I’m a hockey parent and in principle a peaceful sort of guy. While I don’t like fighting in hockey particularly, the reality is that it happens, and I can sort of understand why.

My kids have been playing hockey in Canada  and Australia, and the game is a lot more competitive there. In Australia, I remember the coach telling the kids to give the other guy a good hard punch when the ref isn’t looking. In Canada, the kids were told that cheap shots are ok as long as you can get away with it. I suspect Kiwis are far too polite as a people generally to go along with that sort of coaching philosophy, but I’m just reporting the strong competitive drive to win at all costs that I’ve seen elsewhere.

So, given the competitiveness of the game, the adrenalin, the fact that some players can get too much in one’s face, and the fact that refs don’t have eyes on the back of their heads, some degree of self-help is inevitable. I saw the game the other night between the Jets and the FYC, and it was pretty clear that some of the FYC players were deliberately needling some of the Jets players, definitely being provocative, but the refs either didn’t see it, or else there was nothing to call in particular. I guess it was bad luck for the Jets that 2 of their players got sent off, and not the other players who were provoking them.

Which leads on to another point. Cheap shots and fighting can have tactical and strategic purposes. For example, in the game the other night, the ejection of 2 Jets players could be viewed as a good strategic move, since it meant that the Jets should have been really tired with a skeleton team, and the FYCs could have taken advantage of that, but they didn’t (or more likely, couldn’t). There can also be tactical purposes, as in psyching out players on the other side. Fighting can also function to slow the game down, and break the pattern when the game goes against your side. And, of course, it can be used to target the other side’s better players, making them more cautious (or just plain provoking retaliation, getting them sent out of the game).

But often enough at the level of hockey played here, fighting can be just plain dumb, because if sent to the box, your team ends up penalty-killing. Or you have a 4 on 4, and if your team isn’t too strong to begin with (like with the FYCs the other night), you’ll get the worst of it.

Anyway, it seems to me that fighting, for better or worse, goes with the territory, but so long as everyone keeps on their gloves and buckets, nobody should get hurt. One problem we probably have is that there is little player discipline, and that kind of guidance and control should be exerted by coaches, managers and captains.