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As the National Hockey League continues to shift its focus towards player safety and cleaning up the game, I'm left wondering why the most obvious of all changes hasn't been made on a collective level.
You know, the complete elimination of 'goons' in the sport we love.
The goal of this blog
isn't to discuss the merits of fighting and whether or not enforcers have a legitimate argument in respect to their role on a team's active roster. Both sides have voiced their concerns tirelessly over the off-season, and I'm sure we'll here plenty of more discussion after each big hit and subsequent brawl.
No, the focus of this blog is pretty cut-and-dry: What the hell is the purpose of the 'goon' in hockey? You know exactly the player I'm talking about, too. The guy's role is to look for an instant kill shot every time he steps foot on the ice. He's not looking to put forth a positive and meaningful shift, and he certainly doesn't care about how his play effects the team in the win/loss column.
Some are probably wondering what caused me to write this blog. Well, anyone actively following the Ottawa Senators camp knows there was a bit of a quagmire this morning. Nikita Filatov was working his tail off much like every other camp day this season, but was briefly sent to the locker room after being blindsided by one Francis Lessard.
We're not talking an accidental hit. We're talking a hit where the goal was to inflict as much pain as humanly possible. On a teammate, no less.
What's incredible about a player like Lessard - one who has no talent, and really no business playing professional hockey - is that he's not a rare case in the slightest. I've beaten Trevor Gillies senselessly over the past year, and while I know that his role pushes him in a certain direction, it certainly doesn't make his actions defensible. What about Jay Rosehill in Toronto? He's no better.
None of the three mentioned(or plenty of others whose names aren't even worth discussing) have the slightest bit of hockey talent, but because they play physical and can punch the living hell out of one another, they earn roster spots. Not only are they taking minutes away from actual hockey players, but they continue to decrease the product on the ice.
I guess I'm lost as to why these players were even given contracts in the first place. There's plenty of fighters around the league who don't result to the incredibly cheap and dirty tactics that the aforementioned do.
So, who's to blame for this situation? Well, very clearly the National Hockey League, for allowing this kind of activity to play out for such a long time. And, as much as the NHL pretends to discipline some of these guys for their wanton disregard for human life, the vast majority are still skating with their respective teams.
The teams are to blame, too. Not to pile on the Ottawa Senators here, but since it's the team I write for and the one player in question - Francis Lessard - is the basis of this blog, we'll use them as a baseline. Eugene Melnyk once told the Fan 590 that his franchise wouldn't sign these kinds of players, yet there Lessard is, collecting paycheck after paycheck from the organization. What's even more ironic is that Melnyk is considered one of the leaders for player safety, imploring that the NHL take a 'radical stance' on headshots by handing out lifetime bans.
Again, though, Melnyk's just one of many examples. He and the rest of the suits in Ottawa didn't have to offer Francis Lessard a contract, and they definitely didn't have to
Said Melnyk after injuries to Jason Spezza and Sidney Crosby[OS]:
"I complained about that and it didn't get anywhere. It's now happened to the elite player in the league, Sidney Crosby," said Melnyk.
"It's going to continue to happen unless some radical stuff goes on. I'm as far to the right wing on this issue as you can ever get.
"You hit a guy in the head: You're gone and I mean gone. A deliberate hit, you don't play hockey anymore. That's the way you're going to do it. You're gone."
He's absolutely right. So, why the paradox? Is the league forcing organizations into precarious spots where they need goons to protect the rest of their talented roster players?
If that's the case, then the blame can shift back to the National Hockey League as a whole. But, just once, I'd like to see a franchise let their actions do the talking. Instead of 'saying' that you want radical changes and other forms of rhetoric, stop handing out contracts to these kinds of players. Encourage a cleaner game by assembling a roster based on talent, not on brutish physicality.
For the record, Lessard's pro-rated NHL salary last year was $550k. Yeah, not exactly chump change.
Fighting may or may not have a purpose. But playing with the sole intent to harm or injure has none.
And that's sad, because I think that the 'goon' who can stick to his role as a fighter and play it clean does have a job in the NHL for a long time.
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