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So, is hockey an inherently violent sport? Body checks, slams and fisticuffs are seen as a part of the sport, players like Tie Domi are fondly remembered for being more than abrasive and creating something unpredictable and albeit sometimes gruesome, entertaining scenes in the rink.
On September 1st, teams Jokerit and HIFK from the Finnish Hockey League participated in a cup event for the European Trophy. As a whole, 277 minutes of penalties were given during the match, with the most gruesome bout happening when Jokerit player Semir Ben-Amor checked HIFK captain Ville Peltonen from behind and began brutally beating him without remorse, hitting him six times without gloves and continuing to bang his head into the ice even after Peltonen had lost consciousness in the middle of the attack.
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This caused quite an uproar in Finland, and now 1½ weeks later, the FHL has given Ben-Amor, among others, an 18-game suspension, along with fines to both teams' fight participants and coaches. However, there is still an ongoing police investigation, the first in nearly 20 years about a hockey fight - Ben-Amor is being suspected of brutal assault and the Jokerit coaches are suspected of instigating Ben-Amor to attack the other team's captain, which is an even more serious charge under Finnish law. This is still inconclusive, but while the attacker claims it was "a spontaneous reaction" in the rink, there is much evidence that claims otherwise, saying that the coaches had urged and consulted the player to "kill the fucker". The coaches received only 8 games suspension as a result.
Now, what bothers me about this thing. I don't dislike hockey, used to like playing and watching as a kid, waking up on Saturday mornings to watch Hockey Night, but in the end it just wasn't for me. What bothers me in this particular fight, which you can see in the video is not the attack itself or the brutality of it, but the crowd. Look at them. All those people standing up, cheering, clapping their hands, oh yeah, a fight! Finally some action! Shouting on in applause at someone else getting their fucking head bashed in ice. Is this really modern day gladiator shit or what? It disgusts me to see so many people yell "kill the bitch", "rip his head off" and other banalities. A lot of people say that a part of hockey is aggression because of the close drills, hits and the constant adrenaline. Then why the hell don't we see so many fights breaking out in other high-level contact sports? It's just an embedded culture of violence that I don't think really belongs in the rink.
hockey is one of the greatest sports and minor violence is a part of the game. incidents like this demonstrate that some people are fucking crazy and enjoy hurting others. it's like police brutality
the crowd mentality of enjoying to watch fights just reflects that the greatest form of entertainment for humans is watching violence occur in an arena where they feel removed from it and not guilty for watching it. then basic gladiator instincts set in and they get so carried away that when somebody actually starts taking it too far, nobody notices. it happens in any sport with any kind of contact because people are stupid and enjoy watching other people get hurt
Har har, look, it's everyone's favourite powderhound.
Sander - these are not marginal incidents anymore over here, and nothing in my mind or even the minds of many of hockey fans is marginal when anyone beats an unhelmeted, unconcscious hockey captain's head into thick ice with a fierce grip as if they were going to kill him, giving them such a concussion that they now seriously need to think about retiring from the game: a game that this captain has always been friendly in.
I still think, even with your explanation that percentually it wouldn't be, that hockey is an inherently violent sport. Sure, they have a lot of equipment that has developed safety for the athletes over the years, but it's these mindless brwals and fights, and especially in this case, sought-out brawls intended to fuck someone up royally that push me the wrong way.
These cases have continually become more frequent in the FHL, with hype surrounding player A and B and their "revenge plans" and when they meet on ice, the gloves have come off and the refs have just stood idly by. That's the thing that may be an exciting feature in the sport for some, but it sure as hell isn't an healthy interest in my mind.
Yes, I'm sure the renowned, veteran and World Championship winning team captain who has always played clean throughout his career was "in on it" to suffer a possible career ending concussion.
Bashing someone's skull repeatedly in the ice is overkill. However a clean hockey fight is a quite safe way to deal with circumstsnces on the ice. You're skating on razor blades that could easily be used to sever arteries. Even the sticks could do a lot of damage if used as a weapon. Yet people continually call a clean fight (on mobile so I cant see the video but assuming in this case it is not what I call a fight) violent. Contact sports will always have a degree of violence associated with them and duking it out with your fists is a lot safer than people tomahawking each other.
...when talking about leagues that have many Finnish players in the NFL and many NA players in Finland. Hm-hm-hmmph. Hockey is a niche sport when considred worldwide, you know.
I wonder where the main influence lies?
Huck Norris - I just wanted to ask if you could elaborate in the "I just don't get it" part. That would be a help.
i think hitting to take someone of the puck is a fundamental part of the game. the problem is that here in north america they teach retarded practices like "finishing your check" even in minor hockey. the way i see it if you aren't hitting in order to free up or get the puck it should be a penalty at least. and imo fighting although entertaining is completely unneccesary. and don't get me started on hits to the head/ from behind
Well, is this somekind of "fuck off" to any other true hockey fan, who loves every other aspect of the sport except for these shows of senseless violence?
Could it be compared to some outsider looking at skiers bailing on urban without helmets and deeming it an unnecessary and useless sport based on the quick possibility of brain damage if they don't truly know what they are looking at?
straight up fighting has no place in hockey. absolutely none. zero. nor does it in any other sport, other than fighting sports themselves. (which are different since the fighting is for the sport, where in hockey the fighting is, 3/4 of the time, grown men being raging hormonal pussies trying to hurt each other)
this is coming from a passionate Canadian hockey fan.
I agree, look at college hockey. They have very strict fighting rules, and fights rarely escalate to a level higher than pushing and shoving now because no one wants to get suspended.
So sports don't evolve, is that what you're saying?
Look, contact sport, go ahead, but this mindless revenge and fighting bullshit does not belong in a sport in my mind, and I'm sure I'm not alone in this. A few sponsors have already withdrawn their support from the Jokerit team due to this event and I think more will follow, at least when we see what the cops dig up in their investigations of the instigations.
I think fighting makes it better. Makes you more accountable. If you wanna take a cheap shot slash, cross check and then just be able to skate off the ice its not right. Stand up for yourself, stand up for your teammates. I think fighting in football would be good. How many quarterbacks get hurt from late hits, blind side hits, hits to the head. Imagine if some guy did that and then some huge linemen beat the shit out of him.
all I really read was the title. hitting is violence, fighting is violence also. I just don't think it's going anywhere. There are still brawls and fights in other sports where fighting isn't allowed. They've already laid down the law pretty hard on OHL fighting, yet it still happens all the time.
I'm not for fighting, but better to get it out on the ice than in the parking lot. Or via player bounties like in the NFL.
