I was called a sucky pussy yesterday for believing that hockey fights are only a part of the game when hockey has actually been played, so I wanted to share footage of a completely justified bloody brawl. During the second period of Tuesday night’s game between the Dallas Stars and Phoenix Coyotes, Coyotes captain Shane Doan gave Stars forward Jamie Benn a suckerpunch elbow to the jaw. As the adorably commentary noted, it was “right on the button” and “all heck” proceeded to break loose.
A rundown of penalties, courtesy of Puck Daddy:
Doan was given a fighting major for his bout with Brenden Morrow (who also received five minutes), as well as a two-minute elbowing minor for the hit on Benn.
The other penalties for the Coyotes: Raffi Torres with roughing and charging minors and a 10-minute misconduct; and Rusty Klesla with a roughing minor and a 10-minute misconduct.
The other penalties for the Stars: Steve Ott with roughing and unsportsmanlike conduct minors, and a 10-minute misconduct; and Trevor Daley with a roughing minor and a 10-minute misconduct.
As for Doan, he’s in trouble when the NHL gets a gander at this thing.
I’m starting to learn that almost anything you can get in trouble for in the NHL is somebody’s idea of how the game should be played. I guess that works for every sport. Personally I’d take off my skate and try to stab a guy if he nonchalantly skated by and blatantly tried to injure me with an elbow to the face, and I wouldn’t be upset if my team joined in.
![[avatar]](http://p.uproxxcdn.com/photo/1245/thumb)
![[image]](http://cdn.wl.uproxx.com/wp-content/thumbnails/130/110/2013/05/Broken-Leafs-TV-180x180.jpg)
![[image]](http://cdn.wl.uproxx.com/wp-content/thumbnails/130/110/2013/05/ottawa-senators-pesky-back-180x180.png)
![[image]](http://cdn.wl.uproxx.com/wp-content/thumbnails/130/110/2013/05/jimmy-fallon-nhl-awards-180x180.png)
![[image]](http://cdn.wl.uproxx.com/wp-content/thumbnails/130/110/2013/05/russian-youth-hockey-fight-180x180.png)
Blatant elbows to the head should = game misconduct, plus fine that goes to charity or something, plus suspension. No place in the game for that.
Staged fights I am fine with as long as the tough guys do it. I never pick them in my pool anyways.
Two days in a row with hockey posts! Keep this streak going!
Anyone who is OK with Doan’s chicken shit cheap shot to Jamie Benn needs to stop watching hockey beacuse they are doing it wrong.And they are really stupid. Also, stage fights are fucking boring, dumb and waste of time. All 6 players and the coaches should be suspended for the 3 man tag match. Fights are fine, but they should happen organcally. Leave the staged crap for the WWE. That is all.
Where are you on the other post where I’m being called a pussy for saying the exact same thing?
There’s quite a bit more going on there than “staged crap”. The Rangers and Devils have a historic rivalry going back decades, amplified by the events of 1993-1995, when the Rangers came back from a 3-2 deficit to defeat the Devils in the conference finals and went on to win the Stanley Cup, only for Jersey to take the cup across the Hudson the next year.
This isn’t even the first time this season it’s occurred. On December 20, the Rangers’ Mike Rupp and the Devils’ Cam Janssen dropped the gloves three seconds in. 1:47 in, the Rangers’ Brandon Dubinsky and captain Ryan Callahan squared off with the Devils’ Eric Boulton and David Clarkson. On February 7, Rupp and Janssen fought again a mere two seconds in, as well as Ranger Brandon Prust with Boulton. February 27, they managed at least to wait until the second period, when Rupp, Prust, Boulton, and Clarkson mixed it up. On March 6, Dubinsky and the Devils’ Ryan Carter fought three minutes in, with Ranger John Scott taking on Janssen midway through the first.
Fighting in hockey is often premeditated, which, one would think, would mitigate the assumption that it’s only done by barbarian goons who can’t control their anger. There’s also a remarkable protocol system in play; enforcers typically only face off with other enforcers, and players not prone to fighting are rarely dragged into the fray. Players can make a name for themselves by challenging an established fighter — I believe earlier this season you posted the Caps’ Jay Beagle taking a run at the Pens’ Arron Asham, with disastrous results. Much of the time, especially in big rivalry games, taking on the other team’s toughest player is a point of rally, a psychological boost for a team that’s fallen behind. Here, in a late-season game in which the Rangers are fighting to keep their #1 seed in the conference and the Devils are battling for position in a very, very tough Atlantic division, Devils head coach Peter DeBoer sent out his enforcers to start the game, sending a clear signal that they wouldn’t be holding anything back against their hated rivals. Rangers coach John Tortorella responded in kind, putting out his enforcers, including a defenseman at center. It’s certainly not scripted in the way pro wrestling is, since both teams wanted to win those fights (so much as you can win one, since a winner isn’t actually declared) and thereby energize their players, since both the Rangers and the Devils had been playing subpar hockey by their high standards.
Here’s a comment on the fights by Devils goalie Martin Brodeur, one of the best to ever play the game:
“I like that part of it because I think that’s what rivalries are all about. For Pete [DeBoer] to stand up for what he did or what Tortorella did I think is a good sign because it means you care about the opponent you play against. You get to hate them and, as a player you want everybody to be on board. For me being here so long, you get to dislike teams and you want everybody on board. Pete is new to this. He’s new to the rivalry. We’ve had our share of success against those guys this year, there’s no doubt about that. We finished .500 in the six-game series against the top team in our conference. You’ve got to be happy about that. It’s pretty good.”
I love the newfound focus on hockey posts, but can we please get something that isn’t about one relatively unimportant, disproportionately-hyped part of the game? Thank you. :)
P.S. It’s not taking off your skate and trying to stab somebody with it, but the Hurricanes’ Jeff Skinner was suspended two games the other day for kicking at another player while Skinner was laying on the ice, kind of like a low-rent Inoki against Ali.
Excellent post, AudeSpare.
And yea, Doan should be suspended. The NHL is trying to get rid of that drive by suckerpunch bs for a while
+Rhodes for Aude
This makes me pine for the days of the RedWings/Avs rivalry. Every game was going to be a war with the toughest men standing. That being said, I like that the league is trying to rid the “drive by” headshots.
What irritates me is that Doan could have killed him with a clean hit, but instead he throws the elbow. This is why Kronwall is a beast. He lines you up and flattens you cleanly.
So Doan came into the play thinking he was going to decapitate Benn?
You’re worse than Brandon.