There are a lot of things that happen within a family. No matter what happens though, strong families always stick together. When times are tough, it is the strong bond of family that helps people through the stressful days. At the end of the day, the idea that everyone will defend one another is the foundation that the trust is built upon. It doesn’t matter if your brother is right or wrong, you defend him. If someone threatens or harms your family, you don’t sit back and twirl your thumbs—you do something about it.
When you think about it, a strong hockey team is just like a strong family. That is why as much as the mainstream media refuses to understand fighting in hockey, there IS a purpose to it. It’s not just a random guy going up to another random guy from the opposition to fight for the hell of it. Every fight has a reason, whether it’s defending your teammates, protecting teammates or trying to change the momentum of the game. Whatever the reason for the fight, each and every reason puts the team over the individual. Isn’t that what we want in all of our athletes?
There’s been a lot of talk lately about taking the fights out of hockey. More often than not, it’s usually coming from some reporter that either refuses to watch the NHL or doesn’t understand the culture of hockey. In the game between the New Jersey Devils and the Los Angeles Kings over the weekend, Derek Armstrong embodied the perfect argument to keep fighting in the game. The Devils were losing 3-0 at home when their captain (and emotional leader) Jamie Langenbrunner started taking liberties with Patrick O’Sullivan. Langenbrunner was obviously trying to kick start his team by infusing some energy into a game where they were short on emotion. O’Sullivan had already scored twice in the game and is one of the Kings better finesse players—whose game is dependant on speed and a lightning quick shot. Langenbrunner hit and tried to engage with a player than doesn’t include the “rough stuff” in his repertoire. As O’Sullivan tried to skate away, Langenbrunner slashed O’Sullivan down around his ankle.
The stick shot to the ankle was where Derek Armstrong drew the line. Not a fighter himself, Armstrong immediately engaged in a fight with the Devils captain to protect one of his more skilled teammates. Not only did he prevent Langenbrunner from creating the emotional lift he was looking for, but he also demonstrated the commrodary that shows when a team is growing together. He protected a teammate, he made the team closer and he showed the rest of the league that there would be consequences when opponents try to take liberties with their star players.
Whether it's defending a teammate or trying to jump start your own team, fighting still has it's place in hockey
To take this a step further, there are examples of what happens when teammates do NOT stick up for one another. Earlier in the season, 2nd overall pick Drew Doughty was hit with a cheap shot when Evgeny Artyukhin led with his knee in a very dangerous play. Instead of protecting one of their young, skilled teammates, the Kings skated away and refused to respond to the dangerous play. The Kings looked like they were sleep-walking through the rest of the game (without Doughty who was unable to return) and they lost to one of the worst teams in the league. Following the game, Coach Terry Murray was upset with the teams lack of response towards the dirty hit. He understands that the lack of response showed a much deeper problem with the character of this particular group than just losing a game. Well, they’re now sticking up for their teammates and not-so-coincidently, they are now winning games.
As much as people outside of hockey want to fight it (no pun intended), fighting in hockey is more than just two guys trying to put their fist through someone’s face. Fighting has a place in hockey because of the importance of defending one another throughout a season, coming together as a team and creating emotion when the team needs it. In baseball, not all players are expected to hit home runs for them to contribute to their team. Likewise, not all hockey players are expected to score goals for them to contribute to their team winning games. Some play defense, some create energy and some provide leadership by defending their teammates. It’s the same part of hockey that makes the athletes play through injuries, to get stitches in the middle of a game and play with the passion that we all admire.
Watch what Derek Armstrong did to stick up for his teammate and tell me that fighting doesn’t have a place in hockey. Tell me that it’s not important; and tell me that hockey would be the same without it. It’s like asking someone to watch their brother get picked-on and not do anything about it. Removing fighting wouldn’t just change the rulebook, but it would change the culture of the sport and the dynamic of every locker room across the NHL. If you can honestly watch Armstrong and not understand why it should be allowed, then go back to watching soccer. Hockey is not for you—and to be honest, I don’t want hockey changing for fans that will never get it.
Matt Reitz is the Editor-In-Chief here at ViewFromMySeats.com and former NHL Writer for ProHockeyTalk on NBCSports. When he’s not shoving a mic in the face of NHLers or explaining why home teams should wear white, he’s usually trying to figure out what song to play next on his iPod. It’s a never-ending job.
