In the midst of baseball playoffs and exciting football action, you may have missed the start of the National Hockey League season two weeks ago. That's right, it's mid-October and time for my annual column about the black sheep sibling of the professional sports world: the NHL. While last year I churned out a 795-word inquiry as to why America has refused to support a fast-paced, aggressive and exciting sport, this year's column highlights one of the most intriguing -- and controversial -- aspects of hockey: fighting.
The impetus for writing about this topic is Ross Bernstein's "The Code," which I read this past summer on the beach (a small change of pace from Clark Library). In the book, Bernstein presents a complete study of the unwritten rules of fighting and retaliation in hockey. Rather than simply telling the reader about this code of conduct in the sport, he weaves his analysis with history and personal stories from former players (most of them ex-enforcers), members of NHL front offices and television analysts. As a result, one gets a feel for how important the code truly is to those involved in the NHL.
So what is the code? Essentially, the code is the set of standards within the game of hockey understood by players without being explicitly stated. The code further details the system of honorable retaliation that goes along with these standards as a means to prevent further aggression. The list of infractions includes, but is not limited to, cheap hits on star goal scorers, slashing, taunting, unnecessary penalties and other dirty play. When a player violates one of these rules, it must be rectified with a fight. The amazing part of the system is that once this fight takes place, the teams are rendered even and the infraction is considered resolved.
One of the major points of the book is that there is usually a series of acts that leads to a fight. Dismissing the long-held notion that hockey fights are sudden and mindless acts of violence, Bernstein hammers home the point that these scraps have a distinct purpose that goes far beyond pure animalistic bloodlust. Sure, fights can be a spur-of-the-moment occurrence, but in the majority of cases, they serve as retribution when an opponent has broken the code and needs to face the consequences. Further, when two guys "drop the gloves," it can also send a message to opponents or swing the momentum in a game toward the initiator's team.
If you do one of the above things, then there has to be a fight to rectify the sitch.
Each team carries an enforcer (think Tie Domi or Donald Brashear) on its roster in the same way it carries scorers, passers, penalty killers and defensive specialists. An enforcer's main job is to protect his teammates by fighting opponents when the code has been broken. A fighter is a vital and necessary component of a successful hockey club, and the men who accept this role take great pride in it. Rather than making fights personal, enforcers take a business approach to fights by making them just another part of the job description.
Part of the reason all of this may be new to you (aside from the NHL being buried on the cable station Versus) is because the code was disrupted with the introduction in 1992 of the Instigator Rule. This regulation calls for the referee to give the player who starts a fight two extra minutes in the penalty box in addition to the five-minute penalty for fighting. Its establishment has long been questioned by players and coaches who view it as a detriment to the strategy of the game and even more so to the code.
So much of what has been described thus far about hockey's code really applies to the game before the instigator rule was implemented. As the book argues, and I tend to agree, the instigator penalty has made it impossible for hockey players to police the game themselves because of the risk of extra penalty. Creating a two-minute power-play for your opponent can often prove costly in a close game. Consequently, honorable and vital retaliation based on the code has been significantly reduced by the rule, and what follows is an increase in dirty play and agitation in the NHL.
Despite the instigator rule, the moral of the story very much remains that hockey has thrived for much of its existence with a code of conduct in which players abide by unwritten values that regulate the rough play intrinsic in the sport. The code is an honorable way for players to police themselves on the ice in a manner referees cannot.
Whatever your initial views about hockey fights are/were, after reading Bernstein's book it's hard to argue the code and the fighting it bears with it are not a necessary part of the game. When two players who are ready and willing to duke it out do so, escalating situations are quashed and a level of order is maintained through the agreed upon honor of the code. And that's the way it should be.
Read More
Live tracker: the men’s basketball offseason
By Michael Liebermann , Emory Huffman and Xander Tilock | 5 hours agoA frenetic offseason likely awaits.
Virginia is getting ‘better and better,’ and it was all on display against Syracuse
By Michael Liebermann | 9 hours agoVirginia did almost everything right in its best performance of the season.
For Virginia softball, challenging No. 8 Florida State series comes at critical time
By Emory Huffman | 15 hours agoFlorida State is both a major challenge and an opportunity.
