FDNY / NYPD Charity Hockey Brawl

[Bass56]

Fighting should not be the way people solve their differences. As civil servants representing the police and fire departments they need to represent themselves and their profession with more class. I hold them to a higher standard than kids, ninja turtles, cats, and hockey players.

I agree! However, having played in similar charity games, especially vs ''rivals'', I think that it's easy to lose track of what you are playing for and just let emotions get the best of you. I'm pretty sure the guys had a laugh about it and that there was no bad blood once the final whistle was blown.

Hockey is a violent sport and unfortunately, fights are part of it. Removing that aspect removes part of its competitive nature IMO. If the goal was to have a good clean game, then hitting and any form of contact should have been fully removed from the get go IMO.

[Bass56]

Looked staged?

Hehe, I don't think so... I saw a couple of haymakers land squarely in one of the bouts... If that was staged, the guy receiving the hits is a beast!

[Godin]

Fighting should not be the way people solve their differences. As civil servants representing the police and fire departments they need to represent themselves and their profession with more class. I hold them to a higher standard than kids, ninja turtles, cats, and hockey players.

I think forumname is just pulling your chain Daydream. If not, then he won't understand your explanation.

[Godin]

I agree! However, having played in similar charity games, especially vs ''rivals'', I think that it's easy to lose track of what you are playing for and just let emotions get the best of you. I'm pretty sure the guys had a laugh about it and that there was no bad blood once the final whistle was blown.

Hockey is a violent sport and unfortunately, fights are part of it. Removing that aspect removes part of its competitive nature IMO. If the goal was to have a good clean game, then hitting and any form of contact should have been fully removed from the get go IMO.

They probably should have played a baseball game instead. Preferably slow pitch.

[reeveta]

I like the goalies in that first clip on the page. You see one goalie skating towards the other and I was waiting for something but instead the shake hands and then stand and have a chat while the fights go on around them.

[forumname]

I think forumname is just pulling your chain Daydream. If not, then he won't understand your explanation.

Not the case, and I am more than aware of the default stance of 'fighting is not the way to solve differences'. My position is that fighting is in fact, a great way to solve differences in some situations. On the ice during a hockey game is one of those situations. Kids are seeing worse every day on TV, so I'm not sure what the big problem is. Do you think your life would be better, or your childhood somehow more pure, if you could go back in time and erase all the times you saw grownups acting impulsivley, or people fighting? Why do people think we need to protect kids from this stuff so much? There are far worse things to protect kids from than a little bit of competitive violence. If anything it's probably a good thing that they learn cops and firemen are human too.

[forumname]

It's like trying to protect your kids from chickenpox. Your better off to expose them to it and get it out of the way in a controlled manner. The kids see firemen fighting cops - explain it to them, and tell them when fighting is and isn't appropriate. Kids don't need to be shielded from the world.

[Daydream Nation]

It's like trying to protect your kids from chickenpox. Your better off to expose them to it and get it out of the way in a controlled manner. The kids see firemen fighting cops - explain it to them, and tell them when fighting is and isn't appropriate. Kids don't need to be shielded from the world.

You really don't get it. It's not about shielding anyone from the world, it's about setting an example. Police officers and firemen need to be role models not condoning fighting as a way to solve problems. By the way, who is telling kids when fighting is and isn't appropriated? Parents? LOL. Have you ever talked to a group of teenagers about fighting?

[forumname]

So what example are they suppost to set? That fighting in hockey is bad? Maybe we should stop calling them crime 'fighters' and fire 'fighters' - We might be giving children the wrong idea about the proper ways to solve crime and fires.

And who says firemen and police officers have to be/should be role models in the first place? If kids grow up dumb and dangerous my money is on bad parenting every time, not the actions of some public 'role model'.

[The Comish]

I find it sad that a police and firemen charity game ends up with a bench clearing brawl. As I get older, I'm finding that I like fighting in hockey less and less.

I thought I saw a guy get tasered out there, oh wait, it was the NYPD, not RCMP. Whoever that Petey guy is, they really don't like him, chanting "Petey Sucks" and all...

[Rylant]

Absolutely brutal. Fighting should be banned in hockey period, let alone having it happen in a charity game. It's primitive, barbaric, unprofessional and unnecessary. It does nothing for the game. If anybody ever wonders why hockey is easily the least popular of the "Big 4" sports in North America, one of the first things you should look at is the fighting. The NHL wants to be taken seriously, yet they allow grown men to take off their gloves and pummel each other as a means of policing themselves... The fact is; fighting happens in hockey because it is allowed to happen. Banning fighting in hockey takes it to the next level, in my opinion.

Rylant

[Rylant]

As well, comparing allowing fighting in hockey to allowing your children to get chicken pox is an absurd analogy...

Rylant

[forumname]

You think hockey is the least popular sport of the 'big 4' because of fighting? What a joke. It couldn't possibly have anything to do with climate or cost... You're right though, Americans do hate fighting and don't take it seriously - just look how much they hate boxing, wrestling and mma!

[forumname]

If anyone's interested, I'll bet $50 that next years game gains more attention and fills more seats. Seems like a good thing for the charity if you ask me...

[Rylant]

You think hockey is the least popular sport of the 'big 4' because of fighting? What a joke.

I never said that the reason hockey is the least popular is because of fighting; don't put words in my mouth. I said it was one of the first things that should be looked at. I stand by that statement. It's difficult to take the NHL seriously for newcomers when they see how something as barbaric as bare-knuckle fighting is not only allowed, but is is basically encouraged.

Rylant