Game 3 Analysis and Reaction

In no way am I trying to disrespect Detroit fans when I’m saying this stuff, I want to hear your guy’s perspective because I’ve been thinking about it for a while.

bleep bloop: You don’t understand what I’m saying. There is a code in hockey fighting, you may not know about it because a lot of players don’t talk about it but there was a book written about it, and I suggest reading it. The main purpose of fighting in hockey (and one of the big reason it remains) is it is a way for players to police themselves.

When a big hit happens a person should answer for it if called upon. That is part of the code, especially if it was against a big time player. If Brian Campbell (only based on the hit he put on Umberger in the playoffs a couple years ago) delivered that hit on Zetterberg, you would think and want redemption expected in the form of a fight. And Brian Campbell did answer that hit that he put on Umberger when Umberger asked him to fight a season later. And in no way is Brian Campbell a fighter, or Umberger for that matter. And that monster hit Stuart put on Umberger in the first round, I’m sure Umberger will come knocking next year, and I’d like to see what happens. What I’m saying is, if clean, if dirty, there is a code in hockey that the Wings seem to avoid, and I don’t understand why they do. My biggest peeve is with the Kane hit. Again arguable, from one angle it looks like an eblow, from another it just looks like a high hit. I’m not saying Cleary should have been suspended, maybe penalized, but he did not answer the hit when called upon, and I’ve seen it on instances other than Cleary with your team.

In saying this I am not taking anything away from checking, For the most part I dislike the huge hit, then fight sequence we see almost every night in the NHL, because clean hits are apart of the game. But if a guy is injured like Havlat, or Kane, or go back to when Lemieux hit Draper there should be an answer. Lemieux didn’t answer right away (cowardly) but he eventually did fight McCarty again.

I understand that Kronwall is a big part of your defensive core, and I do not expect him to drop them here in the playoffs when the wings need him to be in the game, but next year I would like to see him drop the gloves, but in all of the catalogue over at hockeyfights.com there is not one fight from Niklas Kronwall.

This is from the inside cover of the aforementioned book about The Code:
Hockey is and always has been a sport steeped in a culture of violence. Players have learned, however, to navigate the escalating levels of physical contact by adhering to an honor system known simply as “the Code.” As mysterious as it is sacred, the Code is an unwritten set of rules—the bible of hockey sportsmanship, if you will—that has been handed down from generation to generation. Although the Code has been around since the game’s inception in Canada, it remains a taboo subject, so much so that many players are simply unwilling to talk about it publicly—until now, that is.
Author Ross Bernstein spent two years researching and conducting extensive interviews with a broad spectrum of players, and he was able to get them to talk freely about their most intimate feelings about fighting and retaliation. What he learned and shares in this book is truly fascinating. While some players relished opportunities to drop the gloves and others simply dreaded it, they all had one thing in common: they did it when they had to in order to protect themselves as well as their teammates. The Code features extensive quotes that detail everything from the legal and cultural issues between the North American players and their foreign counterparts to how the players are able to turn it off when they leave the arena and go home to their kids. Most importantly, this book reveals what really goes on between the players while the fights are on.

Hockey’s rules of engagement can be summarized in three categories: protection, intimidation, and retaliation. If one player challenges another player, that second player must answer the call and “show up” or else face the humiliation of being considered dirty, or even a coward. Worse yet, if that player refuses to right what was wronged and defend his actions, he risks having that incident escalate to a higher level, involving additional teammates. That is when the enforcers come off the bench to keep the peace, and that is also usually when the crowd goes wild. By the time two heavyweights drop the gloves, there may have been up to a dozen events between several different players that led up to that fight. That is all a part of the intricate matrix that makes up the Code. And this book will help to demystify that matrix for you.

I’m sorry if anyone is taking this as disrespect. I’m not here to say DETROIT SUCKS, or any b.s. like that, I respect you guys for your love for your team I just want to hear your perspective on this subject.