Hot Stove League

Some old-timers will remember the Hot Stove League – that spirited discussion group who, sitting around a metaphorical wood stove, analyzed the NHL games between periods when it was broadcast on radio. This has evolved (or devolved) into Ron McLean’s guests and Don Cherry’s Coach’s Corner discussing all things hockey and occasionally, the body politick. The hot topic lately is what to do about violence in hockey.

Back in the bad old days when we skated on natural ice at our outdoor rink, we too had a wood stove that supplied heat for the dressing room. It was always a treat to put your stocking feet to the stove after skating and watch the vapours rise as feeling came back to your toes before tugging on boots for a two mile walk home. (Yes, I know it was uphill both ways and -25 degrees and we only went to the rink when the chores were done…) We too talked about our heroes and the violence in hockey – like the whupping Gordie put on Lou. Even the good guys had to fight sometimes.

Hockey is a rough game, and at times, a violent sport. But do we need fighting and assaults with sticks? Don Cherry may be partially right when he says that all the protective equipment players wear now is the root cause of the increased mayhem on ice. When I started playing hockey you had a pair of shin pads, Dad’s leather work mitts over Mother’s knitted wool mittens and a pair of skates that you would eventually grow into. A Maple Leaf or Canadien sweater was all that was needed to make you a star. We played shinny with our initials carved into pucks and heavy wooden sticks that would last a whole season if you didn’t use the heel too much as a support when trying to stop.

When I graduated to organized hockey at school more equipment was added: elbow pads, a jock, real hockey gloves and hockey pants with bamboo slats for protection against risers. Finally, in men’s’ hockey I added shoulder pads when playing defence but took them off when playing on the forward lines. It was only after seeing International hockey on TV that we started wearing helmets – leather ones! And through all this I don’t ever remember being hit above the waist with a stick. Cross checking and high sticking were rare, probably because everyone understood that someone could get hurt and miss work.

Sure, there were always guys who would try boarding, but they were usually bullies and the team’s enforcer would take care of them with a round of fisticuffs. It was a retaliation thing and I think that’s where we went wrong in the game as it is played today. People retaliate when they think they have been treated unfairly. If the referee doesn’t call the infraction, you take it into your own hands to retaliate. It starts with a slash, a cross-check or a thrown elbow and soon the sticks are up, players are shoving and pushing in what looks like a media scrum on parliament hill.

It would be easy to blame this on the referees, but because our kids are dressed like little knights in armour, we allow the slashing and cross checking, secure in the knowledge that the kids can’t hurt each other and it has become a part of the game. After all, if Johnny or Jane is ever going to make it to the professional leagues, they have to expect this kind of play. Where do we start to clean up the game - with the kids or with the professionals?

So, feet up to my gas fireplace, here’s what the Hot Stove League suggests if we want to get back to playing hockey instead of WWF on ice.

Professional hockey is entertainment first and foremost. The teams and players are in this for the money and they have to entertain the fans or they lose their jobs. Some players seem to think that fighting is part of the game and the attendant crashing into the boards, hitting with sticks and throwing punches is excusable because it is just hockey. ( I went to the fights the other night and a hockey game broke out.) The fans supposedly like it. Funny, but I didn’t miss all the violence when watching the women’s world hockey games. They played damn good hockey and it was exciting to watch – better than some of the recent NHL games.

To clean up professional hockey we need to hit these millionaire players and the owners in the pocket books. We need a schedule of fines to go with major penalties. Let’s penalize the player and the team each $1,000 per minute for major penalties, match and game penalties. We’ll allow minor rule infractions to be free of fines for tripping, holding, hooking and interference – all legitimate actions taken by players trying to stop a goal scoring opportunity – done in the full knowledge that their team will play for 2 minutes with one less player.

But for infractions where the intent is clearly to hurt another player – slashing, boarding, cross-checking from behind and fighting, let’s make them major 10 minutes penalties. Instigating a fight would be a match and game (current and the following scheduled game) penalty. Fighting would be a match penalty. You start a fight and your team would pay a minimum of $70,000. So would you. Cross check an opponent from behind and it will cost you and your team $5,000. Teams would soon get rid of the goons as they couldn’t afford to keep paying the fines. All fines would go to charity just so the league officials don’t get greedy and try to influence the referees!

As an example, the Flyer’s hooligan, Brashear, in game 2, would have had to pay $85,000 in fines. The same fine would have applied to the team. Even Bobby Clarke would soon realize that his condoning the use of Brashear to ‘take out’ Tampa Bay’s best players was just too expensive. Brashear would figure it out even if Clarke couldn’t.

Similarly, it would not take long for the light bulb to go on in the heads of Junior A or American League players. Minor hockey coaches would also see the trend. If youngsters want to make it to the big time, they need to be skilful. Yes, you might still want to know how to throw a body check to flatten some unaware flying forward, but swinging a stick won’t be your way to riches. Who knows, maybe we would even see the day when professional players take off their helmets and race down the ice like Guy LaFleur, hair flying in the wind, dancing around defensemen on his way to the goal. Don Cherry would love it.

Go Flames!