If you haven't been to a QMJHL game in a few years, one of the things you will notice is that fighting is way down. What used to be a common occurrence, part and parcel of most games, has slowly but steadily been disappearing over the last decade.
An example of this changing reality, a paradigm shift if you will, can be seen in an incident which occurred in last night's tilt at Le Colisée between the Val d'Or Foreurs and the Quebec Remparts.
Before going on, please take a moment to view this short clip.
Other than the ugly and blatant knee-on-knee hit that was delivered on the Remparts' star 16 year old rookie Anthony Duclair by Val d'Or defenceman Alex Filiatrault, do you notice anything about this particular sequence?
If you are an older hockey fan, like me, there is a good chance that you noticed that the response to the hit by Duclair's teammates might be qualified as somewhat reserved. Polite, even. In fact, the only Remparts gloves to be found on the ice are those of Duclair himself as he writhes in pain on the ice.
Now, have a look at this other knee-on-knee hit on another star Remparts rookie, 17 year old Nick Sorensen. This time the hit was delivered by Baie-Comeau's veteran forward Jonathan Lessard back on October 28th.
Do you see any similarities? Well for one, they both occurred on the Remparts' home ice, second, they both involve highly talented rookie players, and third, the response by the Quebec players cannot be qualified as being very energetic. The fact that in the last frame of the clip, Jonathan Lessard is seen, standing, unmolested, over the injured Sorensen, speaks, at least to me, volumes.
Now there will be plenty who will say that fighting has no place in hockey and that all it accomplishes is an escalation in violence and that it has no real tactical or strategic value for a team.
Others will say that there are rules in place to protect the players and that we should simply let the referees and league officials apply those rules and every thing will be fine.
The reality is that hockey is, and always has been, a violent game. How can it not be? It is played on a hard surface, in an enclosed area, by men on skates, with sticks, shooting a hard puck, all at high speed. Physical contact is not only inevitable, it is part and parcel of the way the game is played.
It is also a game where teamwork is an essential element for success. One of the basic tenets of teamwork, is that individual players are expected to look out for their teammates.
While I know that my view is widely seen as coming from another time, another generation, most successful hockey teams over the years have had a "One for all, all for one" mentality. You attack one of us, you attack all of us.
This is not to say that all teams should behave like marauding bands of thugs, but opponents need to know that you will stick up for each other and deliver a response when teams start taking liberties with your players. This is particularly true on your home ice in front of your own fans.
When looking at the response of the Quebec Remparts to blatant assaults on two of their young star players, one can't help but think that they look a little like the little kid who runs to the teacher or to his mommy whenever something goes wrong. You see a lot of pointing and hear lots of complaining, but not much else.
"If you can't beat them in the alley, you can't beat them on the ice", this was true when Hall of Fame coach and general manager Conn Smythe said it decades ago, and it's still true now.
While hits such as those delivered by Lessard and Filiatrault have no place in the game and must be punished, one thing is clear. Teams can certainly come in to Le Colisée and expect to be able to manhandle the Remparts. All they will do is cry to the refs.
* Note: Jonathan Lessard was suspended for 15 games for his hit on Nick Sorensen who is out for the season. Anthony Duclair's injury is less severe that originally feared. He will likely miss 7 to 10 days. No word as of this writing on supplementary discipline to Alex Filiatrault.
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