CBC-Sports

What happpened to the toughest guys playing the toughest game?

April 7, 2009 06:54 PM | Posted by   P.J. Stock  

Does anyone remember the game of hockey that we all grew up loving? Can anyone think back to the 1970s or 80s, early 90s and recall what a hockey player used to look like?

I could always tell a hockey player apart from everyone else because of three recognizable facial attributes:

1. Bad hair, normally a mullet or "moolay," as some would call it.

2. No teeth.

3. Scars.

Sure, they weren't the prettiest of athletes out there, but they were thought of as the toughest. Simply stated, they were the toughest guys playing the toughest game.

I think that's why I fell in love with hockey. I wanted to play it. I wanted to be a part of it. I wanted to be recognized as a player with that reputation. I wanted to be like the people I idolized. Everyone has someone they admired growing up and often, they tried to emulate their actions, look and characteristics.

I wanted to sport a mullet (not really, I actually went for the bowl cut), I wanted to be toothless (again, not really, I like food and chewing it) and finally the scars (um, never mind, 0-for-3). Nonetheless, I wanted to be a hockey player.

My hero or idol growing up was obviously Wayne Gretzky. If you can name me a Canadian kid growing up playing hockey in this great country whose idol wasn't number 99, I'll show you a liar. The problem was with Gretz being everybody's hero, when it came to ball hockey and who got to be who, only one guy could be 99. This is where you needed your secondary pick.

Living in Montreal and following the Habs, my choice was always Mats Naslund or Chris Chelios. Most of the time, I ended up being Chelios because of his rugged style of play. Wasn't big but played big. Didn't have much size, but made up for it in smarts. I had a T-shirt that I wore every now and then which carried the slogan: “It's not the size of the dog in the fight that matters; it’s the size of the fight in the dog.”

I think that can be the slogan for hockey players at times. There have been many tough guys that carried the physical role of their team on their back despite being a little small in stature (Tie Domi, John Wensink, Chris Nilan, for example).

Small guys, big guys, young players, old players. All were tough people playing a really tough game. That was then. This is now.

The game has changed. The players have changed and so has the perception from the fans watching the game. I think it's a direct reflection of our changing society. We live in a world of always worrying to be so PC (politically correct, folks). The game has changed because our society's influence on it has almost forced some of its changes. No more so than in interpretation of the game's physicality.

What used to be a battle along the boards, a fight for the puck, a mano-a-mano confrontation is now called like a basketball game. Two minutes for illegal use of the hands or two minutes for being too strong or too tough. I believe the game needed changes to get out of the trap era, but why interfere with what so many people have fallen in love with? The toughness of players playing the toughest game out there.

As the playoffs approach, the games have more meaning. Players play all year long for these big games.

As a kid growing up loving the physical battles between teams, hits like the one Dallas’ Steve Ott put on Florida’s Gregory Campbell last week were remembered all year. It was cheered in the team's home building and adored on shows like Coach’s Corner. It was praised in newspapers across our great nation. Today, well, this hit and the players making these types of hits are looked upon as dirty, despicable and disgraceful. What happened?

Fighting is a no-no now, hitting someone who is watching their pass is a crime and body checking someone in the head … purgatory.

I loved the mullet-sporting, toothless, scarred gladiator. I loved the game the way it used to be and I’m worried about the direction the game is going in.

" Previous Post | Main
  •