Hockey is a game of physicality and emotion, especially when rivals are involved. There is no greater illustration of that than the end of Sunday’s Flyers vs. Penguins game. Toward the end of the third period, a brawl erupted between the two fierce rivals. Not only was there fighting on the ice, but the two coaches were yelling at each other. While a fight like this may seem barbaric to outsiders, to hockey fans it’s what the game is about.
Fighting is a part of hockey. It always has been and hopefully always will be. It is not always a personal vendetta between players, it is about defending the honor of your team and teammates.
Philadelphia’s Brayden Schenn crosschecked Pittsburg’s Sidney Crosby to the ice from behind. Crosby is one of the most skilled players in the game, but has sat out the majority of the past two seasons due to injuries, so Schenn taking a shot at Crosby is a big deal.
Not long after Pittsburg’s Joe Vitale lit up Philadelphia’s Danny Briere in a clean open ice hit, the brawl started.
To add importance to this scrimmage, these two teams will most likely meet in the first round of the playoffs. As Bleacher Report’s Tim Mackay put it, this was all about honor and sending a message.
“The whole event came out of two tough, proud teams looking to send a message to their opponents before the playoffs,” Mackay said. “Not one party stepped over the line and it was simply an example of old-time hockey where players stick up for their teammates.”
I’ll be the first to trash talk Crosby. While I recognize he’s a skilled player, I have little respect for his attitude. He has a history of starting scuffs and whining about it afterward, but when he was crosschecked his team reacted exactly the way it should have.
Crosby recently came back from injury, so taking a shot at him was asking for trouble. Vitale’s hit was an appropriate response. It wasn’t dirty but it was a big hit. Pittsburg’s response was justified and the fight that ensued is part of the game.
If Crosby was smart he would have stayed out of it, but he decided to take a cheap shot at Schenn during the scuff. He may have just returned from injury, but he’s playing a physical game and if he’s going to get involved in these fights, he better expect to get hit.
There’s no right or wrong here, just hockey. Both teams had reasons for their actions and with these two, there’s a lot of history and pride on the on line. Fighting will happen, but it’s what the fans want. Fans want to see the passion. Fans want to see the physicality.
Whether it’s reacting to a teammate who just got smacked or rekindling a long running rivalry, fighting is part of the tradition of hockey. James Conley of Bleacher Report said, it’s the kind of passion the game should have.
“That emotional investment is exactly what playoff hockey should be: emotional, reactionary, loud, stupid, illogical,” Conley said. “That’s the reality of Pens-Flyers. That’s what we want.”
Kevin Bingaman can be reched at[email protected]