The most frightening aspect about the AHL fight on Tuesday — in which San Antonio’s Daniel Maggio’s straight right to the face literally knocked out San Diego’s Brian McGrattan — is that the incident caused barely a ripple in the industry, as if this sort of thing should be accepted as a cost of doing business in the world of pro hockey.
What this sort of thing is, is repulsive.
There is no place for sanctioned fistfights in 21st century hockey in any league, not with all we’ve learned about CTE and brain injuries, and not with all we still do not know on the subject. But anyone knows, or should know, it is intellectually dishonest to separate fighting from the concussion issue.
The 34-year-old McGrattan — a featured performer in the game-opening line brawl between the Flames and Canucks a couple of years ago that devolved into perhaps the darkest moment of John Tortorella’s career as a head coach, when he tried to storm the Calgary room during the first intermission — has engaged in 184 fights in his pro career and another 61 as a junior, according to the website hockeyfights.com.
Enough is enough.
Enough is enough for McGrattan, who two days after being carried off the ice unconscious said he “was not going to change anything,” even if he doesn’t know it.
Enough is enough of this bare-knuckled barbarism that hockey — and the NHL — sells as entertainment.
All arguments in favor of maintaining the status quo pale when weighed against the potentially devastating consequences men such as McGrattan, who played seven full seasons and parts of three others in the NHL, or, say, Colton Orr, or yes, John Scott, face later in life after taking repeated blows to the head.
The rationale positing that fighting is necessary to police the ice and to prevent cheap-shotters from ruling the day is particularly silly. Has fighting deterred recidivist Brad Marchand and his ilk from committing their dastardly deeds? Obviously not. (And as if the answer would lie in frontier justice rather than applied justice from the NHL, anyway.)
Beyond that, there were more cheap shots and there was dramatically more spearing and slashing in the 1970s and ’80s, when brawling was a main event across the NHL, than there is now.
Within context, there can be such a thing as “good” fight — spontaneous and in legitimate defense of a grievously wronged teammate. But there is no context under which punches to the skull can be described as “good.” Concussions don’t discriminate.
And, more to the point, far too many players who deliver legal, albeit crushing, hits are forced to defend themselves with their fists. It has become commonplace again in the NHL. There is nothing else like it in sports.
A player was punched into unconsciousness on Tuesday, a player who just as easily could have been KO’d in the NHL as in the AHL. That is not sport. That is not entertainment. There is no defense for it anymore.
No place for it in hockey for it, either.
The Department of Player Safety has become the NHL’s Fail Safe Operation, as six of the past eight suspensions and eight of 15 overall levied by the league this year have been assessed for plays on which no penalties were called by the game referees. And major penalties were assessed in only four of the incidents.
Perhaps the Board of Governors could ask Stephen Walkom for an explanation before giving the league’s VP of Officiating a standing ovation next time.
Because there has been so much misinformation floating through the Internet recently regarding Dan Girardi’s no-move/no-trade clauses, we checked in once again for confirmation with Don Meehan, No. 5’s agent at Newport Sports, on the matter.
“He is year 2 of a 6-year deal,” Meehan said in an email correspondence with Slap Shots on Friday. “He has a full no-move in the first 3 years and then in the last 3 years he can be traded to 15 teams.”
That settles that.
Final words regarding the Great Scott Fiasco and the reported implied NHL collusion on the trade that sent slow-footed enforcer John Scott to Montreal from Arizona.
As relayed to Slap Shots by a reliable informant, after the Coyotes claimed defenseman Kevin Connauton on waivers from the Blue Jackets, Arizona needed to move another contract to Montreal to complete a pending deal for Jarred Tinordi.
Arizona offered the Canadiens the option of taking Scott, on a one-year deal for $575,000, or winger Steve Downie, on a one-year contract for $1.75 million.
Montreal general manager Marc Bergevin’s Hobson’s choice was Scott. Soon after, the Downie was placed on and cleared waivers.
If Justin Williams’ signing by the Capitals likely represents the most astute free-agent acquisition of the summer, then Devils GM Ray Shero’s acquisition of 20-goal scorer Kyle Palmieri from the Ducks in exchange for the 41st selection in the 2015 Entry Draft and a third-rounder in 2016 stands as the best trade of the offseason.
The Triplets are healthy, Ryan Callahan is playing like it is 2011-12 again, the defense is in order and Tampa Bay finally appears as formidable as expected entering the season, but Steven Stamkos getting 14:55 and 15:14 of ice in consecutive games last week?
And though Lightning GM Steve Yzerman is getting his toughness bona fides with the way he is handling the Jonathan Drouin situation, is the franchise actually benefiting from it?
So it seems as if Rough Rider Paul MacLean wasn’t the problem any more than original Devil Dave Cameron is the solution to the deteriorating and toxic situation in Ottawa.
Apparently the Senators don’t have quite enough Hamburglar Helpers.
The question isn’t whether the Jackets are seeking to deal Fedor Tyutin, it is whether ownership will eat half of the $9 million remaining on the former Rangers defenseman’s contract over the next two years in order to get it done.
If Davey Keon can go home again in Toronto, then surely the Rangers can bring Jean Ratelle home again to the Garden.
Finally, I was nowhere near that outdoor rink in Columbus on Friday.
