Ringside with the Boston Bruins: Classic Hockey Fights

There was a time when hockey wasn't all that popular ... when games were played in rinks with plenty of empty seats. Hockey was pretty far down on the list of popular sports {and about as exciting as watching paint dry} until players like Orr, McKenzie, Sanderson, O'Reilly, Jonathan, Wensink, Cashman, Miller, Byers, Neely, and other teams' tougher players rocked the boat and made big waves.

The late 1960's through early 1990's stirred excitement and inspired broader fan interest. Certain players brought the house down and brought crowds to their feet screaming and cheering -- not only for their game skills, but also their ability to fight. Hockey became worth the time to watch on TV, or the ticket price to attend a game. In those 30 years, the best and most lasting memories were created -- now in video clips all over the Internet with view counts in the millions; that we love to watch and can't get enough of.

Hockey is still very popular, but like most longtime fans I've grown disheartened and frustrated with how its blades are being dulled by soft-bellied, spineless whiners in the league who want to eliminate fighting at all levels of the game. Hockey is no place for the gentler touch of kid gloves, or for cementing those gloves on its players!

As an avid fan of old time hockey, I subscribe to a widely shared philosophy that hockey is very physical and strong rivalry-based where fights are an inevitable, sometimes necessary part of the game. For players, fighting can establish or preserve individual and team integrity, protect themselves and teammates, and deter future attacks. For fans, fighting in hockey holds so much entertainment value it could be its own sport. Imagine how many people tune in or show up just to watch a good throw-down!

Fines, penalties, game ejections and suspensions are sometimes called for, but there are bleeding hearts who want to see criminal charges and jail time in addition. Police officers arresting athletes in the midst of a fistfight? That's unfathomable in any sport!

Involvement of law enforcement and the criminal justice system for altercations in hockey or other sports will open a can of worms atop a very slippery slope; sliding head first and eyes closed into stringent legislation by nanny state lawmakers, and potential abolishment of other rough sports like boxing! Give 'em an inch, they'll take a mile. Ironic isn't it? UFC has gained tremendous popularity, while ice hockey is under intense scrutiny!

Criminal charges in hockey should be a rarity, reserved for instances of blatantly intentional, glaringly egregious, incapacitating, disfiguring or fatal acts of violence ... flat-out flagrant, off the deep end -- not a punch in the face, but actions far more disturbingly malicious. There is an enormous difference between getting into a fight and bloodying someone's lip that may require a few stitches, and as an extreme example, consciously taking a skate off and beating someone. Also, accountability for such actions should rest solely on offenders; not an entire team, and not the league as a whole.

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Was arrest and prosecution called for here, or was Nilan's 10-minute intent to injure penalty and suspension sufficient discipline? Forbes-Boucha must have been too distant a memory for this idiot! Anyway, was it up to police to intervene or was it best that NHL handled the matter internally?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waaVTs-mW-Q

Should AHL player Alex Perezhogin have been arrested and prosecuted in a court of law, banned for life or both for what he did to Garrett Stafford? Was his subsequent suspension enough?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwPfuLnYwBc

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There are a few wrinkles that need ironing out -- some say Commissioner Gary Bettman is the biggest wrinkle of all, but the NHL and other leagues must tread very cautiously regarding over-regulation, vast expansion of its rule book, militant enforcement, and across the board consequences regardless of intent. The last thing leagues should do is instill some zero tolerance policy and start treating its players like children, which will only serve to negatively impact performance and devastate morale!

There is also a risk that such a policy will be abused by less ethical players. Creating incidents to manipulate an advantage may become easier if just about everything is against the rules.

The infamous major flaw behind zero tolerance = zero common sense. The biggest risk to the NHL may lie in stripping the sport of its "old time hockey" elements, drastically diminishing its profit yielding fan base and dooming it to becoming a fringe sport.

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• Classic Boston Bruins Fights
• Old Time Hockey Fights
• Bobby Orr
• Derek Sanderson
• John McKenzie
• John Wensink
• Wayne Cashman
• Terry O'Reilly
• Jay Miller
• Lyndon Byers
• Cam Neely
• Stan Jonathan

[KarmicOmen]

Did you ever look at Clark Gillies and think "Deliverance"?

[KarmicOmen]

Stan Jonathan stood 5' 8" and weighed 175 pounds ... he proved many times over that it's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog.

[BranniganE8]

@KarmicOmen Pound for pound, Stan did some serious pounding.

[KarmicOmen]

@BranniganE8

Stan Jonathan was very tough -- stocky and powerful, like a pit bull. Watching a fight between Stan and a player that stood over 6 feet tall, Stan's endurance and strength were astonishing.

In one fight in particular, an opposing player was holding back O'Reilly to prevent him from jumping in. Offering no resistance, Terry (and the player blocking him) appeared less interested in getting involved than watching the damage that Stan was doing on a man that towered over him.

[KarmicOmen]

@BranniganE8

Of all Taz fight clips, that one ranks very high on my list of favorites. Gee, how did you guess? My antipathy toward Chris Nilan can't be that obvious ;o)

Neither Nilan or Samuelsson have any redeeming qualities. What Samuelsson did to Neely is beyond despicable ... what a lowbrow piece of garbage, and I'm being generous! What baffles many to this day is why Nilan was ever signed as a Bruin.

Put a hockey jersey on a pig and it's still a pig.

[terryk45]

KICK HIS ASS SEABASS!!!!

[gtrefghuk]

Jonathan, Cashman, O'Reilly, Neely, Byers, Miller. Never a dull moment with these guys on your team.

[cclub002000]

stan jonathan ...... toughest player ever in the NHL . when he dropped the gloves he was out to hurt you and boy  did he ever

[MrMagnificents]

Great video!! I kept looking for any video of when they climbed over the glass and went into the stands for a few years.Just to make sure I didn't imagine seeing that when I was younger.Glad to see I was sane at least at that moment in time.

[BostonSportsThenNow]

Kick ass song and kick ass vid!

[bandhih]

I'm a bruin fan and this video is awesome

[ThePENNY1999]

holy crap bruins!!!!!! hahahahah

[clayton998]

1:04 REF PUNCHED IN FACE

[GoCeltics734]

@AlexandriaDaniels

hell yeah!

The Bruins may not always win, but they will never be pushed around.

"If Godzilla played hockey, he'd be a Bruin"

[BranniganE8]

@KarmicOmen Haha, yeah now that you mention it!