Fighting in college hockey

bghockeyfan · Post by **bghockeyfan** » Thu Jan 29, 2009 2:37 pm

interesting column:

http://media.www.bgnews.com/media/stora ... storiestab

DWhite21 · Post by **DWhite21** » Thu Jan 29, 2009 2:59 pm

It's kind of ironic that this writer is suggesting adding fighting to college hockey while a lot NHL pundits are saying that rules need to be changed to limit fighting and better protect fighters.

Not that anyone cares what I think, but I'm not really for or against fighting in college hockey. We've apparently done alright without it for however long. The Steven Kampfer incident was something that you don't see too often. Sure, if Conboy could've squared off with Kampfer it might have prevented the incident, but fighting also could've added a lot more serious injuries to college hockey over the years.

murphdogg · Post by **murphdogg** » Thu Jan 29, 2009 3:15 pm

I find it funny that we are talking about allowing fighting in college hockey. Yeah, it would make the games more exciting, but these are college kids. College is a place where you are supposed to develop to get ready for the rest of your life, both in sports and in terms of personality. By allowing fighting in college, we would be sending the wrong message. Sportsmanship has always been a part of college athletics, and I think this would be a bad time to change that. There was the Kampfer incident, but there was also Donald Sanderson who died in a fight in the Ontario Hockey League and another player who had a seizure after getting hit during one. Interestingly, Maclean's magazine (the Canadian equivalent of Time or Newsweek) has an article about why fighting should be banned in professional hockey

ziggy z · Post by **ziggy z** » Fri Jan 30, 2009 12:09 pm

the fact that he wants fighting to add excitement shows he doesn't know much about the game, but i agree there is a huge element players not having to be accountable for their actions in college hockey and many lack respect for their opponents head and neck because of 1. facemasks and 2. not having to pay for it if your going around being a goon.. (except the part where their looking over the shoulder to make sure they dont get a nice 2 hander)

sbkbghockey · Post by **sbkbghockey** » Fri Jan 30, 2009 1:58 pm

ziggy z wrote:the fact that he wants fighting to add excitement shows he doesn't know much about the game, but i agree there is a huge element players not having to be accountable for their actions in college hockey and many lack respect for their opponents head and neck because of 1. facemasks and 2. not having to pay for it if your going around being a goon.. (except the part where their looking over the shoulder to make sure they dont get a nice 2 hander)

I don't think he does. My hockey buddies and I were laughing when we saw a hockey article in the paper from the same writer. We're hoping he's not this semesters new hockey reporter. Although I have fought in college hockey before there's a number of reasons why it's good that fighting is not allowed:
1.) injuries: fighting can cause injuries and with the facemasks of college hockey hand injuries could increase, as it is players fight with helmets and gloves (usually to get around the righting rules and pick up double minor roughing and to prevent hand injuries.)

2.) College hockey encourages growth in players’ overall abilities rather than creating enforcers and/or encouraging combat skills. If fighting were allowed we'd see roster spots filled by goons instead of key players, college hockey could turn into the Quebec Semi pro league where players are looking to get noticed by fighing abilities rather than playing abilities.

3.) College hockey doesn’t have to add fighting to attract viewers and fans. Most college hockey teams do well in attendance, even teams in markets with pro teams close still drawl near capacity arenas. College hockey and the surrounding atmosphere of the bands, student sections and future hockey stars all help to create a high level of excitement and an already large fan base.

MACMAN · Post by **MACMAN** » Fri Jan 30, 2009 2:21 pm

murphdogg wrote:I find it funny that we are talking about allowing fighting in college hockey. Yeah, it would make the games more exciting, but these are college kids. College is a place where you are supposed to develop to get ready for the rest of your life, both in sports and in terms of personality. By allowing fighting in college, we would be sending the wrong message. Sportsmanship has always been a part of college athletics, and I think this would be a bad time to change that. There was the Kampfer incident, but there was also Donald Sanderson who died in a fight in the Ontario Hockey League and another player who had a seizure after getting hit during one. Interestingly, Maclean's magazine (the Canadian equivalent of Time or Newsweek) has an article about why fighting should be banned in professional hockey

fact is it is a big part of the game and by not allowing it as it is now the game suffers. As for the guys and sportsmenship...there are rules to hockey fights and those who break them get punished on and off the ice. As for the NHL the numbers are up, and owners and players are happy with it as are the fans, it wont change.

ziggy z · Post by **ziggy z** » Fri Jan 30, 2009 7:31 pm

sbk, more players are getting drafted from the Q than college so clearly what they are doing isn't all wrong in terms of development

Peregrinner · Post by **Peregrinner** » Fri Jan 30, 2009 7:34 pm

If it's Sean Shapiro, he's been a hockey goalie for a number of years and actually tried out for the team this year.

sbkbghockey · Post by **sbkbghockey** » Sat Jan 31, 2009 1:01 pm

ziggy z wrote:sbk, more players are getting drafted from the Q than college so clearly what they are doing isn't all wrong in terms of development

I don't mean the Q, major junior has actually cut down on fighting in the past couple years too. I was talking about the Ligue Nord-Américaine de Hockey (LNAH): of course college hockey wouldn't be that bad, but if fighting was allowed we'd see wasted roster spots by enforcers and unlike pro or major jr. hockey college hockey can't call players up to fill injuries.

Peregrinner wrote:If it's Sean Shapiro, he's been a hockey goalie for a number of years and actually tried out for the team this year.

Yeah I checked and it is. He should probably learn more about hockey before writing anymore hockey articles. BG Hockey has been in a slump for a number of years, we should at least have quality articles.