The above is an X-Ray of Todd Fedoruk's skull.
Remember when Derek Boogaard 'caved in' his face in a fight a few years back? This is (partly) the result.
This article goes into detail about how and where each titanium plate was earned.
At some point, I gotta wonder, is fighting worth this?
6 comments:
Ouch.
I've actually been talking with Bob for a while for eliminating the TG from the FUNHL for essentially this reason.
It's one thing to be a hockey fan to admire the grace, speed, finesse, accuracy, and all that good stuff that comes with Hockey as a sport. Malkin, Kovalchuk, Crosby, etc... all really good reasons to like Hockey.
But to endorse, in any element, the aspect of Hockey that is bloody and murderous, however. The part that savages faces, crushes vertebrae, breaks bones, destroys brains, ends careers and sends athletes off the ice in stretchers is perverse. It makes us armchair generals. "Send more Tommy's into the trenches, what, what: that'll teach Jerry a lesson. More sherry Colonel?"
So, I think we could do our part as hockey fans by not rewarding PIMs as a valid statistic for measuring a player's worth in the game. I think we'd be a much better league if we valued D-men for their +/- ability, than their capacity to ruin lives.
Richard.
I for one do not share your fair heartedness towards the rougher side of things.
As a fan of hockey, and having been playing the game since I was 3, I have come to enjoy all aspects of the game. Though I am not a pugelist by nature, I am definetly not one to back away from 'droppin' em' when I have to.
When I say 'I have to' that means when someone tries to bully a team mate, or gets carried away with foolish actions towards my personage.
I have the broken teeth and bones, and the scars from the fights and rough play. That is inherent with such a sport when the adrenaline and testosterone course through the body. I am proud to wear them as 'war wounds'. Most of them have thier own grandious story to tell as well.
From a fans point of view, and more importantly, from a poolies point of view, fighting is a highly entertaining and valuable part of the whole.
I understand that not everyone accepts this side of hockey, but unless you have experienced it to the fullest on the ice, it is difficult to understand and accept it off the ice.
Those are my 2 cents.
Take them as you will, but I think taking fighting out of the game and/or the pool is a bunch of horse puckies.
Funny you mention that Richard... I've been giving it some thought in a discussion with myself. Really seems to be no rhyme or reason why a player getting penalty minutes in the NHL should be rewarded in the FUNHL.
Mike - fine, keep toughness, fighting, whatever in hockey... but why reward a player who spends time in the box rather than on the ice producing?
hmmm...
There are two separate debates taking shape here;
1. Should the NHL ban fighting?
2. Should the FUNHL reward TG minutes?
- On the first question I am genuinely split. I (like Mike) love fights. LOVE them. When Dan and I did our one season in the 3 on 3 league at the U of C I almost got into a tilt in my very first game. So far as fights go, I get it. On the flip side, there is the argume of Fedoruk's face - which is the result of not just one, but many fights over his career, and it makes me wonder (as does the fact I have a son I hope might play hockey one day) if the game really needs to abuse its players like that.
That all said, Fedoruk is the exception not the rule. Few players have their careers ended by fights (I can think of less than five).
For certain, the game is much much different than it was even 20 years ago when we started the pool. Bob Probert once had over 400 PIM in a season and was by far the greatest fighter I've ever seen. Nowadays the pure goon is incrementally disappearing, though the Boogaards and McGrattan's of the world still occasionally get their 4-5 shifts a game, they simply aren't as important an element as they used to be - and our stats reflect this.
Did any of us mind when Iginla and Lecavalier squared off in the Cup finals? I don't think so. But is their really a purpose anymore to McGrattan v. Brashear? Not for my money.
As for the second debate, I'd say a few things;
- TG's (like +/- players) are a way of representing something in the FUNHL that exists in the game that would not be represented by raw goals/assists. Steve Ott, Sean Avery, Scott Hartnell, etc. all play a role that isn't captured by any stat other than PIM. Ditto for the McGrattan's etc. of the world.
- Worth pointing out that the 'pure' goon (Carcillo excepted) has all but vanished as a viable FUNHL player.
- The TG stat elevates the depth of players at several weak positions, particularly defense and the 3rd and 4th line wingers. Without two TG's the points of these positions would drop further.
- This argument may not impress many, but we have had TG's from the very beginning, and they do represent a deep contiguous link to our past. Getting rid of TG's is in a way similar to suggesting 'why not get rid of goaltending?'.
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