Thursday, December 15, 2016
The Enforcers-A Dying Breed
We will
always remember that, without intending to do so, he endeared himself
at the 61st All Star game in Nashville to the entire
hockey world. Prior to the game, he was tossed around like a small
rag doll, figuratively. At 6'8”, and 260 pounds, there are few who
could move him very far. He was waived by the Coyotes, signed by
Montreal, then quickly demoted to the American Hockey League. It was
all too obvious to most sports fans that the league tried to shove
him aside.
Scott had
been an NHL player since 2008. In 286 games, he had amassed 544
minutes in penalties. He also scored 5 times, and added 6 assists. He
was an enforcer.
One of the
last, according to Rob Del Mundo, author of “Hockey's Enforcers-A
Dying Breed”. In the book, he presents us with 48 tiny chapters,
bits and pieces of information about most of the toughest guys ever
to play in the NHL. He begins with Eddie Shore, infamous for ending
Ace Bailey's career.
I recently
asked him why he chose this particular subject. “A while ago I
noticed this trend moving away from fighting in the game. There did
not seem to be as many 'policemen' as there were previously, like
John Ferguson.”
In the
Introduction to the book, Del Mundo tells the reader that in
2008-2009 there were 734 fights in 509 of the 1230 games played that
season. Last year, there were 344 fights in 288 of the 1230 games
games played. That's a drop of more than 50 %.
One rule
change that took place in 1987 curtailed hockey brawls. “Any player
leaving the bench or the penalty box for the purpose of starting an
altercation automatically received a ten game suspension,” quotes
Del Mundo. The instigator rule has also dramatically affected the
number of fights in the game. No player wants to leave his team a man
short when evening up a score, in a pugilistic sense.
Another
factor diminishing the role of the enforcer relates to increased
awareness of the long term ramifications of blows to the head. The
concept has been considered for years related to prize fighting.
Football players are likely suspect in this regard. More than a few
of hockey's tough guys have had their careers shortened because of
blows to the head, although not always from fights. And there are
some who have passed away at a young age, perhaps due to their hockey
activities: Wade Belak, Derek Boogaard, Rick Rypien, and Bob Probert.
Bobby Orr
writes that there is a need for fighting in the game: “I would say
this about the place of fighting in the game. I believe that
especially at the pro level you need to be held accountable for your
actions, and the threat of a fight can accomplish that.”
The main
difference between hockey and all of the other pro sports is that
hockey players carry a stick. And use it, sometimes illegally.
Many of the
old-time enforcers in the game were actually protectors. Marty
McSorley was assigned to keep the idiots away from Wayne Gretzky. Rob
Ray sat patiently on the Sabres bench, biding his time until the
opposition took liberties with the better players on his team. I sat
in the stands at a Buffalo game, and heard the mob scream, “We want
Ray! We want Ray!” Robbie confided in me that he did not always
want to fight, especially when he was nursing badly-bruised hands and
fingers. “It was a matter of grabbing the opponent, to see who
would go down first.”
Del Mundo
has covered the Maple Leafs for 16 seasons for the Fischler Report.
His Leafs articles appear at: “TMLFans.ca”. Copies of this book
are available at Chapters and Indigo Books, and also on line at
Chapters and Indigo. My copy of the book will be available tomorrow
at the Wellington Public Library. Enjoy.
“Wanna
Go?” Just kidding!
James Hurst
December 13,
2016
# posted by James Hurst @ 6:52 AM 
