SHAME on us. Shame on all of us in hockey who have moved on without giving more than a fleeting second thought (if that) to last week’s death of Don Sanderson, the 21-year-old Senior League defenseman who never regained consciousness after lapsing into a coma upon striking the back of his head on the ice during a fight on Dec. 12.
Shame on Don Cherry, who referred to and embraced “the culture of hockey” at Sanderson’s funeral in Port Perry, Ont., while talking about how the deceased’s father “knows [fighting] is a part of the game,” as if the Whitby defenseman had died on the battlefield for some greater cause rather than on the ice for no reason whatsoever.
Bench-clearing brawls were once part of the culture of hockey. So were wood sticks, bareheaded players and barefaced goaltenders. But time moves on. Time leaves people like Cherry behind.
If one player could die in a hockey fight that was unremarkable in every aspect except for its fatal outcome, then another player could die at any minute. If one player could die in a Major League Senior AAA fight in Brantford, Ont., then another player could die in a NHL game in Toronto or New York.
Shame on those who would argue against eliminating fisticuffs from the sport because “only one person” has died as a result of a fight. Only one? As in, one is acceptable? What about when that inevitably becomes “only” two? Will two be too many or will “only two” fatalities be regarded as an acceptable price of maintaining “the culture of hockey?”
And shame on anyone who would warn those of us who believe that fighting has no part of a 21st Century NHL against “capitalizing” on Sanderson’s death in order to promote this agenda.
Should we wait until it happens in an NHL game and every responsible media outlet in the U.S. – who knows about Canada, where they actually still glorify the jingoistic and faux-macho Cherry? – calls for the abolition of fighting while videos of the lethal blow(s) are shown 24/7 on every television news outlet?
When first-base coach Mike Coolbaugh was killed after being hit in the head with a line drive during a Double-A baseball game in July of 2007, Major League Baseball adopted a rule the following season requiring first- and third-base coaches to wear batting helmets. No one accused baseball of capitalizing on a tragedy.
Fighting is too dangerous these days. The players are too big and too strong. There’s only one safety measure worth discussing, and that’s outlawing fighting in hockey. Is the NHL seriously going to wait until someone dies in a fight before it takes action? Oh, wait, that just happened.
Shame on hockey for grieving Sanderson’s death with eyes wide shut.
*
The Islanders, as insular as any team in any pro sport, obviously had their reasons for depriving 2008 first-rounder Josh Bailey of the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to compete for Canada in the World Junior Tournament so he could fulfill the annual experience of playing on a bad NHL team during the month of December, but we doubt they can be justified as good ones.
Politics is always an issue within youth hockey federations, but it simply cannot be good news for the Rangers that their 2008 first-rounder, defenseman Michael Del Zotto, did not even receive an invitation to Canada’s selection camp for the World Juniors, can it?
If the Lightning ownership isn’t shopping Vincent Lecavalier, it’s only a matter of time before pressure is applied on Martin St. Louis to waive the no-trade clause on his contract that runs through 2010-11 at an annual $5.25 million cap hit.
No kidding, coach Brent Sutter wasn’t comfortable coaching against his son, Brandon, when the Devils were in Carolina on Tuesday. We were in St. Louis on March 24, 1981, when the Islanders’ Duane Sutter came to blows with his older brother, Brian, during a battle between the teams for first-place overall in the NHL. When the game had ended (with an Islanders’ victory), Duane was in tears in the Islanders’ room and Brian was too upset to make an appearance in the Blues’ room.
Their heartsare worn on their sleeves, those Sutters, and that’s merely one of the reasons the Devils have the right guy behind their bench.
Finally, Jarkko Ruutu, who was suspended for two games in November for elbowing Maxim Lapierre in the head, gets the same two-game sentence when brought before Colin Campbell two months later as a repeat offender for biting Andrew Peters’ thumb during a fight.
The NHL: All bark.