Hockey is played on the most unforgiving surface in all of sports with arguably the most dangerous equipment - sticks in hands and blades on feet. When you allow fighting in non-combat sports, this is what you get. Forgive my Outsiders movie reference, but the game looked like a bad re-take of a rumble between the Greasers and the Socs. Since it was played on a Sunday afternoon, I'm sure plenty of kids saw the melee. What happens when they emulate pro behavior on the youth level? I know. We'll tell them to do as I say and not as I do. The breakdown of the third period debacle and the number of penalties are listed below. What a mess.
| 1:12 Pittsburgh | Interference – 2 min. |
| 9:09 Pittsburgh | Slashing – 2 min. |
| 18:57 Philadelphia | Unsportsmanlike Conduct – 2 min. |
| 18:57 Philadelphia | Fighting – 5 min. |
| 18:57 Pittsburgh | Fighting – 5 min. |
| 18:57 Philadelphia | Unsportsmanlike Conduct – 2 min. |
| 18:57 Pittsburgh | Unsportsmanlike Conduct- 2 min. |
| 18:57 Philadelphia | Unsportsmanlike Conduct – 2 min. |
| 18:57 Pittsburgh | Unsportsmanlike Conduct – 2 min. |
| 18:57 Philadelphia | Unsportsmanlike Conduct -2 min. |
| 18:57 Pittsburgh | Unsportsmanlike Conduct – 2 min. |
| 18:57 Philadelphia | Roughing – 2 min. |
| 18:57 Philadelphia | Misconduct – 10 min. |
| 18:57 Pittsburgh | Misconduct – 10 min. |
| 18:57 Philadelphia | Delay of Game – 2 min. |
| 18:57 Pittsburgh | Delay of Game -2 min. |
| 18:57 Pittsburgh | Unsportsmanlike Conduct - 2 min. |
That's nonsense and we all know better. Hockey is a great game and it doesn't need gimmicks like playground fights to make it interesting. Let the athleticism and skill speak for the sport. There are great lessons for kids to learn from playing hockey - but only if they play hockey. Enough with the fighting already. You don't do it well and you're embarrassing yourselves. Until next time...
Be a Good Sport!
-Sol
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