Dropping the Gloves

“I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out.” As an employee at an ice rink and a hockey player myself, I can't tell you how many times I've heard that joke. It's no secret that a fair amount of fighting takes place in ice hockey at its professional levels. As a result, fighting is often the first thing that comes to mind when one mentions the sport. This has long been a topic of controversy and debate, yet the rules on fighting have remained fairly consistent throughout the sport's history. Sadly, violence has given the sport a bad rap and outsiders often view the sport as brutish and uncivilized. I argue in defense of fighting's place in the sport because it actually serves to discourage dirty play, resulting in fewer serious injuries; furthermore, hockey fights reflect an important code of ethics amongst its players.

First off, a common misconception is the belief that fighting is allowed in hockey. Fights are not allowed; in fact, fisticuffs is expressly outlawed in the rulebook. The difference is, rather than subject our offenders to the authority of police and file assault charges, they have to sit in a box for five minutes while their team suffers. Fighting in the beer league I play in will earn you an additional two game suspension.

The main response from hockey fighting's advocates to those who call for the elimination of fights from the sport is that without the possibility of having to fight as a deterrent, the number of “cheap shots” will rise, resulting in a rise in injuries. Basically, that means when a player is not allowed to fight the opposing player he has taken exception with he is more likely to take out his frustrations during the play – in the form of: elbows, slashes, cross-checks and hits from behind. To put it even more bluntly – when you run the risk of getting beat up by a player or his teammates, you tend to play a cleaner game.

Some say that fights as a deterrent for cheap shots is just using violence to prevent violence. While that makes sense in theory, it's really not that simple. Hockey is the fastest full-contact sport out there and in addition, the athletes are also carrying a potentially deadly weapon. They skate over 30 miles-per-hour on a rock-hard ice surface that is surrounded by unforgiving boards and tempered glass. Lets say an opponent doesn't like the way you just checked him and you know he's mad. Would you feel safer squaring up with him as a ready and willing participant in a fight, or continuing to play, knowing that the guy is gonna take you out next chance he gets. As a player, I can tell you there is greater chance for serious injury when you're checked from behind head-first into the boards than exchanging a few punches before falling to the ice and being separated by the referees.

At its professional levels, there are players known as enforcers. Enforcers are paid to protect the team's star players. Everyone has heard of Wayne Gretzky, but what about Dave Semenko? He was the Edmonton Oilers' enforcer, and Gretzky's bodyguard back in the 80s. Players knew that if they messed with “The Great One” there would be hell to pay. Semenko's play had a large role in creating the space for Gretzky to score all those goals.

While some critics claim that hockey and its players are more barbaric than other sports and their athletes, I argue that they are more honorable. Hockey players settle differences with their fist, on the ice – not with Twitter insults over the internet. Held in higher regard than the rulebook, hockey players play by “the code” – an unwritten, yet widely known set of conventions that govern violence in hockey. This code is hockey's own unique system of policing itself. The rules are mutually agreed upon by the players, and enforced by, well, the enforcers. To break the code is to lose respect in the eyes of your fellow athletes, a fate far worse than a two game suspension.

By now, anyone who is not intimately involved with hockey is surely confused. Even though books have been written on all the intricacies of hockey's code, I'll see if I can outline some of the more common conventions, as they pertain to fighting.

The most common, and recognizable, convention of hockey fighting is the removal of the protective gloves worn by players because the hard leather or plastic padding on the glove would increase the damage inflicted by the blow. Wait a minute, doesn't common sense tell us the best way to win a fight is to inflict the most damage possible? Sure, but would you want to get hit it the face with that same gauntlet? Of course not, I guess the driving moral behind the code is a rule we all already know – treat others the way you'd like to be treated.

While it may seem that hockey players would have bad blood with each other after a fight, more often than not that isn't the case. Hockey is a game of respect, and believe it or not enforcers have a great deal of respect for one another. A hockey fight between enforcers is like a duel between gentlemen. Even though the game is violent in nature, being a class-act is encouraged. You will rarely see a player hit another once he has fallen or is in a vulnerable position and you will never see a two-on-one fight. Watch video of any hockey fight, after the initial scrum the players always pair off. Both players know it is their job to keep one another out of the fight that's going on. Most of the time the uninvolved players will end up standing next to one another watching their teammates battle. Sometimes these couplings break out into their own fights, but nowadays it is rare to see multiple fights taking place at the same time in the NHL.

The rivalry between Krys Barch and Brad May is a perfect example of respect between enforcers. The two fought each other six times over three seasons, and developed a great deal of respect for one another, even a friendship. Thanks to hockeyfights.com, a blog that chronicles all fighting in professional leagues, you can watch all six fights. The respect they have for each other is made apparent on numerous occasions. In one bout, Barch points at a glove on the ice so the backwards skating May doesn't trip on it. May looks down at the glove, skates over to the right a bit, the two nod at one another, then engage. After over a minute of throwing punches, neither has fallen (generally deciding the “winner”) the two pull in close, and as the officials step in, they can been seen patting each other on the arm as if to say “good job.” The energy increase from both teams and the fans is unmistakable.

In a later fight between the two, the commentators point out a clip of May wearing a helmet with the optional protective visor attached, talking to Barch. When they fight later on in the game, May is wearing a helmet without the protective visor. Those visors can seriously hurt your opponent's hand and fighting with one on is generally looked down upon. One commentator says, “They knew. That's part of the code too, he came out with a different helmet, had the shield off, ready to fight.” and the other commentator says, “Barch likes him (May) so much he wanted to go in the Redwings penalty box with him!”

After retiring from his playing career, Brad May spent some time co-hosting “Hockey Night in Canada Radio,” and one night Krys Barch called into the show and the two joked with each other and retold their old fight stories. It was the first time the two have spoken off the ice and May said, “Ya know what Barchy? I swear to god, in nineteen years you're the most fun, and my most memorable fights are with you.”

So next time you see replays of a hockey fight on television, know that there is much more going on than the rock em' soc em' commentary coming from those talking heads who don't know the game. Those two athletes, those warriors, are putting it all on the line for their team, they are sticking up for their teammates, they are honoring tradition, but at the end of the day – they're just doing their job.

In professional hockey, the officials understand the workings of the code as well. To an outsider it may be hard to understand why sometimes the players are allowed to fight, and other times they are broken up. It's solely up to the head official's discretion. When the referee feels that a fight will help settle the game down he lets it go, otherwise they break it up. Once there is a fight, it tends to wipe the metaphorical retaliation slate clean. A player might be looking to take a shot at an opposing guy who is playing on the edge physically, but once a fight takes place the matter is settled. The offenders are penalized or thrown out, depending on the situation and the official's discretion – then game plays on.

To wrap things up, though the violence may seem abrasive to the uninitiated, I say that fighting is a necessary evil because it prevents more serious injury and keeps the game honest, while highlighting hockey's little spoken of code of ethics. While undeniably violent, the respect between athletes is refreshing – something our more mainstream sports could take cues from.

Article about Barch and May from hockey fights.com:

http://www.hockeyfights.com/quickhits/entry/barch-to-may-we-want-to-be-1

First video is the one where Barch points out the glove so May doesn't trip, the second is the fight where May switches to a helmet without a sheild, and the third is the last fight between the two.