I don't watch Hockey, but I have a big question(s): Video

[used to be rich]

I'll admit, I never watch hockey, and it's not because I don't respect the sport.� I just don't really understand it, and it doesn't reallyrepresent my demographic.� However, I was watching Sports Center this morning and saw the kid [size=-1]Sidney Crosby[/size] fighting,and it made me search youtube for some hockey fights.� I came across this one.

http://www.youtube.com/v/N1-25s4uwFQ&rel=1

Is this the norm?� And from my understanding, after a fight, the players have to sit in a penalty box for a designated amount of time.

So how the hell does the game continue after a brawl like this?

Furthermore, why is this type of behavior looked down in all major sports except for this one?

This doesn't look safe at all.� In fact, save for the fans interaction, this looks 10x worst than the infamous pistons/pacers brawl.

Help me out here.� For those of you who watch hockey.
��� - What spawned this huge brawl.� Is there a past rivalry?
��� - Is this type of thing respectable towards the children in attendance?
��� - Are hockey players the craziest athletes in the world next to rugby players?

 

[fenixconnexion]

it is definetely not the norm for goalies to fight each other, and yes, it's at least a 5-minute major penalty after fighting

it just continues after... this fight is bigger than usual ones...

I'm no sure why it's sorta glorified in hockey, but I cant answer your other questions...

 

[mr subliminals]

everytime i watch hockey..which i rarely this is the ONLY thing i look forward to

Crosby is a beast though

 

[atljunkie]

goalies dont usually fight each other. 5 minute major penalty for fighting.

like stated above the game continues and if there is still beef then they will fight again...

usually there are just little one-on-one fights and as soon as they hit the ice the refs break it up.

that was sid crosby's first major penalty and he actually held his own against someone who is good at fighting.

i wouldnt say its looked down upon because its been with the sport for a while... its just apart of it. tempers flare people fight.

the fact that fans have 10ft glass in front of them helps to seperate and the fact that the players are on blades creates difficulty to walk on solid surface.

i cant see the fight but i can remember one with goalies involved.. flyers vs senators? and there is some bitter rivalry.

hockey is kind of funny. player will call out fights before the game even starts sometimes. haha

its a part of hockey. people expect to see it... thats part of the reason some might attend. if you dont want your kids to see, dont take them.

i wouldnt say craziest but they are pretty brutal. its a rough sport and def not intended for the meek.



ps: usually if you watch a fight, soon after it ends they walk off like nothing happened. some even tap eachother or congratulate eachother or
compliment eachother.. just like when you fight someone and then they earn your respect for holding their own.. and you become "cool"..
its an awesome sport to watch live. arenas become electric on goals... the board checks are wild. you have to try and see one. what city do you live in? or bigcity near by?

 

[kicks r me]

A lot of times its rivalries, a lot of times it sticking up for the star players, and a lot of times its people defending "cheap shots" or late hits.Fight was, is and, for the most part always part of hockey thats why its not as shocking to see hockey fights. There are occasional huge brawls where everyone,goalies included scrap it out ie: Buffalo/Ottawa. For a lot of players in the league, its their paycheck. Its not always about hating another player, check outthe video below of Georges Laraque wearing a mic. He asks if the other guy wants to scrap, and then says good luck before they go at it.

 

[bwoodfolkgd74]

thats some real $%%#

 

[fraij da 5 11]

as a sabres fan, my mind goes right to this one

someone dropped drury with a dirty hit and then all hell broke loose on the next face off... lindy ruff sent out all the goons to the face off. great move froma old school coach

 

[gerber baby 44]

watch this Fight of the Year in 2002. one of the best lightweights to ever go at it (P.J. Stock)

 

[used to be rich]

Kicks R Me

Dude, thanks for posting that. That has to be the most ballsout, respectable thing I've ever seen in a sport.

That dude Georges Laraque was a straight gentleman with it. "Good Sir, would you like to fight? Alright, good luck to you."

Of course it wasn't like that word for word, but man, I've never seen anything like that in my life.

The announcers kept talking about how good of a fighter Georges Laraque was. Is he some type of enforcer? Are there dudes on hockey teams who aren'treally good at hockey, but are there to protect the stars?

I bet the homie Georges Laraque has to deal with a lot, being a Black person in a hockey league.

He just earned a fan.

 

[bwoodfolkgd74]

i love this thread.

 

[fraij da 5 11]

yea Laraque is a beast, you can definitely say that some of these dudes are enforcers... if a star player like Syd Crosby (Laraque used to be on the penguins)got hit in a way that the penguins didnt like, dudes like Laraque would stick their head in there andlet the other team know whats up


now watch Aaron Downey KO Boulerice

 

[hugebird]

Someone post a video saga of Claude Lemieux vs The Avalanche. Include the sucker punch on Slava Kozlov, the hit on Draper, the turtle incident, and the nextgame where him and McCarty got it in on the opening face off. I'm lazy, so someone find them for me. Thank you.

 

[doublejs07]

Hugebird...I got u...






Those redwings/avalance games back in the day were about as fierce as you can get....I loved seeing Roy get his behind handed to him by both Mike Veronon andChris Osgood...

I bet the homie Georges Laraque has to deal with a lot, being a Black person in a hockey league.


[akon] we takin ovaaaaaaaaaaaa [/akon]

There are some black players around the NHL.� For the most part, there haven't been too many racial incidents.� There's a long way to go, but there hasbeen progress.�

�

 

[used to be rich]

What exactly does "turtle" mean in hockey?

Is it when a dude covers his head because he doesn't want to get hit?

And is it comparable to Carmello turning into Forest Gump against the Knicks?

 

[hugebird]

Thanks for the vid DoubleJs. Classic stuff. That's why youtube rules



That's Claude turtling. It's ridiculous.

I want to find pictures of Kris Draper's face after he got boarded by Lemieux. It was hideous.

 

[after h0urs]

Originally Posted by Used to be Rich

Help me out here.� For those of you who watch hockey.
��� - What spawned this huge brawl.� Is there a past rivalry?
��� - Is this type of thing respectable towards the children in attendance?
��� - Are hockey players the craziest athletes in the world next to rugby players?

Hard to say what spawned the brawl, but most often fights start either (1) to protect a star player or (2) try to generate momentum. If the opposing teamtakes a run at a star player, the goon on that team will come back and start a fight to send a message. Also, if a team is playing lackadaisical, a goon mightfight to try and wake the team up. Of course some fights start over rivalries and bad blood, but they are definitely in the minority.
I think fighting inhockey is generally honorable. Usually you'll see the fighters nod to each other after the fight to show that it's simply business and nothingpersonal. Fighting in hockey is a lot different than fighting in football. Not sure kids should be seeing any fighting at all, but that's not theresponsibility of the NHL, rather the parents that bring the kids to the game.

Hockey players are definitely some of the toughest athletes you'll see in the world. I've seen guys take slap shots (full wind-up shots) in theirface, get stitched up, and come back into the game 20 minutes later. It's brutal.

 

[fraij da 5 11]

word... a puck to the face is nothing to mess with... hockey players = nails

 

[goldnboi7]

Razor FTW!!! He is the reason 4 fight straps on jerseys... (Yeah I watch a lil hockey, sue me...)

 

[kash55]

Hockey is pretty sweet, more people need to give it a chance.

 

[ultrasur1]

Great thread!

 

[tman90]

i hate how a lot of people just look for the fights, and don't think about the beauty of the game. it takes huge amounts of skill to do what they do, yetthe fights are the most publicized part of the game. it's a shame...

 

[theprocessofbelief]

Alot of people don't realize that ALOT of these guys have a great respect for one another. Its not unusal to see two guys drop the gloves, then pat eachother on the head when the linesmen jump in.

A fight can light a fire under a team and set the tone for a game. Sometimes its the only way to defend one of your star players...he gets roughed up, you haveto send a message that it won't be tolerated.

Fighting is, and always will be apart of the game. Changing it will take away from the game... it allows the players to police themselves, if you will.

And how are you going to have goalie fights without at least one Hextall clip?

AVs/Wings games in the late 90's - about 2004 were VICIOUS. Almost half as vicious as Oiler Flames games...

 

[doublejs07]

He is the reason 4 fight straps on jerseys


ur talking about Rob Ray right? HE is the reason for fight straps...

Hockey players are a rare breed....u wanna talk about tough, read this on Caps captain, Chris Clark...had this happened to T-Mac, his career would be over.

[h1]For Clark, Credibility in That Gap[/h1]
By Tarik El-Bashir
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 21, 2006; Page E03
Washington Capitals captain Chris Clark had not lost a tooth in 373 NHL games, an accomplishment for any hockey player, more impressive for one who spends the majority of his time battling in the corners.

But Clark's good fortune ran out in the waning seconds of Wednesday's game against Boston, when an errant puck knocked out two of his front teeth and crushed his palate bone.

Clark immediately raised his glove to his mouth. But play didn't stop, so neither did he. With a minute remaining in regulation, the score tied at 2 and the Bruins on the attack, the veteran right wing finished his shift.

"That's why he's captain," General Manager George McPhee said yesterday. "That's one of the most courageous things you'll see on the rink. So the next time someone has a runny nose, or feels under the weather and doesn't think they should play, that should make them think twice."

Clark, who plays on the first line with star Alex Ovechkin, missed two games, but he is expected to return tomorrow against the Atlanta Thrashers.

"There was no sense in laying on the ice," said Clark, who practiced with a cage attached to his helmet. "Laying on the ice wouldn't have made me feel any better. That's never been my way to do it. If it was the playoffs, I wouldn't have missed any time."

By the time the Capitals had lost, 3-2 in a shootout, Clark already was in the care of team dentist Thomas Lenz.

Because the puck was deflected off a stick and into Clark's open mouth, he was spared any injuries to his face. He doesn't wear a visor, which probably wouldn't have helped anyway. But the plastic mouth guard he wears blunted some of the puck's force.

Two of his top teeth are gone. Braces hold three others in place. His palate, meantime, was repaired with the aid of cadaver bone and a screw, inserted during three hours of surgery Thursday morning.

"Right away there wasn't much pain," Clark said. "That came afterward when they were trying to fix things. . . . I'm really fortunate. It could have gone anywhere on my face."

Goaltender Olie Kolzig, in his 15th NHL season, called it the nastiest injury he's seen.

"I've never seen anyone get hurt like that," Kolzig said. "It was gory. To take a puck in the mouth like that is one thing. But to finish his shift, work his butt off to get the puck out of the zone, that's the reason he's our captain."


Chris Clark

 

[goldnboi7]

^Course I'm talkin bout Rob Ray...the one and ONLY Razor...

 

[gingersaintbad]

Im the biggest hockey fan I know. Fighting in hockey means so much more than fists and punches. The Laraque video above is a perfect example. Fights swingmomentum, change the pace of a game, fire up a sagging team. Think of it as a big hit from your favorite football team or a vicious block in basketball. Hockeyfights have been a part of the game and the biggest reason why its accepted in comparison to basketball is because players are accountable for themselves. Youdont have (())'s like Carmelo swinging then runnin away. If you hit my star player, Im going to fight someone on your team to show you can't beat myteam around. Yes this can be done without a fight, but its a code of honor type thing in hockey. Most teams who pick a team MVP often go to the guy whoproduces statistically yet comes to the defense of his teams when needed for Example Steve Avery, Rob Ray, PJ Stock, Darren Langdon, Colton Orr, Cam Janssen,David Clarkson, etc