by Emily Falshaw

Created on: February 12, 2009

I'm squeamish. I can't watch medical dramas without wanting to be sick. Hearing a story about teeth makes my skin crawl. I'm no different during a hockey game. I have to leave the room if the camera shows a player on the bench getting stitches. And I absolutely hate it when the ref picks teeth up off the ice like spilled kernels of popcorn. But that being said, during a hockey game I'm no different than most fans and love nothing more than an on-ice fight.

Before the more conservative readers out there start clucking their tongues and blaming anything from my parents to rock music for my barbarism, I want to point out it's not my fault. Don't blame me. I blame history and society in general. Fans love a good old-fashioned hockey brawl because it has been instilled in them by the bloodthirstiness of their predecessors, since, pretty much, time began.

Violent entertainment is by no means a new concept. As early as the third century BC people were flocking to gladiator fights to see men and beasts fight to the death. Fast forward a few hundred years and the local public execution was a popular venue for that all-important first date. Leap again into the twentieth century and Moe poked Larry and Curly in the eyes to the delight of millions. Add to the list video games, movies, even children's cartoons (to this day I think I can survive an anvil being dropped on me), and it's easy to see that violence as a form of entertainment has an historical precedent in today's society.

Hockey is a form of entertainment. And it delivers spontaneous drama that today's screenwriters can only dream of. The fight in hockey is the climax of that turmoil and tension, just like it is in any good thriller. In fact, one could go so far as to compare hockey to West Side Story. There are two rival groups who hate each other. One of the groups is even called the Sharks, and well, there used to be the Jets before they folded. They meet up every once in a while, and tensions get so high that the odd fight is inevitably going to break out. The only difference I can see is there is significantly less singing involved in a typical game of hockey.

Fans love fights because they are the physical embodiment of the drama and emotion. They allow us to vent our frustrations against our rivals without actually getting our hands dirty. Seeing a hated player get his clock thoroughly cleaned gives us an inflated sense of accomplishment. And quite frankly, fights keep the game real. If hockey fans wanted to see nothing more than a display of world-class talent they could easily turn to soccer. Even the best players in the league become quite unevenly matched when the gloves come off.

Hockey is a form of entertainment, and a particularly effective one in that it gives its audience what it craves. The only reason on-ice brawls get such a bad rep is that hockey is the only sport, bar boxing, where the odd bout of fisticuffs is tolerated by the officials. And like boxing, fighting in hockey is going nowhere so long as it finds support from the fans. Considering how far back violence in entertainment goes, I think fans will keep cheering the brawls for a long time to come.

Learn more about this author, Emily Falshaw.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.