Like many things in my life these days, this post started with a tweet. Well, two of them, because 140 characters simply isn't enough space some days. What I said was this: Unpopular opinion: I'm not going to pander & say female fans should support each other simply because we're all female fans. I've fought too hard to be respected as a true fan because I'm a woman, to be like "yay, puck bunnies, you're totally legit too!"
This recent round of "the media has a hate on for the female hockey fans" was spawned by a Sports Illustrated photo gallery (which appears to have been removed in the last 24 hours; I'll pause to LOL) that was dedicated to that special brand of female fan: the puck bunny.
Of course, people were up in arms, oh god, how could SI portray all of us female fans like this, what's wrong with them, why are they doing this... followed by a rash of "but what's wrong with being a puck bunny, after all, we're all female fans in our own way, we should support each other." Now, I eyerolled at the SI photo gallery, as I did at the one of the Ice Girls, as I do at so many media portrayals of the average female fan as someone just looking to get laid by her favourite player(s), but this embracing just because we're all girls is a bit much for me.
Obviously, there are many females out there who their mission is to get the player of their dreams. Literally, they want Crosby to put it in their five hole. Among other things that make me eyeroll hard enough to be headache-inducing. And yeah, you know what? If that's their mission in life, while I truly feel sorry for them that they're holding out for something that isn't going to happen (if the girl got Sid to do her, then I retract this statement and more power to you, girl), hey, it's their life, their choice, and if it makes them happy, go for it. No, really, enjoy yourselves, who are any of us to say you shouldn't?
However. Yep, there's a but there. I'm not about to stand up and say that the girl who shows up at a hockey game in too-tight of clothing, barely covering her up enough to be seen in public, or who rocks a sign asking a player for a date/a kiss/marriage/sex is as legitimate a hockey fan just because she's there. I refuse to band together with these girls in their mission for a piece of hockey ass as one of my own, just because we both have a vagina. I reserve the right to pass judgement on a girl at a game in a pink/glittery jersey, or in a tight cami, short skirt and high heels, just as much as I reserve the right to pass judgement on the brilliant guys who go to the Everett Silvertips games in jerseys that say "One Long Dong" and "The Big Dinger" on the back (oh how I wish I could find the photo of this; it was on my old phone and apparently wherever I uploaded it, is gone too. #sadface). Or the people who create frankenjerseys, or who bang on the glass every time a player skates by, or who stand up and wave at the camera when it's panned in their direction. I'll pass judgement on the guy who explained to his girlfriend that the player who got sent to the locker room after a fight with 3 minutes left in the game got a "miscellaneous conduct" penalty, or the woman who told her son that offsides was when there were too many players from the other team in front of the player with the puck.
All of these people might well be lovely individuals. Some might be people I'd like, in different circumstances, to be friends with. Some, probably not. Hard to say, because all I see about them is what they present to the world. We all make judgments about people's actions and appearances. Every single one of us. We're human, it's what we do. We spent two days on the reasons why in my interpersonal communications class a month ago; it's totally normal. And calling out the puck bunnies for what they present themselves to be doesn't mean that I have a problem with their actions -- it means I have a problem with their representation of the female fanbase, and I have a problem with the people who feel that, in order to get respect for the female fan who is not acting like she wants to screw a player in the locker room shower after the final buzzer, we have to support those who do as the same type of fan.
Be a casual fan. Be after a good, sweaty lay. Be provocative. More power to you. I don't care who you sleep with, so long as I'm not involved, and hey, sex is pretty awesome. Just don't expect me to think you're a fan on par with the women I call true fans, who care a hell of a lot more about the guy who scores on the other team than if he'll score with them later.
10 March, 2012
12 September, 2011
To fight or not to fight...
One thing I knew, but hadn't fully realized, is being a fan of west coast hockey teams while living in NY is going to be a challenge.
Last night, I caught the first two periods of the Canucks/Oilers YoungStars game before I had to go to bed; it was midnight, my alarm was set for 7am for work, I just couldn't give it the whole game. And really, why would I want to, the score at the end of two was brutal for my babyNucks, I was almost happy to not watch any further massacre on the scoreboard.
I'd been about to turn it off a little before the second ended, but was stopped by a fight.
Cameron Abney, an Oilers prospect who started his WHL career with the Everett Silvertips, my junior team no matter where I am, decided to drop the gloves. Oh, right, my surprise... it didn't exist. This is a kid who waltzed into Everett training camp in Aug 2007 as a nobody -- he didn't expect to stay long and hadn't so much as brought a suit or more than a few days worth of clothes; his parents had to bring him a bunch of stuff when he stuck around past rookie camp -- and made a name for himself by literally pounding the crap out of another kid.
The poor kid on the receiving end of Cam's fists didn't play the rest of camp - felt awful for him, but let's be realistic. I'm not naming him. Why? I can't remember his name. I know he showed up at camp again a couple years later (because we talked about him as the kid that got his nose broken by Abney) but... the impression of seeing him get the crap beaten out of him wasn't a lasting one. Abney and his willingness to drop the gloves and drop them hard was; he stuck around, he signed a contract, joined the team the next year and was well-loved and well-known for his ferocity until the Tips traded him to the Edmonton Oil Kings.
So seeing him last night deciding to square off with Sawyer Hannay came as less of a shock and more of a "gee, Cam's fighting... how... unusual" bit of sarcasm, said to both a friend over IMs and via my Twitter.
That fight also brought a few of the newly-minted "anti-fighting" crowd out on Twitter, asking if we really really really wanted to see that, were we sure we did, really now, come on, fighting's bad! (Ok, it wasn't that vehement, but it has been at other times over the summer). That lead me to tweet this:
I have mourned this summer along with every other hockey fan with a heart. It's been one tragedy after another, to the point where I've verbally quit the off-season a few times. I've cried, more than I'd like to admit. I've shaken my fist at the hockey gods and asked "WHY??" with no answers more than a few times.
But I don't blame fighting for Boogaard. I don't blame fighting for Rypien. I don't blame fighting for Belak. I don't blame an "irresponsible hockey culture" for these men no longer being with us.
No, I don't know all the details of any of their deaths, of the surrounding circumstances -- and neither does anyone else. We all have things we know and our assumptions that fill in the blanks, big or small, we all have our biases that make one answer or another perhaps not easier to accept but easier to understand. But at the end of the day, we don't know everything.
I know that painkillers and alcohol don't mix. I've known that most of my life. I assume that fighting didn't make Boogaard take pills and chase them with booze. Pain, physical or emotional, may have asked for a cocktail to numb, but pain comes in so many forms, from so many places, that I'm not going to say it was hockey fights.
I know that depression is a scary scary place and that it's extremely hard to pull yourself out of the dark, even with help. I've been there. I assume that fighting didn't cause Rypien's depression. It may have exacerbated it, but hearing about a car accident (his girlfriend in junior died in a car accident) might have exacerbated it too. Or any number of other things. Depression is a sneaky bastard, it can come up and hit you so hard you're doubled-over and unable to breathe, in the middle of a sunny, happy day with nothing around that "seems" trigger-y. I'm not going to call out hockey fights as the culprit.
I know that Belak was one of the funniest, warmest guys that anyone who met him encountered. I know he loved his girls like there was -- sad turn of phrase here -- no tomorrow. I assume that whatever took him from this world was out of his control, because for every account that I've heard, it doesn't make much sense, but I assume that fighting wasn't the trigger. With all that surrounds Belak's death, I'm not even going to speculate further because there are more questions than answers there, I suspect there will be for some time. But I'm not going to point the finger at hockey fights.
I'm not letting fighting off the hook -- I don't particularly care of staged fights, I've watched them happen for years in junior especially and they always sort of left me cold. I did, however, grow up understanding the "code" of hockey, that there were times when the game policing itself in that manner was necessary. I maintain that that hasn't really changed. Maybe it should and I don't think I'd cry if fighting phased itself out of the game entirely, however to call it out as the root of the heartbreak that was this summer I think is foolish.
I haven't cheered and yelled for a fight in a long time. I don't love them -- I love a good goal by anyone in my team's jersey, or a spectacular glove save by my goalie -- but I don't think the game is ready for them to go. I see nothing wrong with removing some of the glory of dropping the gloves, but I do see a problem with vilifying fights the way I have seen some do this summer, in calling them out as a somehow common element of the tragedies we as a hockey community have suffered this summer.
I know I don't have all the answers. I'm not sure that these deaths were all that connected. I'm positive we shouldn't be tying them together like some have been and wrapping them up in a bow around fighting.
That doesn't seem like the answer anymore than anything else. Not right now anyway.
Last night, I caught the first two periods of the Canucks/Oilers YoungStars game before I had to go to bed; it was midnight, my alarm was set for 7am for work, I just couldn't give it the whole game. And really, why would I want to, the score at the end of two was brutal for my babyNucks, I was almost happy to not watch any further massacre on the scoreboard.
I'd been about to turn it off a little before the second ended, but was stopped by a fight.
Cameron Abney, an Oilers prospect who started his WHL career with the Everett Silvertips, my junior team no matter where I am, decided to drop the gloves. Oh, right, my surprise... it didn't exist. This is a kid who waltzed into Everett training camp in Aug 2007 as a nobody -- he didn't expect to stay long and hadn't so much as brought a suit or more than a few days worth of clothes; his parents had to bring him a bunch of stuff when he stuck around past rookie camp -- and made a name for himself by literally pounding the crap out of another kid.
 |
| Cameron Abney inspects his knuckles after breaking a teammate's nose during a rookie camp scrap; Everett Silvertips camp Aug 2007 (photo (c) Brynna Owens) |
So seeing him last night deciding to square off with Sawyer Hannay came as less of a shock and more of a "gee, Cam's fighting... how... unusual" bit of sarcasm, said to both a friend over IMs and via my Twitter.
That fight also brought a few of the newly-minted "anti-fighting" crowd out on Twitter, asking if we really really really wanted to see that, were we sure we did, really now, come on, fighting's bad! (Ok, it wasn't that vehement, but it has been at other times over the summer). That lead me to tweet this:
@shoot4the5hole For the record, my reaction to fighting hasn't changed that I can tell. But I don't blame fighting for the events of the summer. So. Yeah.
I have mourned this summer along with every other hockey fan with a heart. It's been one tragedy after another, to the point where I've verbally quit the off-season a few times. I've cried, more than I'd like to admit. I've shaken my fist at the hockey gods and asked "WHY??" with no answers more than a few times.
But I don't blame fighting for Boogaard. I don't blame fighting for Rypien. I don't blame fighting for Belak. I don't blame an "irresponsible hockey culture" for these men no longer being with us.
No, I don't know all the details of any of their deaths, of the surrounding circumstances -- and neither does anyone else. We all have things we know and our assumptions that fill in the blanks, big or small, we all have our biases that make one answer or another perhaps not easier to accept but easier to understand. But at the end of the day, we don't know everything.
I know that painkillers and alcohol don't mix. I've known that most of my life. I assume that fighting didn't make Boogaard take pills and chase them with booze. Pain, physical or emotional, may have asked for a cocktail to numb, but pain comes in so many forms, from so many places, that I'm not going to say it was hockey fights.
I know that depression is a scary scary place and that it's extremely hard to pull yourself out of the dark, even with help. I've been there. I assume that fighting didn't cause Rypien's depression. It may have exacerbated it, but hearing about a car accident (his girlfriend in junior died in a car accident) might have exacerbated it too. Or any number of other things. Depression is a sneaky bastard, it can come up and hit you so hard you're doubled-over and unable to breathe, in the middle of a sunny, happy day with nothing around that "seems" trigger-y. I'm not going to call out hockey fights as the culprit.
I know that Belak was one of the funniest, warmest guys that anyone who met him encountered. I know he loved his girls like there was -- sad turn of phrase here -- no tomorrow. I assume that whatever took him from this world was out of his control, because for every account that I've heard, it doesn't make much sense, but I assume that fighting wasn't the trigger. With all that surrounds Belak's death, I'm not even going to speculate further because there are more questions than answers there, I suspect there will be for some time. But I'm not going to point the finger at hockey fights.
I'm not letting fighting off the hook -- I don't particularly care of staged fights, I've watched them happen for years in junior especially and they always sort of left me cold. I did, however, grow up understanding the "code" of hockey, that there were times when the game policing itself in that manner was necessary. I maintain that that hasn't really changed. Maybe it should and I don't think I'd cry if fighting phased itself out of the game entirely, however to call it out as the root of the heartbreak that was this summer I think is foolish.
I haven't cheered and yelled for a fight in a long time. I don't love them -- I love a good goal by anyone in my team's jersey, or a spectacular glove save by my goalie -- but I don't think the game is ready for them to go. I see nothing wrong with removing some of the glory of dropping the gloves, but I do see a problem with vilifying fights the way I have seen some do this summer, in calling them out as a somehow common element of the tragedies we as a hockey community have suffered this summer.
I know I don't have all the answers. I'm not sure that these deaths were all that connected. I'm positive we shouldn't be tying them together like some have been and wrapping them up in a bow around fighting.
That doesn't seem like the answer anymore than anything else. Not right now anyway.
14 June, 2011
I should be happy.. but...
I should be happy, Hell, I should be ecstatic. One of the teams I've followed since I became a hockey fan, back in the mid-80s, is 1 win away from winning the Cup. I should be jumping for joy that they're finally back in the finals and praying for a different result than the last time (okay, I am doing that last bit).
Unfortunately, I'm also too damned frustrated to be truly happy.
Yep, I'm one of the few Canucks fans out there that's not watching this series through green-and-blue glasses, who sees the diving and embellishing and whining for what it is, who has no tolerance for it. I'm one of the few fans who also doesn't particularly care for Luongo or anyone in management. What this seems to mean is that my fan card is constantly being called into question, or I'm just being told how to be a fan, that I should shut up and support all of the people in Canucks jerseys simply because they're in Canucks jerseys.
I'm not even a little bit sorry to say that my fandom, my allegiance, my love of team and more importantly of the sport, doesn't work that way. I'm actually a bit put off by the blind allegiance, the "my team can do no wrong, everyone's out to get us!" mentality that I see all over the web these days. Watching my twitter feed during a game is downright painful most nights of this series.
Some observations I've made over the course of the playoffs, and the finals in particular that people would do well to remember (not just during the playoffs, but all season long):
Unfortunately, I'm also too damned frustrated to be truly happy.
Yep, I'm one of the few Canucks fans out there that's not watching this series through green-and-blue glasses, who sees the diving and embellishing and whining for what it is, who has no tolerance for it. I'm one of the few fans who also doesn't particularly care for Luongo or anyone in management. What this seems to mean is that my fan card is constantly being called into question, or I'm just being told how to be a fan, that I should shut up and support all of the people in Canucks jerseys simply because they're in Canucks jerseys.
I'm not even a little bit sorry to say that my fandom, my allegiance, my love of team and more importantly of the sport, doesn't work that way. I'm actually a bit put off by the blind allegiance, the "my team can do no wrong, everyone's out to get us!" mentality that I see all over the web these days. Watching my twitter feed during a game is downright painful most nights of this series.
Some observations I've made over the course of the playoffs, and the finals in particular that people would do well to remember (not just during the playoffs, but all season long):
- The refs? Aren't out to get your team. Whichever team. They may not call everything you want, but I guarantee you that not everything you want called is a penalty.
- Both sides, whatever the series, whatever the game? Have awesome fans, and have horrible fans. The horrible ones are probably the loudest, but they aren't all there is. Their fans love their team just as much as you love yours - and they probably think your antics are just as bad as you think theirs are. Get some perspective.
- Speaking of perspective: Stop calling for a penalty/suspension/ban for life/rocket to the moon every time someone gets injured. These things should not be determined by outcome of the play, but by the play itself. Many potentially problematic plays don't result in injury. Many innocent ones do. Punish the action, not the result, or we're never going to get consistency. It always looks bad when one of your players is hurt, but attempt some objectivity before screaming for someone's head.
- Don't tell other people how to be a fan of your team. Especially when they are, in fact, a fan of your team. Everyone is allowed to like and dislike who they want, but telling people to stfu and do it your way or to leave is only going to end up with people angry with you. Now is the time that as fans we should all be banding together to celebrate the good and commiserate the bad, not to fight about what the "right" way to support the team is - the right way to support the team is to support the team. The nitpicky stuff between fans doesn't help anyone.
- If you aren't having fun, reevaluate things. Believe me, I've been doing this all season long, and came to a whole bunch of conclusions, but those are things for another post. Some navel-gazing isn't a bad thing at all when it comes to fandom in sport... take some time and see what's bugging you if something is, then do something about it. You'll be happier for it. Just don't take it out on other fans, that's messy.
So I've decided I'm going to continue to cheer on the team I grew up loving, curse the players in that jersey that I have no tolerance for, hate the coach, be pissed off when they dive, happily hate on the Bruins (except Tim Thomas, mad, mad respect to that man) and hopefully, scream and yell and cry and jump up and down an awful lot tomorrow night when they lift the Cup.
I'm fine with that. That should be all that matters... we'll see if it is.
07 November, 2009
Because the world needs more hockey bloggers...
I've been meaning to re-create an old hockey blog, long-since forgotten, and haven't found the time. Now seems like a perfect opportunity, to start up anew on a controversial topic. Yes, everyone's talking about Mike Liambas' devastating hit on Ben Fanelli in the OHL, but I'm going to weigh in on it myself.
I grew up with WHL hockey. My first hockey game may have been an NHL game, but the vast majority that followed in my developing years were Seattle Thunderbirds games. I like to think maybe this gives me an interesting insight into the game itself, because I've always maintained, the kids who play in the CHL leagues (WHL, OHL, OMJHL) play almost a more pure game - some may make it to the Show, but a lot, they'll play here, they'll play in university somewhere, they'll play rec league, but it won't be a career for them. They're out there for a love of sport that simply starts failing to translate once the first million dollar paycheque is deposited into a bank account.
I've been reading and listening and talking and questioning everything that went on from when Liambas started down the ice toward Fanelli, up until today, where I thankfully heard that Fanelli's going home from the hospital, and that the Erie Otters are considering appealing Liambas' career-ending suspension once Fanelli's a bit better. I'm not going to re-hash the hit itself, most people have seen it, it's on YouTube if you haven't. But I will say this: It wasn't an illegal hit. It was devastating, yes, but it was not dirty. In fact, David Branch, Commissioner of the OHL has said it wasn't illegal He still suspended Liambas for the remainder of the season/playoffs anyway, but as Branch also said, it was because of the severity of injury to Fanelli.
Going back to my love of Jr. hockey, I've moved on from the T-Birds (now of Kent), and am a season ticket holder for the Everett Silvertips. Over my years of watching hockey, I've seen devastating hits. I've seen dirty hits. I've seen vicious hits that made me question how the player delivering them was allowed to continue wearing skates. Hits to the head, checks from behind, heads slammed into glass... you name it, I've seen it. I can vividly remember watching a player I call a friend, his back to the play, digging the puck off the boards, and another lining him up from a good distance back, skating in full force, and checking him at such an angle his head bounced off the dashers. He missed a few weeks from a concussion he never should have received, and the guy who hit him got not so much as a penalty for it. (side note, they're both in the NHL now, one growing into more of a finesse player, and the one who laid the hit is lauded constantly for his "gritty" play and yet, all I can ever see him for is being a dirty player now - and hits I've watched continue from him reinforce this in my eyes). I've seen players get absolutely leveled, knocked unconscious even, from shoulder-checks to the head with little more than a "well, he should have kept his head up." I don't even disagree, you need to keep your head up in this game, to be aware of what's going on around you at all times. And to not turn your back on an incoming check. I often wonder just how many hits, particularly along the end boards, that end up causing injury would be simply an impact blow absorbed by body and boards with everyone skating away if someone had just not turned their back at the last possible second.
As is the case with Fanelli. I am not, in any way, shape, or form, blaming him in any way, for what happened. I'm simply wondering. He turned his back; what would have happened if someone, his goalie, a defenseman, someone had warned him of the incoming hit, or even moreso, a d-man had gotten in the way - we used to see that happen a lot more than it seems to these days - and his back wasn't to Liambas at the worst possible moment. An awful lot of what-ifs to wonder at, when at this point, nothing matters but a 16 year old kid who will never be the same, no matter what happens, because of a hit he took, and a 20 year old kid who will never be the same because of a hit he delivered.
I was reading an article this morning by Damien Cox (Was this OHL tragedy avoidable?) and I found the root of my problem with everything that's happened in the last few days. Two words: David. Branch. Okay, I knew he was my problem with a lot of it to begin with. I don't know how well anyone who doesn't follow the CHL leagues knows of what Branch's views on hockey are, but a lot of them are summed up pretty well in Cox's article. Branch is a reactionist. There, I said it. Something happens and he reacts. Sometimes, this isn't a bad thing, but often, he makes snap decisions that affect the OHL - and often spread to the Dub and the Q (see: new fighting rules, not taking helmets off for starters) - because something flukey happens. The helmet rules after the tragic death of Don Sanderson are a prime example, one horrible, but extremely rare occurrence of something going wrong and Branch moves to start taking it from the game. But this post isn't about the fighting restrictions (I'll come back to that later, I'm sure). If anyone doesn't think that Branch is being reactionary in his suspension of Liambas, I'd like to quote him:
I grew up with WHL hockey. My first hockey game may have been an NHL game, but the vast majority that followed in my developing years were Seattle Thunderbirds games. I like to think maybe this gives me an interesting insight into the game itself, because I've always maintained, the kids who play in the CHL leagues (WHL, OHL, OMJHL) play almost a more pure game - some may make it to the Show, but a lot, they'll play here, they'll play in university somewhere, they'll play rec league, but it won't be a career for them. They're out there for a love of sport that simply starts failing to translate once the first million dollar paycheque is deposited into a bank account.
I've been reading and listening and talking and questioning everything that went on from when Liambas started down the ice toward Fanelli, up until today, where I thankfully heard that Fanelli's going home from the hospital, and that the Erie Otters are considering appealing Liambas' career-ending suspension once Fanelli's a bit better. I'm not going to re-hash the hit itself, most people have seen it, it's on YouTube if you haven't. But I will say this: It wasn't an illegal hit. It was devastating, yes, but it was not dirty. In fact, David Branch, Commissioner of the OHL has said it wasn't illegal He still suspended Liambas for the remainder of the season/playoffs anyway, but as Branch also said, it was because of the severity of injury to Fanelli.
Going back to my love of Jr. hockey, I've moved on from the T-Birds (now of Kent), and am a season ticket holder for the Everett Silvertips. Over my years of watching hockey, I've seen devastating hits. I've seen dirty hits. I've seen vicious hits that made me question how the player delivering them was allowed to continue wearing skates. Hits to the head, checks from behind, heads slammed into glass... you name it, I've seen it. I can vividly remember watching a player I call a friend, his back to the play, digging the puck off the boards, and another lining him up from a good distance back, skating in full force, and checking him at such an angle his head bounced off the dashers. He missed a few weeks from a concussion he never should have received, and the guy who hit him got not so much as a penalty for it. (side note, they're both in the NHL now, one growing into more of a finesse player, and the one who laid the hit is lauded constantly for his "gritty" play and yet, all I can ever see him for is being a dirty player now - and hits I've watched continue from him reinforce this in my eyes). I've seen players get absolutely leveled, knocked unconscious even, from shoulder-checks to the head with little more than a "well, he should have kept his head up." I don't even disagree, you need to keep your head up in this game, to be aware of what's going on around you at all times. And to not turn your back on an incoming check. I often wonder just how many hits, particularly along the end boards, that end up causing injury would be simply an impact blow absorbed by body and boards with everyone skating away if someone had just not turned their back at the last possible second.
As is the case with Fanelli. I am not, in any way, shape, or form, blaming him in any way, for what happened. I'm simply wondering. He turned his back; what would have happened if someone, his goalie, a defenseman, someone had warned him of the incoming hit, or even moreso, a d-man had gotten in the way - we used to see that happen a lot more than it seems to these days - and his back wasn't to Liambas at the worst possible moment. An awful lot of what-ifs to wonder at, when at this point, nothing matters but a 16 year old kid who will never be the same, no matter what happens, because of a hit he took, and a 20 year old kid who will never be the same because of a hit he delivered.
I was reading an article this morning by Damien Cox (Was this OHL tragedy avoidable?) and I found the root of my problem with everything that's happened in the last few days. Two words: David. Branch. Okay, I knew he was my problem with a lot of it to begin with. I don't know how well anyone who doesn't follow the CHL leagues knows of what Branch's views on hockey are, but a lot of them are summed up pretty well in Cox's article. Branch is a reactionist. There, I said it. Something happens and he reacts. Sometimes, this isn't a bad thing, but often, he makes snap decisions that affect the OHL - and often spread to the Dub and the Q (see: new fighting rules, not taking helmets off for starters) - because something flukey happens. The helmet rules after the tragic death of Don Sanderson are a prime example, one horrible, but extremely rare occurrence of something going wrong and Branch moves to start taking it from the game. But this post isn't about the fighting restrictions (I'll come back to that later, I'm sure). If anyone doesn't think that Branch is being reactionary in his suspension of Liambas, I'd like to quote him:
"I would say without question the injury played a factor. Without question."
"In the purest sense nobody is saying the hit was illegal, but it is our opinion the distance he traveled and the speed at which he chose to travel at did not demonstrate sufficient respect. If there is an injury then you are going to be held accountable."
What Branch is doing is delivering a punishment clearly - and admittedly - based more on outcome than action. If Fanelli had skated his next shift, Liambas would have spent a couple minutes in the penalty box. Because Fanelli was transferred to hospital instead, Liambas' OHL career is over. Damn near every person I've heard agree with the suspension thinks like this, which I have to say, concerns me and I hope none of you serve on a jury anytime soon. Actions have consequences. Actions are what should be punished. Outcomes are often more, or less, tragic than the action would seem to create. To make a "statement" about how you feel about hits in hockey (how do you really feel, Mr. Branch? I'm curious), by turning a, in your own word legal hit into a punishment far outweighing a crime is if not unconscionable at least completely unreasonable. And reactionary.
I guarantee you, Mike Liambas will punish himself for this, long after everyone but he, Ben Fanelli, and their familes have forgotten all about it. My heart breaks for these kids, both of them, their lives have been horribly and irrevocably changed because of this. It's just a shame to see the league's brass making it worse.
"In the purest sense nobody is saying the hit was illegal, but it is our opinion the distance he traveled and the speed at which he chose to travel at did not demonstrate sufficient respect. If there is an injury then you are going to be held accountable."
What Branch is doing is delivering a punishment clearly - and admittedly - based more on outcome than action. If Fanelli had skated his next shift, Liambas would have spent a couple minutes in the penalty box. Because Fanelli was transferred to hospital instead, Liambas' OHL career is over. Damn near every person I've heard agree with the suspension thinks like this, which I have to say, concerns me and I hope none of you serve on a jury anytime soon. Actions have consequences. Actions are what should be punished. Outcomes are often more, or less, tragic than the action would seem to create. To make a "statement" about how you feel about hits in hockey (how do you really feel, Mr. Branch? I'm curious), by turning a, in your own word legal hit into a punishment far outweighing a crime is if not unconscionable at least completely unreasonable. And reactionary.
I guarantee you, Mike Liambas will punish himself for this, long after everyone but he, Ben Fanelli, and their familes have forgotten all about it. My heart breaks for these kids, both of them, their lives have been horribly and irrevocably changed because of this. It's just a shame to see the league's brass making it worse.
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