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| Yes | 54% | 76 votes | Total: 141 votes | |
| No | 46% | 65 votes |
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Add to FavoritesFrom a young age, hockey players are instructed to finish their checks, and "play the body not the puck". At the professional level, the players are the fastest, strongest, and biggest in the world. Hockey is, and always has been, a violent game. In 1967, Bill Masterson passed away as the result of a head injury following a body check. The cult-classic Slapshot depicts an only slightly exaggerated view of hockey violence in the 1970's. There have been recent, well publicized incidents of NHL violence involving: Marty McSorely, Todd Bertuzzi, and Chris Simon. The pressure is intense for NHL players, due to competition for jobs, justifying astronomical salaries, and performing in front of 18,000 screaming fans. The fans are partly to blame for escalating violence in NHL hockey.
Physical hockey players receive enthusiastic support from their home team's fans. Two examples of NHL players who became fan favorites are Tie Domi, in Toronto; and Bob Probert, in Detroit. Both Probert and Domi earned fame and fortune due primarily to their ability to consistently win fights. Young players, lacking the skill and finesse of a goal scorer, could not help but be influenced by hearing the crowd chant "Domi, Domi" following one of his many successful bouts. Enforcers generally play the least number of minutes of anyone on the team. The easiest way for them to earn some recognition, and gain momentum for their team, is to drop the gloves with an opposing heavy-weight.
There are multiple reasons for violence in hockey. Violence is most likely to occur when the score is out of hand and there is little time remaining in the contest. Clearly, this violence is the result of frustration. However, hockey fights are not only the result of frustration. In Vancouver, Todd Bertuzzi was suspended for attacking and injuring Steve Moore. This attack was retribution for an incident in a previous game. In addition to frustration and retribution, gaining momentum can be the catalyst for a hockey fight. When the home team gives up a couple of early goals, the crowd generally becomes subdued. Often, under this scenario, a player from the home team will initiate a fight. The act of dropping the gloves in and of itself generates a buzz in the stands. If the hometown combatant is victorious, an ovation generally follows.
Fans play a major role in the NHL's reluctance to enact stiffer penalties for fighting. The main contributor to violence in hockey is the leniency of the rules. Fighting in the NHL results in a five minute penalty, whereas in the other major sports fighting would result in ejection from the game and a suspension. If the majority of fans were appalled by fighting in hockey and stopped attending games, fighting would be legislated out of the game. However, as anyone who has attended an NHL game can attest, when a fight occurs, fans jump to their feet. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman is desperate to sell the game of hockey to Americans. In successful US NHL markets such as Detroit, Minnesota, and New York, fans love to cheer on their favorite pugilist.
Fans are clearly a contributing factor towards violence in hockey. They encourage young players for their physical play. They cheer on cue when the local heavy weight scores a K.O. They pack arenas in Canada and the northern US, giving the NHL little motivation to outlaw fighting. Until the customers demand change, NHL hockey will remain a violent, entertaining sport.
Learn more about this author, Mike Bryce.
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No
Anyone who has played any organized sport after age 11 knows the answer to this question. Although fans can affect an athlete's performance or inspire them to strive for more than they thought possible, it is very unlikely that fan behavior has any appreciable influence upon a professional hockey player's decision to throw down his gloves and begin hand-to-hand combat with an opposing player.
When looking at the situation, it is important to recognize how the influence of the fans fits into an athlete's overall perception of his environment at the time of the sporting event. The fans at a hockey game represent only one of countless stimuli that can affect the athletes as they compete on the ice. There are many other stimuli that have more immediate consideration than anything the fans are yelling or doing. Where is the puck? What is my job in this situation? Where is our goal keeper? Who is open? Who is covered? Do I need to protect my net? Should I skate for the opposing goal? Am I offside? Isn't that icing? Is this my face-off? What is that ref looking at? Where is that goon on the other team? Isn't this power play over yet? Here comes my shot...
All of these things and myriad others have immediate importance and the fans are mere irrelevant afterthoughts to a player when he his engaged in a contest. The mere act of participating in a hockey game at any level requires extreme concentration, situational awareness, and athleticism. The mental faculties required to include the fans' reactions with anything that happens on the ice represents tremendous wasted effort. Oftentimes, the difference between victory and defeat in any professional sporting event can be measured by the amount of wasted effort on the part of the losing team. In football, it is driving to the opponent's 5-yard line and having to settle for a field goal. In baseball, it is hitting into a inning-ending double-play with the bases loaded. A professional athlete understands that wasted effort is the best sure path to defeat.
Fighting in hockey, as well as other professional sports, usually has to do with an athlete's frustration over what is going on in the event, not outside of it. If a hitter charges the mound, it is usually because he perceives that the pitcher is trying to hit him or others on his team with inside pitches. If a hockey player throws punches, it is usually in retaliation for similar offenses by the other team, or it is sometimes a strategic preemptive strike to get the other team rattled. Considering the many times that some teams play each other over the course of an NHL season, players get to know their counterparts on the other teams pretty well and this can lead to bad blood between them. Losing to an arch-rival or at a critical point in the season can make smaller frustrations, like an opponent getting away with too much hooking or holding, grow until fights break out. It always seems to be the losing team that starts punching in the third period, fourth quarter, or 8th inning.
When viewed in the context of the dynamics of the sport itself, it seems unlikely that the behavior of fans would somehow be the most compelling reason for a hockey player to momentarily loose his cool and start fighting. If one is looking for reasons why hockey players fight, the violent nature of a the contest in general is the most obvious. Considering the level of violence that goes on in hockey during legal play, to somehow think that the fans' behavior is ever the deciding motivation for a player's decision to fight defies logic. The competitive nature of professional athletes also can override their better judgment and influence them to start swinging. By definition, these are the best of the best in their field, and they did not get to the top without an intense competitive drive to keep them motivated. Violent contest + competitive nature = occasional fighting. You can take the fans completely out of the formula and there will still be hockey players getting in fights.
The bottom line is, if a hockey player has the spare time out there on the ice to worry about what the fans are saying or doing, that hockey team probably does not have many fans because they are a losing team. If they are a losing team, there really is little to fight over.
Learn more about this author, David Eisenbeisz.
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