To the editor:
Re: Violence in hockey games.
I used to enjoy a good hockey game but with so many serious concussions and other injuries it is not so interesting anymore.
We would go to the Kelowna games and sure enough, a fight or three would break out. All the fans stand up to get a better look to see how the fight is going.
Do fans go to the games just to see the fights or do they go to see the puck moved about with great skill and finesse?
During my 43-year working career, I never fought with any of my co-workers nor gave anyone a concussion or fat lip or black eye.
If I had I would have automatically lost my professional papers and my job as well as any hope for future employment.
On top of this, WCB would be on the case as well.
Is it legal to hurt a fellow employee at work?
In the past few years there has also been quite a few really “cheap shots” where players were hit from the side or from the back and suffered serious injury. I can still remember the game where a player was deliberately pushed into the steel support along the rink—I can still hear the ring of the head injury and it was just awful to watch.
The media was sure to play it many times on TV to make sure we all had a good look.
Now, we read that the new hockey recruits are getting fewer and fewer as parents weigh the possibility that their little “Johnny” might receive a life altering concussion on the ice even before he might have a chance for the pros.
It could be that the game is slowly dying out.
It is somewhat the same as high speed car racing: Fans really go there to see someone killed or burned in a massive pile-up—that is when the crowd really takes notice and stands up.
The best hockey game in my recollection was the women’s Olympic game—very good playing and no blood on the ice.
What are the owners afraid of?
A change to no fighting in hockey would be good for our children to see. We really don’t need to teach our children that aggression and hurting people “at work” is OK.
Watching players make across the precession passes across the ice and intelligent deking about the net, much like Wayne Gretzski used to do, does not get much better.
Remember, it is a game and not war.
Jorgen Hansen,
Kelowna
