens and you have an undying hatred for Courtland Finnegan.

 

[garret9]

We agree to disagree.

Just to make sure, I wasn't disagreeing with you and saying fighting is "bad", or dumb, or doesn't have any effect. I wasn't even disagreeing that fighting will be removed or not.

I was just merely pointing out the facts of an enforcer: that their role is steadily diminishing, they weren't always in existence and that they on average have a negative affect on the team which balances against the positive effects of fighting.

Oh well cheerio