Someone posted an old Flyers/Islanders brawl from the 70's in another thread and it got me thinking, who doesn't love a good hockey fight/brawl? This thread is to post your fave hockey fights/brawls. I'll start it out with a classic from the World Jr tourney in 1987. Canada vs Soviet Union. A real donnybrook. The arena lights get turned off and the officials eventually leave the ice. Both teams disqualified from the tournament. <iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/jZMEE7tlq6A" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Probert vs McSorley 1994 <iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/QIgfbfaTtLY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
How about a this gem from the English League? Best part is the commentating. The announcer instructing the camera man to "pan left, pan left" to show the better of the fights. 2:10 has to be my fav part as the announcer in his proper British accent yells out "Danny Myers should get beaten to Hell for that". <iframe width="560" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/-FJihbB-dlE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<iframe width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/LJkHm2WtSsk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> The Hanson Bros. from the movie Slapshot, which is on the Rennick list of top 10 movies of all time.
i kind of feel like fighting in hockey is a sure sign that its a second rate sport. its kind of silly when you see so called professional athletes dropping their gloves and grabbing jerseys and pulling them over heads and what not. its all kind of dumb and i think takes away from the professionalism of the sport. not only that but it gives incentive for a bad player to take a good player off the ice for 5 minutes which is a perverse incentive. your star players are constantly under attack by a bunch of chumps that cant play and that doesn't sound like its in the best interest of the nhl. BUT, its all entertainment so whatever. who cares.
Ummm a bad player can only take a good player off the ice for 5 minutes if the good player decides to fight him... If he's worried about being taken off, don't fight. Secondly, every team employs at least one "tough guy" if you will, who is supposed to stand in and protect any of the smaller guys from fighting any unfair battles. Most people who are against fighting in hockey have never played the game and therefore don't understand the intensity. This isn't a 4 hour baseball love fest we're talking about here.
'intensity' is a dumb argument imo. I can accept your viewpoint but you'll have to accept your tiny share of the pro sports market and having playoff games on networks nobody has ever heard of. also, if a team has to waste a roster spot on a "tough guy" with no skills to protect, does that sound like a good idea or should the nhl be drafting skilled players that can play.
I am not American and have no idea what networks broadcast hockey down there. Americans also watch Little League Baseball in large numbers, so their taste in sports is suspect at best... A team doesn't waste a roster spot, the "tough guy" can still play. Why doesn't the intensity argument fly with you? What other sport are you going full out with a weapon in your hand? There are bound to be altercations. Football would have fights too if it wasn't so impractical given all of the equipment.
The sport wouldn't be the same without the fights! How dare somebody say Hockey is a second rate sport for having fights!? It is an essential part of the game if you ask me!