The Myth of Revenge

And the moral of the story is?

Well, despite all the talk and all the cavemen who suggest knocking a few teeth out will teach this guy or that guy a lesson, and how the removal of the instigator penalty would fix all that ails the NHL, the reality is that revenge is a nearly impossible commodity to purchase or otherwise acquire in this league.

MARY SCHWALM/AP

Not much of a payback for Boston fans against Matt Cooke.

Think about it. Of all the dastardly crimes committed over the past 20 years in the NHL, on how many occasions was revenge truly exacted by the victimized party, or parties?

The truly deranged might say Todd Bertuzzi on Steve Moore in response to a hit on Markus Naslund, but in that one terrible moment, Bertuzzi did nearly as much damage to himself, the Vancouver organization and the futures of his GM and coach as he did to Moore.

You might say Darren McCarty on Claude Lemieux, but did it change Lemieux's game because he and McCarty went toe-to-toe? Did it somehow make it seem at all that matters were square over Kris Draper's crushed face?

Really, the only true sense the Wings got revenge was that they beat the Avalanche in an important hockey series.

Last night in Boston, there was no chance revenge was going to be possible for the Bruins on Matt Cooke unless they found a way to seriously injure him by legal means or otherwise, or if they took it to the Stanley Cup champions and won an important hockey game.

But injuring a guy like Cooke isn't easy. He may be a rat, but he's tough and experienced and had been through that situation more than a few times before. He was prepared, and the only way Shawn Thornton could really accomplish much was to get extra shots in after the linesmen jumped in - hey, isn't that against the vaunted "code"? - and all that did was earn him 10 minutes of extra penalty time.

The Bruins, meanwhile, aren't a good hockey team. They traded away Phil Kessel, don't have Marc Savard and have watched as Tim Thomas slowly become a backup.

Beating the Penguins on this night would have been a big surprise.

So revenge was not accomplished, which has some lunkhead sportswriters in Boston frothing at the mouth even more than usual. What did they think the Bruins were going to be able to do to Cooke? Knock his teeth out? He already was absent a few.

Did they think fighting Cooke would somehow bring Savard back from the deep dark cloud in which his life is now enveloped?

It's always thus. Did the Florida Panthers get revenge on Mike Richards because Bryan McCabe confronted him? Richards can handle himself, and David Booth still isn't close to be the same again.

Did the Leafs make Cam Janssens pay for his cheap-shot on Tomas Kaberle by having Wade Belak fight him? 'Course not. Janssens carried on and Kaberle, I'd argue, is only now getting back to being the player he was.

There's this myth in hockey that fighting somehow evens the score, and it almost never does, either because the perpetrators of various acts are thugs in the first place and able to fight as well as anyone who might challenge them - Chris Simon, Marty McSorley, Steve Downie - or they are like most NHLers, extremely well conditioned athletes who can deal effectively with a pugilistic encounter by grabbing on.

Moreover, like many things in life, there's this romantic belief that in the misty past hockey players were like English knights, settling differences honorably and like gentleman. It's just not true. They used to swing sticks at each other's heads. Cheap shots were plentiful. There were rats and cheap shot artists in the game then. Rocket Richard once said that to understand the time when he played would be understand how violent it was.

The good old days of the NHL never existed. But some convince themselves that they did, that in those days players knew how to take care of their differences and "police" the game.

You know, like Ted Green and Wayne Maki. Eddie Shore and Ace Bailey. Folks, those Broad St. Bullies weren't protecting or policing anyone - they were using intimidation as a tactic.

Fact is, whether it was hockey back then or the way it is now, nothing was going to even the score for Cooke's hit on Savard. Justice is only possible through a third party, and in this case the NHL failed itself and its players badly, while the players union has all but deserted the scene. But the absence of true justice through those means didn't change the facts that getting even was going to be next to impossible for the Bruins.

People who believed revenge was going to be exacted by the Bruins last night are thus more frustrated today than they were yesterday and are, presumably, oblivious to the moral of the story.

Comments

[Bryan Paynter]

it isn't about evening the score. Do you think that sending someone to prison for murder EVENS the score? Do you think even the death penalty given to someone who murders a child is EVENING the score?

Justice can't even the score.

It is about payment. And in my book the price for cheap-shotting someone is a fight - that is a quicker price and sharper price than the league governing body coming out with some suspension...for in the case of cooke...do you give him the same amount of games as Savard? That wouldn't even really EVEN THE SCORE for Cooke's addition to the Pens is far less than Savard's to the Bruins. Do we need some mathmatical calculation? Hmm...based on points and production? Therefore if Savard misses 10 games, Cooke would have to miss 10*(some factor of his production versus Savard's)...

The governing body will never protect a team's players as effectively as a team will. It is the same in life. BIG TIME STARS often hire bodyguards. Why? Because those bodyguards will make sure the STAR is safe beyond any legislation governed down through the police and other agencies. Do the bodyguards ever cross the line? Probably so, but it is effective.

[Jim Barraford]

I'm so sick of hearing and reading from the Junior Don Cherry's of the internet rant on and on about the "Code". No other major sport allows this nonsense. There are 2 easy solutions. 1. Mandatory suspensions starting at 5 games for first time offenders of less severe violations, 10 games for more severe. Each subsequent suspension is doubled. So a 2nd offender is looking at 10/20. 3rd offender 20/40. One would think there wouldn't be a 4th. Part 2. The team has to play short that player the entire length of the suspension. Downie, Carcillo, C. Orr and the others are out of hockey instantly (teams will not dare chance being short for long stretches employing goons - not even the Flyers) and we can finally have the game we should have. The Olympics show that we can have very physical hockey without fighting.
Until fighting is driven from the game the movie "Slapshot" will be the Lord's bible for a large segment of the Canadian public, and the Devils bible for a large segment of the American public..

[mapleleafslifesentence]

touche, mr. cox. as always you tell it like it is (rather than how others wish it could be told).

[stickhandle]

Agreed with Jim in principle ... the 1, 2 and 4 game stuff is nonsense.
Define the offense.
- Have a defined scale of suspensions per offense.
- Have a defined link between offense and scale.
- Have a defined multiplier for repeat offenders.
- Offenses attributed to repeat offenders results in fines to the club.
No replacing (from minors or otherwise) of a suspended player - that's a great idea Jim (NHLPA would hate this since it takes away work). Finally, so much of this garbage results as payback for a clean, but hard, hit on a teammate. That's gotta come out the game .... good physical play is the lifeblood of this game. Its the great equalizer - in the NHL, OHL and even in the beer leagues. Without it, the freak talents just run wild. The game needs it. Getting rid of the really cheap shots is easy. The marginal cheat shots are a lot harder. Let's remember ... this game is fast. Sometimes bad hits and dirty play happen kinda by accident. That's why judging this stuff comes down to context ... and can't be handled by referees, but rather more complex after the fact analysis. Anyway ... one more idea. My beer league, like many, have a defined limit of penalty minutes an individual can tally up before a suspension. I suppose this is a good measure of the nastiness of a player. Sure a big brawler tallies 'em up faster, but it also snuffs out the serial elbow-er, high stick-er, trip-er etc. One or 2 can happen along the way as part of playing aggressively, but over the course of a short beer league season, if you rack up 10 -- then you have a problem playing by the rules.
End rant.

[Andrew Green]

First off, I want to start by saying fighting is a part of the game that shouldn't be banished in any way. But, fighting can only serve so much of a purpose. Shawn Thornton fighting Matt Cooke last night did nothing to even out the burden Cooke put on the Bruins. Players fight for a variety of reasons, and most often when players decide to drop the gloves it's because of a simple and often stupid disagreement, not when your team's top player is hit and injured for the rest of the season. In both situations however, the result of the fight is the same; a few punches were exchanged, maybe a few bruises, and a five minute major. After that both players are back in the game. In order for the Bruins to have evened out this battle, it would have likely ended in a bad ending for a Penguins player. This wasn't going to happen, so I agree with you Damien, that revenge in this league is impossible.

[Varun]

Damien, I really think you captured the feelings of a lot of frustrated fans in this situation. You wrote something yesterday that really stuck with me and I think speaks volumes about these situations. You basically said that there has been so much talk about all this revenge that no one cared anymore about the outcome of the game. It's sad that "evening the score" with one dummy on the Penguins took the Bruins completely out of the game.

[adeel ahmad]

Why not let the police decide?

[Steve C.]

Yeah it's goofy, but it's entertainment...lighten up. These guys make so much money it kind of makes me laugh to see them beat each other up for us. Who of us wouldn't risk the slight chance of a Moore-like injury in exchange for retiring by the age of 30? These guys are laughing all the way to the bank, don't try to protect their precious faces.

[James Clifford]

Letting the inmates run the asylum NEVER results in a safer environment. Violence begets violence. Damien is correct: true justice is only possible through a third party. The league needs to take control of the sport and deliver hockey where skill and clean bodychecking determine the outcome. I'd rather watch hockey like the Olympics than that garbage last night in Boston.

[Bob Holden]

Good comment, all pretty much true. Like the mythical, Gordie Howe hat trick, a goal, an assist and a fight. Well back in the "good old days", of the six team NHL we used to see Detroit on HNIC a lot, and the truth as I recallit is that big Gordie had lots of goals and assists, but he didn't need to fight much, if he needed more room, his elbows ans stick got it for him.

If they make any head contact, a penalty, match penalty for second offence, suspension with a shortening of the roster, the third time, the head shots will disappear and hockey will still be a rough and exciting game.

[Matt B]

Damien: one of your best arguments you've made (and I generally agree with your points).

I continue to say this: head shots and fighting will be pushed out of the game not by the league or players, but by lawyers and insurance companies. How can a league "allow" fighting when it insures its million dollar assets? One day the insurance companies of NHL teams will step in and say, "I won't pay for Savard's salary while on rehab because the NHL didn't do its work of protecting the player in the workplace." Just watch.

[Gladiator]

I dont know why Downie's name always gets thrown into the mix.... Sure hes a pest but he does a good job at it. Are you bringing up his name because he was recently fined by taking down Crosby??? That was just two guys playing hard and getting tangled up, there never should have been a fine. Downie has 18 goals and 41 points this year. Cox you couldnt even hold his jockstrap.

[Patrick]

Damien ,I think you completely miss the point here. The bruins would be the first ones to say there is not a way to get "proper revenge" How do you think they should have dealt with the situation? Thornton challenging Cooke and Cooke accepting is why hockey is the most honest pro sport in the world. In baseball they throw the ball at your head 100mph. Football players break each others fingers and eye gouge in pile-ups. Basketball players hard foul each other and break ribs with elbows to get revenge. Hockey players square off toe to toe and fight. Like it or not revenge exists and will always exist in pro sports. And to the jokers who say " Olympic hockey didn't have fighting" Let those teams play an 82 game season and then come talk to me. That opinion is ridiculous and popular among those who have no clue and never played competitive hockey.
I don't ever expect you to agree with fighting and I know where you stand on the issue but it would have been nice to hear your solution to the Matt Cooke problem or at least one that involves honour/pride.

[James]

"So revenge was not accomplished, which has some lunkhead sportswriters in Boston frothing at the mouth even more than usual. What did they think the Bruins were going to be able to do to Cooke? Knock his teeth out? He already was absent a few."

I'm not exactly sure what they're supposed to want or expect from the Bruins in that game. The NHL failed to suspend Cooke and Savard is done for the season. Obviously you are more of a pascifist, but if the same thing were to happen to Kessel or Kadri in the next few seasons (if Kessel were taken out now it wouldn't exactly de-rail the Leafs season) where they were injured for the rest of the season on a play that didn't garner a suspension, wouldn't you the culprit to face some sort of music? Nobody wants a Bertuzzi-Moore V2, but we also don't want a league where people like Cooke are protected by any and all means of retribution.

[Houlio]

I used to really like fighting until I started reading Damian's blogs and he repeatedly pointed out the nonsense of it all - now only the odd heat of the moment fight really appeals to me.

At a broader level, I wonder how many actually good, exciting players are buried in the minors because teams like Toronto are compelled to play guys like Colton Orr 3 minutes a night. People complain about a watered-down league and lack of exciting product but I think a good part of the problem is that there are too many of these 'role players' with very little natural skill taking up roster spots.

[Drew M]

The culture of hockey needs to change and it has to start with getting rid of fighting. Body checking of any sorts whether clean or dirty is pretty much now forbidden since any hard check results in having to fight the other team's goon (why refs no longer call the instigator penalty is baffling).

The dancing bears fight (ie staged fights shortly after the faceoff) have absolutely nothing to do with the actual game being played. It's one thing for two guys boiling over into a fight in the heat of the moment, but these days it's a farce.

As for people who say fighting helps "police" the game, it's pretty evident that it is an epic failure. The increase in these devestating, disrespecture hits are on the rise. American football is just as hard hitting of a game if not more yet doesn't condone any fighting of any sort. (Ray Lewis has been measure to hit with 1,000 lbs of force when he tackles)

The NHL will fade into extinction if they keep catering to the few cavemen left in society.

[JohnnyWalker]

In hockey, these types of situations have always been more about the 'idea' of revenge than of the revenge itself, I think. No one really expects an opposing player to get kneecapped or, really, have anything happen to them other than the odd tussle here and there. So why do it? Because it helps to motivate the supposedly "wronged" team, adds storylines to the games, and finally is pretty damn entertaining to watch, too (at least in the caveman section, where I sit!).

[other mark]

You want to get rid of fighting? Get rid of the cheap shots first. If Steve Ott, Sean Avery, Matt Cooke and their ilk were given the types of penalties and suspensions they deserve, then I doubt that the McGrattons & Orrs would be in the lineups for other teams. That's 80% of fights (your goon against my goon) gone right off the bat and the most dangerous plays (committed by the cheap shot artists) also eliminated.

[Rob Evans]

The Star:
Hits to the head or blindsiding hits are not allowed in European hockey so why do we let the NHL get away with it? I am fedup with listening to that Idiot Don Cherry who, dressed like a clown, says that fighting and hits to the head are just, "part of the game". What worries me is that some younger hockey players actually listen to him. Put him in the WWF where he might fit in.
Rob Evans
Willowdale

[Stan Wright]

Damage? Bertuzzi made himself tradable, which netted his team Roberto Luongo.