DaveC
Blue Crack Addict
http://youtube.com/watch?v=fOomh_YPcYI&watch_response
Unbelievable.
The worst part of it for me, is when one of the coaches opens the gate so players can come off the bench, and then naturally the kids go to jump in.
I remember our last game in Bantam hockey (13-14 years old), our team was absolutely terrible in the playoffs and we ended up playing in the 5th place game (it was a 6-team league). Well, it was the last game of the season, and by the 3rd period the score was something like 4-0. So me and my two linemates said we wanted to start a fight. There's no fighting in Bantam hockey (automatic 5-minute penalty and an automatic game misconduct, and probably a suspension too). We figured since it was the last game of the season they couldn't really suspend us, and if we did it in the last few minutes of the game all we'd end up missing would be maybe one shift, if that.
So, the three of us go out with about 2 minutes to play in the 3rd period. Faceoff is in our end. The other team wins the faceoff, and we'd already basically packed it in so we weren't playing very hard (nobody was in the 5th-place game). They controlled the puck, passed it around a bit, took a couple weak shots...basically just killing off the last two minutes. Eventually with about 1:10 left, our goalie makes a save and freezes the puck. A kid on the other team skates by and whacks our goalie on the pads. Now, he obviously meant it to congratulate the goalie on a nice save, but our left winger (I was playing right wing) decided he was going to start the fight then and there. As soon as the kid whacked the goalie in the pads, our LW comes charging in from the hash marks and absolutely hammers the poor kid into the end boards (there's no hitting in non-competitive minor hockey, either). The kid goes down like a sack of bricks, and our LW jumps on top of him and starts hammering away. One of their players jumps on, our center jumps on that guy, and since I'd already told my linemates that I would be in if they started it, I leaped onto the pile too. Some kid jumped on me, the defencemen started swinging at each other and we soon had a full-fledged line brawl.
We were swinging at each other with helmets and gloves on (it was impossible to take a helmet off then, since we had full face cages, and nobody wants to punch a cage with their bare hands), but it was an actual fight. The kid I was fighting was bigger than me, but it wasn't much of a fight seeing as neither of us had ever tried to seriously punch someone on skates before, so we kept falling down, swearing at each other, getting up, swinging, and falling again (we played house league, the league for kids with no real talent). After about 2 or 3 minutes the linesman came over and separated us after he'd broken up the rest of the fights, and those of us that were on the ice all got sent to the dressing room for the final minute.
It was one of the coolest things I've ever done on the ice.
I guess the whole team wanted to go over the boards and fight the rest of the other squad. But the thing is, I remember hearing my couch yelling as loudly as possible (and he was LOUD) "NO ONE GOES ON THE ICE OR YOU WON'T BE PLAYING THE START OF THE SEASON NEXT YEAR", and had his assistants stand in front of the doors so that the only way on the ice would be to leap over the boards (not the easiest thing to do when you're 13). The other coach did the same thing. It absolutely floors me that a NOVICE coach (5-8 year-olds) would not only NOT tell the players on the bench not to go on the ice, but actually open the door for him so he could go join the scrap. Incredible.
This has been all over the news in Canada all week.
Unbelievable.
The worst part of it for me, is when one of the coaches opens the gate so players can come off the bench, and then naturally the kids go to jump in.
I remember our last game in Bantam hockey (13-14 years old), our team was absolutely terrible in the playoffs and we ended up playing in the 5th place game (it was a 6-team league). Well, it was the last game of the season, and by the 3rd period the score was something like 4-0. So me and my two linemates said we wanted to start a fight. There's no fighting in Bantam hockey (automatic 5-minute penalty and an automatic game misconduct, and probably a suspension too). We figured since it was the last game of the season they couldn't really suspend us, and if we did it in the last few minutes of the game all we'd end up missing would be maybe one shift, if that.
So, the three of us go out with about 2 minutes to play in the 3rd period. Faceoff is in our end. The other team wins the faceoff, and we'd already basically packed it in so we weren't playing very hard (nobody was in the 5th-place game). They controlled the puck, passed it around a bit, took a couple weak shots...basically just killing off the last two minutes. Eventually with about 1:10 left, our goalie makes a save and freezes the puck. A kid on the other team skates by and whacks our goalie on the pads. Now, he obviously meant it to congratulate the goalie on a nice save, but our left winger (I was playing right wing) decided he was going to start the fight then and there. As soon as the kid whacked the goalie in the pads, our LW comes charging in from the hash marks and absolutely hammers the poor kid into the end boards (there's no hitting in non-competitive minor hockey, either). The kid goes down like a sack of bricks, and our LW jumps on top of him and starts hammering away. One of their players jumps on, our center jumps on that guy, and since I'd already told my linemates that I would be in if they started it, I leaped onto the pile too. Some kid jumped on me, the defencemen started swinging at each other and we soon had a full-fledged line brawl.
We were swinging at each other with helmets and gloves on (it was impossible to take a helmet off then, since we had full face cages, and nobody wants to punch a cage with their bare hands), but it was an actual fight. The kid I was fighting was bigger than me, but it wasn't much of a fight seeing as neither of us had ever tried to seriously punch someone on skates before, so we kept falling down, swearing at each other, getting up, swinging, and falling again (we played house league, the league for kids with no real talent). After about 2 or 3 minutes the linesman came over and separated us after he'd broken up the rest of the fights, and those of us that were on the ice all got sent to the dressing room for the final minute.
It was one of the coolest things I've ever done on the ice.
I guess the whole team wanted to go over the boards and fight the rest of the other squad. But the thing is, I remember hearing my couch yelling as loudly as possible (and he was LOUD) "NO ONE GOES ON THE ICE OR YOU WON'T BE PLAYING THE START OF THE SEASON NEXT YEAR", and had his assistants stand in front of the doors so that the only way on the ice would be to leap over the boards (not the easiest thing to do when you're 13). The other coach did the same thing. It absolutely floors me that a NOVICE coach (5-8 year-olds) would not only NOT tell the players on the bench not to go on the ice, but actually open the door for him so he could go join the scrap. Incredible.
This has been all over the news in Canada all week.
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