Regulation of Hockey
Last year during a professional hockey game an ugly incident occurred. Marty McSorley of the Boston Bruins flagrantly smashed his stick over the head of an opposing player, Donald Brasheer. Fortunately, Brasheer escaped with just a concussion. McSorley however, now faces more than the customary five-minute penalty, or even a game misconduct. Canadian officials are taking matters into their hands and pressing charges. Some hockey fans strongly disagree with the course of action, thinking it will taint the tough reputation that has earned the sport so many fans. They fear the future of pro hockey is in jeopardy. I agree that the future of hockey may be in jeopardy, but disagree that a guilty verdict would have a negative effect. I believe a decision of guilty would be quite beneficial to the sport.
In pro hockey, where body checks, fights and slashes are commonplace, legal repurcussions to violence are unheard of. The National Hockey League (NHL) has always dealt with similar incidents privately, giving disciplinary action as it saw fit. Now a new precedent could be set, which may affect the way professional hockey is played. With the league looking to expand its audience, this is the change the NHL has been striving for.
In order to appeal to wider viewing audiences, thus increasing profit, NHL referees have recently been encouraged to call penalties on rough plays that were once routine. Penalties lead to power plays, and power plays lead to goals. Goals are what hockey fans pay to see, so it makes sense for the league to try to increase scoring
This brings us back to the McSorley incident. Marty Mcsorley's role as a hockey player has always been the "enforcer". The role of an enforcer is to intimidate through brute force, even if it means taking out the opposing teams primary offensive player. NHL officials want enforcing to stop, because it disrupts the flow of a game, and decreases scoring. If McSorley is found guilty, enforcers around the league will be served notice that "thuggery" is no longer an option. If he should be found innocent, enforcers will continue their senseless beatings, knowing they will do little more than sit in a penalty box for five minutes.
To understand this phenomenon we must go back to March 13, 1955. On this date, the Montreal Canadians were playing a game in Boston against the Bruins. One of the opposing players, Hal Laycoe, high-sticked Maurice Richard, injuring him to the point of requiring eight stitches on his scalp. Richard retaliated by smashing his own stick over Laycoe's head and shoulders and slashed him with another player's stick until it splintered. Becoming annoyed with the official's interference in the fight, Richard then turned and punched him. Since hitting an official was the least honorable thing to do, Richard was expelled from the game (2000).
Hockey is the game played with the curved stick and it is found in every culture. It has been a part of the Canadian and North American culture for over a hundred years. Hockey has developed from the original six to thirty teams, and many leagues. One thing that is prominent in hockey is the hit on the opposing player when he has the puck. Checking can be defined as using physical force to either gain possession of the puck or to disrupt the opposition’s play without breaking the rules. Checking has been a part of hockey since the beginning. Recently, there has been much controversy over whether or not checking in hockey should be banned. In the year 2005 and 2006 there were many rules and regulations added to checking that were not penalized before. Checking has made the hockey game more interesting game and also has given the opportunity to players to play more with minimal stoppage. I believe that checking should not be banned because medical science has gotten the ability to heal all injuries that occur in sports, players know in advance that there is high risk in the activity, and it allows a fan to sublimate his aggressive tendency.
Similarly, we discussed the Koffman v. Garnett case in class when Richard and Rebecca Koffman, on the behalf of Andrew, sued Garnett in a Virginia court for gross negligence, assault, and battery. The situation was that Coach Garnett used Andrew Koffman in a tackling demonstration. Therefore, he then proceeded to pick him up 2 feet off the ground and threw him to the ground, injuring him to break his arm. Nevertheless, a sport manager should ultimately realize that liability is a serious risk for any organization and should be extremely careful of the situations by not putting themselves at risk for any liability, since they can face a civil lawsuit or criminal prosecution to the fullest extent of the law for their negligent behavior by harmfully injuring another
It’s Saturday Night, the crowd gone wild with an epic hit on the opposing team. The occasional drunk sitting next to you, as your kids enjoy delicious Dipping Dots. Right as the momentum is swinging towards the home team, a penalty is called. A powerplay opportunity is awarded to the defending team. With the home team fighting with all their might to defend from a goal, down 4 on 5, they run around like chickens with their heads chopped off, trying to get the puck out of their zone. Then when everything seems to simmer down, a fight breaks between the bulkiest guys on each team, punches being thrown, blood spattering across the ice. In hockey today, there are two main leagues in the United states: the NHL, and USA Hockey. Just like in any game, there are basic rules that must be followed. In these two leagues there are similarities and differences in basic “golden” rules, benefits from playing, and the official’s code of conduct.
Throughout history in the NFL, head injuries and fixing those problems have always been hidden from the athletes because of the NFL striving to make a large profit instead of caring for the players. With this being an ongoing problem between NFL players and the NFL itself, many past and current players are digging deeper to find the truth and statistics continue to show how serious this problem actually is. When the lawsuits first began to come known to the public, the NFL agreed to pay over seven hundred million dollars to compensate former players suffering neurological injuries. Many believe the NFL offered this so quickly, hoping to avoid a potential public relations nightmare. The NFL, a ten billion dollar annual business, couldn’t take any type of guilt, or legal discovery, which some inside and out of the industry expected could have caused a fatal blow to the game’s future (Thiel). The settlement may have prevented the public from learning much about the past, but the issue of head injuries is a danger to football and won’t just go away because NFL wants it to (Waldron).
Conclusions: Will it take a death to make NHL officials change there minds on the policies regarding neck guards like they did with helmets after the death of Bill Masterton.
hockey grew, so did the sport. After various problems between teams playing with different rules, McGill University stepped in
Should fighting stay in hockey? Should we allow players hit other player in the face with a hockey sticks or take other cheap shots and not do anything about it? If your star player got taken off the ice because of a stick to the face, you would want to do something about it wouldn’t you? Fighting should stay in hockey. For the fan appeal, players getting revenge, having
This study showed that there was a significant difference in the amount of concussions between these two leagues. There were 69 teams consisting of 829 players from Calgary and Edmonton that participated in this research. Both of these areas allow body checking. The leagues that didn’t allow body checking were from Kelowna and Vancouver. There were 33 teams and 379 players from these two areas that participated in the study. This study classifies severe concussions as greater than ten days time loss from being eligible to participate in hockey. The research showed that there were 83 concussions and 53 severe concussions in the body checking league. However there were only 15 concussions and 10 severe concussions in the non-body checking leagues. The researchers suggest that there is a 60% lower risk of having a concussion or severe concussion in these non-elite Bantam teams when body checking is not allowed based on local
Millions of people are registered throughout North America for participation in Canada’s national sport and pastime, ice hockey. Most young hockey players have the dream of making it to the National Hockey League (NHL). Because of this incentive to keep striving towards their ultimate goal in their hockey career, they idolize the players in the NHL. Therefore, youth players may obtain certain habits from the elite, whether those habits are good or bad. Some cases are of bad influences, such as young players obtaining the dirty playing habits of the professionals. The primary action that influences the youthful population is body checking. With the thought of losing a game, it is no wonder why players have the urge to play rough and potentially hurt the opposing team in order to be victorious. For that reason, hockey is a strong collision sport that requires great skill and motivation. Although body checking is believed to be a useful tool in the winning of hockey games, it can be the cause that leads to injury among players. Because of the rougher play, lasting brain injuries are becoming a worry and too many players are exposed to the lasting effects of the head injury. According to Michael Cusimano July 22, 2003 the article entitled “Body Checking and Concussions” states, “With the rising incidence of traumatic brain injury in hockey, too many players are exposed to the lasting effects of such injuries, some of which are not fully realized until the brain completes its maturation.” For this reason, new equipment and regulations need to be devised for use in the near future.
Hockey is one of the most dangerous sports to play today, not because of the fast pace of the game, but because of the some of the equipment that is used. The most punishing and non forgiving piece of equipment in hockey is the puck. The word puck became mainstream in 1867 in Canada. It is possible that Halifax natives, who were Irish, introduced the word to Canada. The hockey puck has evolved over the years it came into existence just like the game itself. People have tried and failed to think of news ways to make a hockey puck, but only one way has proved itself to be the only one. Without the puck there would be no hockey culture. Lets lace up the skates and skate our way into what the hockey culture is and take a look at how the puck has created this culture from the beginning of its time.
I have been a huge hockey fan my whole life, and have experienced it first hand. I manage the team here at West Chester University, and grew up with two older brothers who play. Because of this, I have a preconceived idea that I have always been pretty steadfast on. When I watch my friends play on the team here, people that I spend a good amount of time with and I know both personally and athletically, or when I watch my brothers play or even my favorite professional players, I don’t necessarily want them to get into a fight. But when they do, I am proud, especially when they win or hold their own in the altercation. You may wonder, “but don’t you see them get hurt? Doesn’t that make you want them to stop fighting altogether? Are you condoning fist fighting?” And my answer to a...
The topic I will be discussing in this draft is the debate on whether the National Football League should be held liable for injuries that their employee’s sustained while playing professional football. The injuries that I will discuss are concussion and traumatic brain injuries related to multiple concussions. In years past this injury wasn’t know n to be as prevalent because that game was played at a much slower speed. Players in todays’ game are bigger, faster and stronger than ever. It has been documented that the players themselves willingly know the risk they are taking yet still take the chance at playing the game. Players and player group representatives are now seeking compensation for their player and player’s families. Should the NFL be held liable or should the employee who already knows the risk take full responsibility? Because of this controversy the NFL has recently come under fire due to game related head injuries to active players which cause long lasting effects. In addition family members seek compensation to former player deaths due to these injuries.
Contact sports in America, like football and boxing, carry a rich history of the spirit of the game, and the feeling of victory. These games bring us together as we cry out and cheer for our team or fighter as they deliver the winning touchdown, or the knockout that brings them the undisputed champion belt. However, these players are facing injuries that can destroy their career and affect their brain for the rest of their lives. We shouldn’t outlaw contact sports, but we should force safety to become more important. If we want to keep our players safe and continue the tradition of the contact sports we enjoy as a country, then we must evolve our safety in sports, and change the way we view contact sports as a country.
Referee abuse is a major issue for all levels of sports. Referees play a huge part of the game and certain calls can anger fans, players and even sometimes coaches. This abuse can have physical and even emotional tolls on these referees. There are numerous instances where the refs have been hit and things have been thrown at them. This abuse needs to halt now.