The Commish Vs. The Enforcer

NAPLES, Fla.

Gary Bettman isn’t the slightest bit concerned that his league’s top heavyweight, Georges Laraque, has proclaimed new proposals aimed at clamping down on NHL fighting are a “joke.”

“I’d like to talk to Georges about it one-on-one,” said the NHL commissioner today as the GMs meetings wrapped up. “Somebody told me he said he wished that people who understand the game and fighting had participated. Well, the sub-committee that focused on fighting included Paul Holmgren and Kris King, who collectively had more than 250 fights.

“Not everybody is going to like everything. . .I think these rules aren’t so far off the mark with things (Laraque) would be comfortable with.”

Laraque, after hearing new proposals on fighting voted upon by the league’s general managers, told TSN, “They might as well take fighting out of the NHL” and said they were the “stupidest thing ever.”

Oddly, Laraque made headlines a few weeks ago by saying he was in favour of rules that would make fighting safer. Most of his fights, of course, occur off faceoffs, the so-called “staged” fights, and he was embarrassed last year when a hidden microphone caught him arranging a fight on the ice with another player, ending the conversation with, “Good luck.”

The league’s GMs voted on Tuesday in favour of proposals that would give extra 10-minute misconduct penalties to participants in staged fights and the increase use of the instigator in cases in which players are responding to a clean hit on a teammate.

The league will also instruct linesmen to break up fights in which one of the participants is losing badly more quickly, but couldn’t come up with a proposal to make it mandatory for players to wear helmets in fights. That, of course, got a lot of attention after Whitby Dunlops defenceman Don Sanderson died in January after striking his head on the ice during a fight, which motivated the Ontario Hockey League to make it illegal to fight without a helmet.

Bettman pronounced himself pleased with the new measures proposed by the GMs.

“Greater enforcement of existing rules as they relate to the instigator, I think that makes sense,” said Bettman.

“In response to the trend over the last eight years of fights off the faceoff being up 30 per cent, and the notion of giving a penalty for that kind of fight as opposed to the guys who are out there to play hockey, made sense.

“The notion of having the linesmen being a little more aggressive if they think a player is vulnerable made a whole lot of sense. As far as helmets, because of the visor issue people were concerned about the ramifications of not taking helmets off. You have players like Jarome Iginla and Mike Richards who, when they fight, take their helmets off. We’re going to take a further look at what a mandatory helmet rule might entail.”

Bettman said the GMs believed it was time to have a thorough discussion on fighting.

“We always try to be self-aware and self-analytical,” he said. “We were of course very mindful of the Sanderson tragedy. . .the group felt it was something we needed to talk about and needed an analyze. But as a group we felt it was important not to have a knee-jerk reaction.”

The NHL commissioner said he knows the new proposals won’t end the debate on fighting, but he doesn’t see a ban on fighting in the NHL any time soon.

 “Fighting has always been an emotional issue,” he said. “In terms of any interaction I’ve had with hockey executives, coaches, players and fans, the overwhelming sentiment is that its part of the game and there’s no burning desire by people who have a large interest in the game to get rid of it.”

Comments

[Guelphdad]

If Bettman thinks these new ideas make sense why weren't they in place before? He's the head of the NHL isn't he?

[Gary]

Yes, it has been part of the game, and I admit I enjoy a good scrap.
But what I enjoy much more is hard hitting , tough hockey where every inch of ice is contested. No fights required.
All of the other major sports don't tolerate fighting, and they seem to do just fine.
It's time for it to go. The players doing the fighting now are bigger, stronger and someone in the NHL is going to suffer brain damage or worse from one of these fights.

[Jamie]

I think this is the first story about Bettman Ive ever read the did NOT make me want to bash my head against a wall! both these changes seem logical, and get right to the heart of the issue. You can't take fighting completely out of the game, it's too physical and emotional. But, the fights after clean hits drive me nuts (more than anything else honestly), and the dancing after face offs is useless and takes the flow outta the game.

[Clark aitken]

Georges Laraque's comment kind of sounds like the auto workers' unions talking about the restructuring in the Detroit auto companies. They've made a comfortable living based on a certain set of circumstances, the times have justified that the circumstances must change as a means of progress, and the person's skill set doesn't justify his place in the new circumstance. So rather than try and improve, he complains.

[Robert]

How to fight in the new NHL:

1) Line up against each other at the faceoff.

2) Follow each other around until one of you touches the puck.

3) The player that touches the puck ices it, then they drop the gloves and scrap.

[Brian Hanlon]

This is a hard one to vote for or against. I like to see a good fight if it is deserving on both sides.I also like to watch a good clean hard hitting hockey game. If the game improves to a faster hard hitting game I am all for the new fighting rules but I think the fights will always be there. Either way I will watch hockey, the best sport ever!

[Akman]

What is the time limit for a "staged fight"? Who's to say the players will wait for 90 seconds to have their "staged fight" thus avoiding the 10 minute misconduct. If this sport REALLY wants to grow to a newer audience, it needs to get rid of fighting.

[mporter9]

All of you people that say it is "PART OF THE GAME". If is such an essential part of the game, why do we almost NEVER see a fight in the playoffs, or in the olympics or in the WJHC? And that is pretty good hockey to watch. In the end these new rules add up to nothing. All they did was make people THINK they did something to address the issue, when in reality, they didn't.

[justafan]

How's this for an idea to stop staged fights? The referee would be forced to give ONE of the fighters an additional 2 minutes. Coaches would think twice about sending them out, if there was a 50% chance you would get the extra two. I enjoy a "real" fight, but the staged fights are ridiculous.