And the AFL goes "bananas" when our players engage in a little sparring...

[Sttew]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIlLbJHKw8M

Check this out, the opening of the NY Rangers & NJ Devils ice hockey match 2 nights ago. Obviously hockey is incidental in this code.

 

[Messenger]

Hence the old saying "I went to a fight and the hockey broke out".

 

[ExTasDeeMan]

I went to Rangers v Flyers in December last year - couple of fights and it was immense. Best atmosphere i've experienced before at MSG...
Hockey doesn't get enough love

 

[blackkav]

Why did they fight?

 

[thecatattack]

Ice hockey is the stupidest sport ever.

 

[radiojake]

Heh

hockeyfightsdotcom youtube user has over 5,700 videos


I haven´t checked to see if they are all fights, but you would suspect majority would be

 

[JOELY]

I love a bit of a brawl but that was pathetic. It's almost surreal see 6 guys just strop and square off like that, reminded me a of a video game. Embarrassing for everyone involved.

 

[alfy!]

a bunch of guys swinging and missing at each other? honestly what chris johnson did in the IR series was worse/better

 

[Bennett.]

One of the reasons that hockey is so great!!

 

[alfy!]

One of the reasons that hockey is so great!!

if you want to watch a high quality sport, watch afl/soccer/cricket

if you want to watch a high quality fight, watch mma

for a poor-man's mash of the two, hockey is 'great'

 

[scottwade]

Why did they fight?

One of the players had tweeted that another had been lucky to get off at the match review panel.

''Had a feeling Numbskull Potatoes was always going to get the all clear to play this Sat night, did anyone else think differently?''

 

[Forward Press]

I don't understand this preoccupation with violence.

 

[Tex_21]

Hockey is a brilliant game - regardless of the fights. The fights are often used as a strategic way to interrupt the opposition/fire your won team up, and rarely have much malice to them.

The speed and impacts of hockey would far exceed those of Aussie Rules, and the skill set of guys at the pinnacle like Crosby, Ovechkin, Malkin, Kovalchek, Kessel etc is incredible.

Get around this game. Best sporting experiences in my life (as a spectator anyway) were at the Seilersee in Iserlohn watching the Roosters (DEL team - Germany's top league, one of the best in Europe) in a packed house of about 3500.

 

[Hipster Doofus]

Not that great, they keep slipping into eachothers arms?

 

[WAG]

I'm deeply offended.

 

[PunchFromBhind]

Those calling the fight weak need to take into account that they attempting to fight on ice, it's easier said than done. That said these were pretty bad compared to most.

Also anyone who says all hockey consists of is fights have obviously never watched a game of hockey before. It is one of the most skillful sports in the world, and one of the best spectacles.

 

[Mappa]

Hockey is a brilliant game - regardless of the fights. The fights are often used as a strategic way to interrupt the opposition/fire your won team up, and rarely have much malice to them.

The speed and impacts of hockey would far exceed those of Aussie Rules, and the skill set of guys at the pinnacle like Crosby, Ovechkin, Malkin, Kovalchek, Kessel etc is incredible.

Get around this game. Best sporting experiences in my life (as a spectator anyway) were at the Seilersee in Iserlohn watching the Roosters (DEL team - Germany's top league, one of the best in Europe) in a packed house of about 3500.

Spot on Tex. Very easy to take pots shots when you don't understand it. Remember that those who don't understand Aussie Rules would think that it's an unorganised bunch of guys chasing a ball around.

Look up 24/7 - Road To The Winter Classic if anyone wants to get a grasp on the sport. One of the best sports docos ever made.

Go Avs

 

[Wallaby]

The fighting in hockey is quite peculiar. I've been reading quite a bit on it lately - there are some major concerns with past players showing signs of long-term damage due to concussions etc. Several well-known 'fighting' players have died very young recently.

There are plenty of players whose sole reason for being on a team was to fight - they were the designated goon. They were told: 'You don't have the skills to make it - unless you go out and fight'. They practise their fighting techniques - eg, how to pull the jumper over a guy's head, while keeping your arm free to hit him etc.

There have been plenty of arguments in the US (and particularly) Canadian press over the last day or so, arguing why fighting is an important and needed part of the game. In junior hockey, kids' teams start carrying 'enforcers' from about the 14-year old competitions.

I can't see it myself, but no one is forcing me to watch the game.

 

[The Fact]

I love the big bumps and bone crunching tackles in footy but really fighting has no place in the game i'd prefer to see a great game with no fight than a s**t game and a fight.

 

[Quinz]

I'm deeply offended.

I'm also deeply offended, and object to the term "going bananas". Many of my friends are primates and I'd rather not have their activities linked with AFL officials.

You haven't heard the last of this Sttew.

 

[RICHOLEGEND12]

call me old fashioned... But i love it. So funny

 

[RedmanWasHere]

The more 60's, 70's and 80's biffs brought back, the better.

 

[RuFiO]

Thank god we beat the Devils yesterday!
Love ice hockey as much as I love footy now! Although going for the Rangers has so many parallels to following Collingwood it's not funny!
Anyone that loved Mick Malthouse's press conferences will get an even better kick out of our coach John Tortorella's pressers! He's an angry mofo!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W45jXVKj_CM

 

[FedEXFalls]

Why did they fight?

1. They're rivals
2. I'm only just getting into Ice Hockey and this may be wrong but this is what I've gathered..In the NHL the away team (The Devils in the vid) picks their starting line-up first and then the home team (The Rangers) gets to set theirs accordingly. The away team in this game sent out a bunch of guys who are better at fighting rather than playing, so the Rangers coach made a decision to send some of his better fighters out rather than his better players who can't fight. It was kind of a 'defend our homeground' kind of thing from the Rangers coach... It actually winded up working in his favour as the crowd went nuts and their team got fired up and scored within a few minutes of the game starting.

 

[brendan84]

Hockey is a brilliant game - regardless of the fights. The fights are often used as a strategic way to interrupt the opposition/fire your won team up, and rarely have much malice to them.

The speed and impacts of hockey would far exceed those of Aussie Rules, and the skill set of guys at the pinnacle like Crosby, Ovechkin, Malkin, Kovalchek, Kessel etc is incredible.

Get around this game. Best sporting experiences in my life (as a spectator anyway) were at the Seilersee in Iserlohn watching the Roosters (DEL team - Germany's top league, one of the best in Europe) in a packed house of about 3500.

Good post. Hockey is brilliant. Unfortunately Australians generally get very little exposure to it.

I'll watch the occasional game on fox sports in HD and it is fantastic. Also, playoff hockey is great to watch, it is incredibly tough and intense.