Well since everyone has jumped on the bandwagon, I figured I might as well hop aboard and give my two cents.
Hockey and fighting.
This debate has been going on for decades. While I could get into a whole spiel on the cons of fighting and why in this day and age it should possibly be taken out, I would not agree with what I what I had wrote. Fighting belongs in hockey.
It’s not just about beating somebody’s face in. It’s much more than that. It’s about taking punches to the face to ignite your team to rally from a deficit. It’s about sparking the home town crowd to build an erupting atmosphere in the arena. There’s a lot more to it and has to stay. It’s there for a reason.
Yes, what happened to George Parros on Tuesday night during the Canadiens home opener was frightening and of course nobody likes to see someone get hurt but that was not the result of a fight. It was not a punch that got him concussed; it was his chin hitting the ice on an awkward fall. That could have happened at any point in the game to any player regardless of a fight. The guy is not stupid, he went to Princeton for christ sakes, he knows what he was doing.
However with that being said, fighting has changed. Gone are the days of the tough men like Bob Probert, Stu “The Grim Reaper” Grimson, and Jon Kordic, Wade Belak (shoutout Coventry fans),among others. The way hockey is being played now is completely different. It’s a mesh of both North American and European styles. More rules are being implemented whether it helps the game flourish or not.
This whole helmet debacle thing is a joke. I realize they are trying to protect the players and do what’s right but it’s down right silly. Hockey is a dangerous game; it’s meant to be. It’s the fast strides by the players; the verbal and physical altercations that keep fans coming back for more.
Fighting will never be banned. You may see limits on how many fights per year but it will never be taken out of the game entirely and rightfully so.
We wish the best for George Parros and hope he gets back in the lineup soon. I’m just disappointed I won’t be seeing him fight in person Saturday night.
marchhockey.com 