In light of all the brutal and needless violence going down in these 2012 NHL Playoffs, I thought it would be a perfect time to revisit an entry I made a while back. While the article is dated about 2.5 years ago I feel it is more apt than ever…Enjoy..
Blood on the Ice..
November 5, 2009
I would first like to preface this section that I am Canadian, a very proud Canadian and a very proud Canadian that enjoys the game of Hockey. That being said however, something must be done about the game before someone dies on the ice. I know that is a very glib thing to say and a very blunt way of saying it but given the seriousness of the issue there should be absolutely no confusion. Hockey is too fast, too hard and played on too unforgiving a surface to be destined for anything less than incurring serious injury, but if you factor in its violent culture which is includes fighting, questionable hitting, hitting from behind and the use of equipment as weapons there is no question that it is destined to be lethal also.
In 2000, Donald Brashear was viciously hit in the side of the head with the stick of another hockey player and was rendered unconscious when his head hit the ice. The outcome? Brashear suffered from a grade 3 concussion but played again weeks later, the player who hit him never played in the NHL again, there was a pathetic trial in which the offending player never served any jail time and of course the obligatory weeks and months of sports coverage debating whether or not violence in hockey had gone too far.
In 2004, another violent and reckless incident transpired on the ice when Colorado Avalanche player Steve Moore was viciously sucker punched from behind and driven to the ice by a player who was retaliating for an incident which had transpired several weeks ago. This time however, the results were even more ludicrous as the victim Moore suffered 3 snapped vertebrates, nerve damage and has since never played in the NHL again, the perpetrator was allowed back into the NHL after only serving a 20 game suspension (yes, for ruining someone’s livelihood and almost killing them you only miss 20 games, kill a dog or bet on baseball games you get banned and/or public ire for life), there was another phony boloney trial in which the offender was only put on probation and received no criminal record and of course the weeks and months of sports coverage debating whether or not violence in hockey had gone too far.
After escalating events like these I can say with certainty that if something is not done immediately to curtail the violence in hockey (like a minimum 50 game suspension for any retaliatory hit or the use of equipment in hitting someone), a death on the ice is what is coming. A DEATH!!! I would therefore implore those with the power and those in the sporting community to pressure and persuade the players, owners and governing bodies to adopt changes to prevent catastrophe. We don’t need more phony boloney trials and weeks and months of worthless sports coverage of sportscaster’s covering the issue of the moment, we need change now. And to those in the sports community with a voice who are silent before another incident arises, then please do stay silent after as well because clearly you have no interest in the athlete’s welfare and are just spouting off because its the issue of the moment and you’re trying to capitalize. For shame.
