'Everyone's so soft': NHL players past and present on how they see fighting in hockey today
NHL players past and present give their thoughts on fighting’s role in hockey:
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The goal of hockey was the team that scores more goals than the other that wins the game. So, to me, that was the most important. Fighting was never the most important thing in my life, but I did it anyway and I found a role in that. — Donald Brashear, whose 277 fights from 1994-2010 rank eighth among NHL players.
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It’s a sense of accountability, it’s a sense of code where you can’t really take advantage of other guys without receiving complications from that or kind of getting it in return. — Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk, who has fought six times this season through Feb. 24.
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It’s disappointing. I’m the old Neanderthal. Everyone’s so soft. — retired forward Todd Simpson, who fought nearly 100 times in the NHL from 1995-2010.
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I’m not a huge fan of the two toughest guys on the ice just jumping the boards and fighting each other just to fight. I don’t think we see that at all anymore. It’s all kind of standing up for a teammate, defending yourself, defending the guy beside you. From that standpoint, I’m glad it’s still around. — retired player-turned-Philadelphia Flyers executive Patrick Sharp.
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It’s a good way to keep other teams in check in certain ways. If someone’s taking advantage of a teammate, that’s always something that’s going to have to get answered. I think there’s a place for it, and it keeps team honest and keeps the game honest, as well. — Colorado Avalanche defenseman Kurtis MacDermid.
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A lot of fighting happens obviously if somebody’s taking advantage of one of your better players or, honestly, it’s in front of both nets. That’s the territory you want to protect, and if somebody’s going to be in your territory all the time and is in front of your goalie a lot, that’s usually when it happens. — Vancouver Canucks coach Rick Tocchet, whose 237 fights rank 21st in NHL history.
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I still believe that fighting should be in the game because there’s something very powerful about the accountability. There is this energy of, what’s going to happen if I cross that line? But I don’t think it’s ever going to go back to the Broad Street Bullies, nor do I believe that it ever should. I think we’ve evolved past that. — retired enforcer Riley Cote, who played 156 games for the Flyers (2006-10).
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Yeah, it’s decreased, but it always needs to be in the game. ... When guys have it in the back of their minds, the game polices itself and it’s not as dirty. — St. Louis Blues captain Brayden Schenn.
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They do need to stick up for each other out there if the other team’s trying to take advantage of them that way. As long as that happens, I’m for it. You need to protect yourself out there. It’s always been part of the game, so you’ve got to keep it in a little bit because it’s going to happen sooner or later. — Hall of Famer Joe Mullen, a 16-season NHL veteran.
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When guys police themselves, I do think it does control a lot of the cheap stuff that goes on, so I’m happy with that. But with the skill we have in the game now, it’s nice to see that guys can feel a little bit more freer out there and try and do more and show their abilities. The game’s better now than it was back when all the stuff was going on, back when I played. — Retired player-turned-Flyers executive John LeClair.
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You’re taking a perfectly good hand and smashing it on the helmet, so you’re not really doing any damage. You’ve got visors, so you can get cut there. If anything, you’re just trying to get it in underneath to a guy’s jaw and pop it off or something like that. It’s a whole different game. — Bob Kelly, two-time Stanley Cup champion and member of the Flyers' Broad Street Bullies teams.
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You can’t completely take it out because you’re going to lose a lot of people. A lot of people, that’s the most exciting part of it. It’s the only sport you can do it. But instead of changing the rules where everybody’s going to be in uproar, what they’ve done is they’ve changed the clientele in a big, big way. — retired defenseman Steve Oleksy, who played more than 70 NHL games.
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This is an entertainment industry. I still see more people standing up when there’s an altercation on the ice than when there’s a goal sometimes. — retired defenseman Chris Therien, who played for 10 years with the Flyers.
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