Hockey violence (off topic, obviously)

[-Jar-]

I know there are some hockey fans here...

I saw a "hit" replayed on the news last night that sent shivers down my spine. Anyone who would do anything like this outside of a Hockey game would be arrested for felony assault, maybe even attempted murder. This guy Alexander Perezhogin (Hamilton Bulldogs) just took a full, hard swing <i>with his stick</i> right at this Cleveland Baron's player Garrett Stafford's face. Stafford was on his knees when he was hit, he then fell over onto the ice, started bleeding and convulsing. As a relative hockey outsider I was disgusted. I agree with the Cleveland Baron's coach.. Perezhogin should never play hockey professionally again.

Not like I care that much about the sport of hockey, it's just seeing that clip really bothered me. Stafford could have been killed. If you're going to fight, lay down the damn sticks.

http://www.wkyc.com/sports/sports_fullstory.asp?id=18602

[Stone]

I know there are some hockey fans here...

I saw a "hit" replayed on the news last night that sent shivers down my spine. Anyone who would do anything like this outside of a Hockey game would be arrested for felony assault, maybe even attempted murder. This guy Alexander Perezhogin (Hamilton Bulldogs) just took a full, hard swing right at this Cleveland Baron's player Garrett Stafford's face. Stafford was on his knees when he was hit, he then fell over onto the ice, started bleeding and convulsing. As a relative hockey outsider I was disgusted. I agree with the Cleveland Baron's coach.. Perezhogin should never play hockey professionally again.

Not like I care that much about the sport of hockey, it's just seeing that clip really bothered me. Stafford could have been killed. If you're going to fight, lay down the damn sticks.

http://www.wkyc.com/sports/sports_fullstory.asp?id=18602

I'm a pretty big hockey fan (although I seem to have less interest in it with each passing year) and I was appalled by that replay when I saw it on SportsCenter. There's really no place in hockey for that. People wonder why hockey gets a bad rap - it's because of idiots like that. I agree - there should be some serious punishment on the order of him never playing professionally again. Something has to be done before the violence gets out of hand in pro hockey.

[MindGoneHaywire]

I'm not big on the typical anti-hockey hyperbole that floats around after incidents like this, but there's obviously nothing that can or should be said in defense of incidents like this. Mind you, I haven't seen the clip, but it's not hard to figure out. I do have a question, though: I don't remember seeing the word 'unprovoked' in the article; was it there? I ask that only because I don't remember seeing it used in coverage of the Todd Bertuzzi hit, either. In that case, as in the Marty McSorley-Donald Brashear incident a few years ago, the vicious hit in question was supposedly as a result of something that happened before--fights in both cases. In the McSorley-Brashear incident, both are enforcers. Colorado's Moore is not, so any rationale for Bertuzzi punishing a goon for actions undertaken against teammates, or skill players in general, does not wash. So it's a good thing he didn't use it.

I can't imagine we're likely to hear of anything that the Barons player might've done that would've caused any Hamilton player to be head-hunting, unless it was out of the ordinary. My opinion is that the Hamilton player deserves to be prosecuted (aggravated assault?), and suspended from professional hockey for at least 5 years, if not for life. And...I don't know if the instigator rule the NHL has foolishly employed for years is also a rule in minor league hockey, but it should be repealed, it really should. Goons take shots at skill players regularly because they know if they can bait a skill player into a fight, they remove the skill player from the ice, and an opposing enforcer can't jump in. Some go so far as to blame the rule for these incidents when the blame belongs on the player, but the rule doesn't help matters. If this incident looks like what it's described as, it's like nothing I've ever seen in more than 20 years of following hockey.

[Ex Lion Tamer]

I do have a question, though: I don't remember seeing the word 'unprovoked' in the article; was it there?

This was probably the ugliest incident I've ever seen in any sport. And nothing I'm about to write is meant to excuse Perezhogins actions, but, this was not an uprovoked incident. Perezhogin and the Cleveland player (name escapes me), were jostling behind and in front of the net. Perezhogin fell to the ice and dragged the Cleveland player with him. While sitting on the ice, the Cleveland player swung his stick at Perezhogin, glancing a blow off the top of Perezhogins helmet, then, as he's getting up Perezhogin swings his stick in retaliation. Perezhogin connected, the other player didn't.

To me, though this looks much uglier than MacSorley/Brashear or Bertuzzi/Moore, it is not aa heinous an act as either of those two incidents, because it was a heat of battle incident rather than a un-provoked stalking from behind like the other two incidents.

Having said all that, it is an ugly act and should probably result in a one to two year suspension, however I think that the quote from Cleveland team's coach is disingenuous, since his player did the same thing, as Perezhogin, he just didn't connect. If he had we'd be talking about how long his suspension should be.

Mark

[-Jar-]

To me, though this looks much uglier than MacSorley/Brashear or Bertuzzi/Moore, it is not aa heinous an act as either of those two incidents, because it was a heat of battle incident rather than a un-provoked stalking from behind like the other two incidents.

Having said all that, it is an ugly act and should probably result in a one to two year suspension, however I think that the quote from Cleveland team's coach is disingenuous, since his player did the same thing, as Perezhogin, he just didn't connect. If he had we'd be talking about how long his suspension should be.

Mark

I kind of thought that might be the case. Since I live in Cleveland, of course, they focused on the retaliation. I guess the only real way to make this kind of thing stop is to start giving out harsher punishments to those who swing a stick at all. Could you imagine if a batter in baseball turned around and whacked the catcher with his bat after a brush-back?
I know a hocky stick is lighter than that.. but still. As I said, I really don't care. But seeing that replay really did send a chill down my spine.

-jar