Why Hockey goon’s devotion to fights degrades the sport

Video: Best hockey fights.

Because, like I said, I like Brandon Prust. And there was no way he was going to come out of this situation looking good.If you don’t feel like going through the whole thing — though I would recommend you do, because it’s heartfelt and there are some interesting anecdotes about the intricacies and unspoken rules of how the league works — the basic premise has been rehashed countless times: Fighting is a way for the game to police itself.

Having fighters on a roster is a deterrent to opposing players doing stupid things.This used to make sense. When Wayne Gretzky skated down the ice with Marty McSorley at his wing, that made sense. People took runs at Gretzky, and if they got him, there weren’t 1,000 different angles for the league to look at it. There weren’t people in Toronto analyzing every move of every game, ready to throw down a fine or a suspension. And even if there were, odds are they were from another generation of hockey lovers — a generation that loved Gordie Howe as much for his petulance as his skill.

So if you took a run at The Great One, McSorley took a run at you — and likely tried to decapitate you. Gretzky liked — or needed — McSorley on his wing so much, he made it a prerequisite in “The Trade” to the LA Kings. McSorley was included and went with him.

Back to Prust. He recounts a recent game for the Canadiens, with whom he signed a four-year, $10 million in the summer of 2012, against the league-leading Ducks. An Anaheim player “smoked” one of the skilled guys on his team, Max Pacioretty, burying him into the boards on a hit from behind and sending him to the hospital. Prust admits it likely wasn’t a penalty.

But the unwritten rules called for him to do something. He believes it’s part of his job description. It was a tight 2-1 game in the third period, but, he wrote, “What happens when the rest of the league sees that hit and we don’t do anything about it?”

So he got his fight against Clayton Stoner, and though the Ducks still won, now the league doesn’t think the Canadiens are pushovers, right? Or does the rest of the league think the Canadiens lost by one to a better team, the Habs not having enough offensive punch to get that second goal?

http://nypost.com/2015/02/06/hockey-goons-devotion-to-fights-degrades-sport-and-his-brain/