Hockey Fights Up and Downs
Date: 2008-10-13 00:28:06
Source: http://newsok.com/article/3210047/1204265029?mp=0...
Submitted By: Hockey Fights
Justin Sawyer, the Central Hockey League leader in major penalties, is a 6-foot-6 expert on dropping his gloves and helmet to the ice. "Fighting's definitely one of my favorite parts of the game,” said the Blazers enforcer. "You get to square off in front of the fans, and they love it and it just gets you pumped up. When you're squared off it's a good feeling, and then when the fight's over you know you tried your best and all of your teammates are happy about it, so it just makes you feel good.” Sawyer was feeling good on the night of Feb. 2. The biggest Youngstown SteelHound, 6-foot-6 Milan Maslonka, was feeling good, too. So they fought. Twice. "We had to fight, because it is our work, our job,” said Maslonka, who is second in the CHL in penalty minutes. "I'm not really a fighter, but when I have to fight, I fight. I'm not scared about a fight.” There is no scared in hockey fights. "You're not afraid, but you get nervous,” Blazers forward Marty Standish said, "because you don't really want to get beat up in front of your peers, in front of your teammates and in front of the fans.” There are three reasons hockey fights happen, and Sawyer believes all of them are good. "One is to get the fans and your team going,” he said. "One is if another guy takes a liberty on your teammate, and you want to make sure that they don't do it again. And another is if you're having a bad game yourself you can just start fighting and get into it a little bit more.” Two Blazers — Graham Dearle and Tyler Harden — have had their jaws broken by punches this season. But both injuries came on what the Blazers say were cheap shots, when they weren't looking, not during what would be called a fight. "You're lucky if you get a couple of shots square in a hockey fight,” Sawyer said. "Everyone's moving and you're going around in a circle and the guy's got ahold of you, so you're lucky if you get a couple of good ones in.” Injuries happen in fights, of course. But usually not. "The worst you're usually going to get on the ice is a broken nose,” said the Blazers' other enforcer, 6-foot-4 Erick Lizon. "It's not like on the street where a guy can pull out a weapon or something.” Players estimate that 30 percent of the fights in hockey are arranged before the game even starts. Grudge matches. "There are guys, who over time, you develop a kind of hate for,” Sawyer said, "and every game you play against him you usually get into it. That definitely happens. I know last year I fought one guy four times.” When Texas' Chris Mann broke Dearle's jaw on Jan. 5, everyone on both teams knew a Blazer or two would ask Mann to "dance” the next time he played against them. Sure enough, three weeks later, 1:56 into the next Blazers-Texas tilt, Lizon introduced himself to Mann. Mann probably should expect more of the same March 9, when Texas returns to the Ford Center. "We'll ask him (to fight) and be on him all game,” Lizon said. "He'll play nervous, and it'll help our team. He'll be tense the whole game. Even if he doesn't fight, he'll know we're coming for him.” Blazers captain Tyler Fleck knows the feeling. On Dec. 28 at Rocky Mountain, he drew a game misconduct and two-game CHL suspension for attempting to injure Rage star Scott Wray. Four seconds into the next Blazers-Rage game, Rocky Mountain's Jami Yoder asked Fleck to the dance. "I have a lot of respect for Rocky Mountain,” Fleck said, "because I felt like they had to do something about what happened when I got suspended, when I took out one of their best players. They sent somebody after me, and it wasn't about who won the fight or whatever. They made a statement that that can't be done. That's the way it is. If something happens to one of our guys we're going to send somebody after their guy.” Sometimes, though, a few hours after Joe Push fights Jack Shove, Mr. Push and Mr. Shove are buddies. "You might shake their hand, talk about the fight, laugh about it. It's not personal,” Lizon said. "But there are times like the Dearle thing. If I saw him (Chris Mann) on Main Street I wouldn't be too happy.” But there are some do's and don'ts in hockey fights. "You don't want to try and knock someone out,” Sawyer said. "You just want to have a clean fight. If they go down, they go down. You don't want to see anyone get hurt. Well, I guess you do sometimes.” Long-time Colorado star Greg Pankiewicz leads the Eagles in penalty minutes and is second in the league in minors. At 37, he doesn't fight much anymore, but he respects the players who do. "There are guys who make their living doing that,” Pankewicz said. "They're key guys to have on your team. They're the heart and soul of their hockey team. They can change the momentum at any time.” The players believe fighting is necessary in hockey — sort of like having a police force on the ice. "Fighting has always been part of the game, and it should be,” said former Blazers enforcer Les Borsheim, now with Colorado. "It polices things out there. So, how is it in there? What's it like being in a hockey fight? "It's physically demanding, that's for sure,” said Youngstown's Bryan Lachapelle, who leads the league in minor penalties. "If I was a little bigger I'd probably enjoy it a little more. But I'm a very physical guy in the game. I hit a lot. I'm an agitator, and that's what I get paid to do.” All players should be ready to fight and some players are expected to fight, to stand up for themselves and their teammates, to get the crowd fired up, to change the momentum if it's swung the wrong way. To intimidate and regulate. "The thing is, nice guys finish last, you know what I mean?,” Fleck said.