Is hockey a gladiator sport?

[blackbird]

First I must declare my personal non-interest.   I am not a sports fan of any kind

I noticed from time to time, as recently, a hockey player is what would appear, to receive serious brain injury. This occurred the other day and was caused by a hit by another player.

As a kind of outside observer, my question is should this really be an acceptable part of the "sport" in Canada?  It seems kind of like the ancient gladiators who went into the Roman coliseum to fight lions with a sword or the bull fights that take place today in Spain or the bare-fist boxing that is done possibly illegally, with bets taken.  Although the consequences of the injuries in hockey might not be as serious as in the coliseum or bare-fist boxing match.  There seems to be a macho mentality that supports this industry and pays to watch it.  Should it be considered as barbaric rather than a legitimate "sport"?  Is it possible to even play without these kinds of injuries?

[?Impact]

Yes hockey can open one up to serious injury. Certainly years ago fighting was a big part of the spectator attraction to the sport, but that has changed considerably over the decades. Yes, we would all be safer from injury playing non-contact sports, but life would be so much more boring that way. I am not much into watching professional sport of any kind, as they are only an excuse to sell widgets, but love to play the game or watch the occasional amateur team. I never kept up playing team sports as an adult, preferring individual ones, but when I was young all loved them all including hockey. Life is for living, and sport including hockey is part of living.

[Boges]

Canada's official sport is Lacrosse. That's also a violent sport. 

MMA, the ultimate modern gladiator sport, is very popular in Canada. 

Canada has a Football League. 

Canada is pretty good at Rugby internationally. 

It's unfair to single out hockey. 

[Topaz]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but female hockey isn't as violent or violent and  my view, this not the game its the guys that play it and their anger management.

[Boges]

5 minutes ago, Topaz said:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but female hockey isn't as violent or violent and  my view, this not the game its the guys that play it and their anger management.

You can play hockey without body checking, it's just not nearly as interesting. It'd be like making the NFL a flag football league. 

[OftenWrong]

12 hours ago, Boges said:

You can play hockey without body checking, it's just not nearly as interesting. It'd be like making the NFL a flag football league. 

Maybe on TV, but we who actually play the game for sport an enjoyment do not play with any contact. "We all have to go to work tomorrow."

[Topaz]

One of the roughest sport I can remember is back in 60/70's Thunderbirds and roller skating teams going at each other, do they still have them?

[-TSS-]

I have been googling about history of the NHL and I was surprised how relatively undeveloped the league was until the 70's. The same six teams played against each other for 70 rounds. That means that all teams met each other for 14 times and on top of that the play-off games. Only in the 70's the league started to expand.

Furthermore, as these days all North-American ball game-leagues have artificial east vs west-finals, that was not the case in the NHL until the 80's. There were finals between NY Islanders and Philadelphia or Philadelphia and Buffalo.

Only later on this silly artificial obsession that the final must be east vs west thing has caught the NHL too.

 

 

[Iznogoud]

On 2/24/2018 at 1:47 PM, -TSS- said:

I have been googling about history of the NHL and I was surprised how relatively undeveloped the league was until the 70's. The same six teams played against each other for 70 rounds. That means that all teams met each other for 14 times and on top of that the play-off games. Only in the 70's the league started to expand.

Furthermore, as these days all North-American ball game-leagues have artificial east vs west-finals, that was not the case in the NHL until the 80's. There were finals between NY Islanders and Philadelphia or Philadelphia and Buffalo.

Only later on this silly artificial obsession that the final must be east vs west thing has caught the NHL too.

 

 

Not quite.  In major league baseball there could be two teams from New York playing one another.  The divisional struct exists only for regular season play. 

[JoRamos1]

definitely it is

[BreezeNFT22]

of course, this is the sport of gladiators, he himself was once involved in hockey, a lot of physical effort goes away

[herbie]

On 1/16/2018 at 6:10 AM, Boges said:

It's unfair to single out hockey. 

No shit - compared to like 1974.

[Aristides]

Any contact sport is a gladiator sport except a deliberate intent to injure is not common. 

[Perspektiv]

On 1/15/2018 at 11:49 PM, blackbird said:

Should it be considered as barbaric rather than a legitimate "sport"?

What should be a standard for a sport to be considered legitimate?

I mean, hockey is about as legitimate as it gets. Not only do you need to learn agility, hone skills that take an entire childhood to acquire, but you're doing this while moving rapidly on skates and avoiding being hit.

I don't think it gets any more skilled than this.

I think contact works with hockey. The intent isn't to injure, and if it is, the player should be suspended for it. I.E A head shot, where an opposing player deliberately makes a person's head their first point of contact.

A clean hit, is what hockey is all about. Separating a player from a puck.

I used to do combat sports like boxing as a youth. My mentality, is one doesn't want to get hit, don't get into contact sports.

 

[OftenWrong]

Don't forget there's women's hockey too.

Oh yeah that's right, you woke leftists cancelled the federal grant for the women's hockey league in Canada.

Not interesting enough, as Boges would say.

[Perspektiv]

On 2/23/2023 at 10:29 PM, OftenWrong said:

Don't forget there's women's hockey too.

Last time I checked, women's hockey don't feature hard hits and the fights that likely inspired this thread.

Not to say they aren't incredibly skilled, but people tend to go wild in the crowd for a fight, a hard hit, and the numbers don't lie when it comes down to ratings.

[OftenWrong]

5 minutes ago, Perspektiv said:

Last time I checked, women's hockey don't feature hard hits and the fights that likely inspired this thread.

Not to say they aren't incredibly skilled, but people tend to go wild in the crowd for a fight, a hard hit, and the numbers don't lie when it comes down to ratings.

You are talking about watching hockey on TV. That's not what I am talking about.

Hockey is a sport played in every town in Canada, by people of all ages. They do not body slam one another into the boards routinely, nor drop the gloves and have a go at it. That's for the TV, the WWE of hockey world. For the simpletards who like to see people hurt one another. Entertainment.

So either you're a post-neo liberal urbanite who grew up in his bedroom on a kb,
or just,

American.

[Perspektiv]

5 minutes ago, OftenWrong said:

That's for the TV

Many who play competitive hockey, have aspirations to ascend their careers.

Meaning, if you want to play junior hockey (or dream of making the NHL), you need to learn how to hit. Professional hockey as well.

KHL, NHL, OHL, WHL, LHJMQ, and so on feature body contact.

If you want to play hockey for a living, it comes with the territory.

Sure tons of non contact hockey leagues, but none will boast the crowds and profitability of the hockey leagues mentioned above.

Checking in hockey, isn't just body slamming people in the boards. There's a lot more skill to it, than you're giving it credit for. There is a lot of skill not only to take a hit, but to dish one out. Cleanly, no less.

I was taught to play hockey by keeping my head up. Very easy to stick handle staring at the puck.

Keeping your head up, and seeing hockey smarts on full display due to the need to have vision to survive in such leagues, is a whole other level of hockey.

If it isn't for you its one thing. To dismiss it because you don't like it, or resort to personal insults, doesn't take away the popularity of the hard hitting hockey.

[OftenWrong]

48 minutes ago, Perspektiv said:

Many who play competitive hockey, have aspirations to ascend their careers.

Meaning, if you want to play junior hockey (or dream of making the NHL), you need to learn how to hit. Professional hockey as well.

KHL, NHL, OHL, WHL, LHJMQ, and so on feature body contact.

If you want to play hockey for a living, it comes with the territory.

Sure tons of non contact hockey leagues, but none will boast the crowds and profitability of the hockey leagues mentioned above.

Checking in hockey, isn't just body slamming people in the boards. There's a lot more skill to it, than you're giving it credit for. There is a lot of skill not only to take a hit, but to dish one out. Cleanly, no less.

I was taught to play hockey by keeping my head up. Very easy to stick handle staring at the puck.

Keeping your head up, and seeing hockey smarts on full display due to the need to have vision to survive in such leagues, is a whole other level of hockey.

If it isn't for you its one thing. To dismiss it because you don't like it, or resort to personal insults, doesn't take away the popularity of the hard hitting hockey.

It's just your opinion, which you're entitled to. The subject is, Is hockey a Gladiator Sport and I say no, not always.

That's just a brand of hockey made to appeal to the entertainment crowd.

I gave examples of the other kinds of hockey, so you are not wrong but the question is which hockey is the real hockey, the grass roots played by ordinary people who go to work or the one played by professional multi millionaires.

My point is to show that the wokesters who now are bent on attacking hockey culture dis not care about women's hockey, for exactly the reason that it wasn't gladiator enough. Just their opinion too I guess.

[Perspektiv]

5 hours ago, OftenWrong said:

That's just a brand of hockey made to appeal to the entertainment crowd.

Hockey and violence, have a very long history.

There seldom are fights in beer hockey leagues, because most of the people there have to go to work the next day. Doesn't mean there aren't any when tempers flare.

When you couple high speed, hockey sticks, testosterone and high stakes along with competitive spirits--you're bound to see violence. Sporting fights are nothing new. Not just hockey.

If anything, the violent hits you see in competitive hockey, are at least incredibly controlled levels of it.

5 hours ago, OftenWrong said:

My point is to show that the wokesters who now are bent on attacking hockey culture

Let them attack hockey culture. If anything, they'll make it more popular. Just like those who tried to cancel Dave Chappelle. If your product is good, crowds will follow, regardless of who sounds the alarm about perceived dangers.

[OftenWrong]

20 hours ago, Perspektiv said:

or resort to personal insults

It's just the new forum style. It wasn't always this way around here as it is now. So you learn to do as the others do. When in Rome...

As a consequence I now always close with a petty insult... it's the house style.

I hope that's clear enough, you mental pygmy with delusions of self esteem...

[Perspektiv]

24 minutes ago, OftenWrong said:

So you learn to do as the others do.

I prefer everything in life the hard way. I would rather lead by example, and stick to the subject of debate. 

Should one want to resort to insults, I will let them, but won't bring myself down to their level.

Am a born leader, so following is just not in my DNA.

[OftenWrong]

24 minutes ago, Perspektiv said:

I prefer everything in life the hard way. I would rather lead by example, and stick to the subject of debate. 

Should one want to resort to insults, I will let them, but won't bring myself down to their level.

Am a born leader, so following is just not in my DNA.

Me too, but I give up when the whole group's going the other way.

Besides, this culture is condoned by forum manage-ment. Which is the point why I mentioned it entirely. Nothing personal.

Now just go screw off, you small minded individual...

[Perspektiv]

35 minutes ago, OftenWrong said:

Me too, but I give up when the whole group's going the other way.

I have faced the wrath of hundreds many times before. It doesn't bother me any.

I would rather stand for something and know who I am, than to be lost, and to follow the herd.

I mean, people are free to do as they please. I was just observing. People can insult me all they wish.

[OftenWrong]

10 hours ago, Perspektiv said:

I have faced the wrath of hundreds many times before. It doesn't bother me any.

I would rather stand for something and know who I am, than to be lost, and to follow the herd.

I mean, people are free to do as they please. I was just observing. People can insult me all they wish.

I used to be like you, refuse to cross the line but now I just follow the herd. At least when it comes to telling people to stfu around here. As a writer you learn to adopt to the house style.