Three fights, two goals. This is the dismal record of the Canadian in his game lost against the Florida Panthers at the Bell Center last Thursday.
The spectators were therefore able to attend the spectacle of young men exchanging blows to the head with their bare hands.
We come to consider these scenes as banal. Arber Xhekaj, the new strong man of the Canadian, was already in his tenth fight this season – and his second of the week.
These manifestations of violence are, however, aberrant.
Do what Xhekaj, Pezzetta and Matheson did Thursday night at your home, office or bar, and you’ll soon see flashing lights and assault charges coming your way.
In recent years, scientific knowledge of the dangers of blows to the head has greatly advanced. In Ottawa, a “sports-related concussion subcommittee” was formed in 2019. National Hockey League commissioner Gary Bettman was even brought in to testify.
In Quebec, Liberal MP and former hockey strongman Enrico Ciccone tabled two bills to ban fights in leagues where minors play sports, the latest dated last December.
The Quebec Minister of Sports, Isabelle Charest, says she has the file at heart and we feel she is sincere. Same thing on the side of his federal counterpart Pascale St-Onge.
And yet. Despite declarations, hearings, reports and recommendations, nothing changes, or very little.
The proof: every week, both in the National Hockey League (NHL) and in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (LHJMQ), players hit each other in the face.
Retirement is often anything but glorious for hockey stalwarts.
In 2011, Wade Belak committed suicide. After his death, doctors discovered that he suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy – a condition caused by blows to the head which can cause irritability, depression and impaired memory.
This is far from an isolated case.
Derek Boogaard. Steve Montador. Rick Rypien. Todd Ewen. Bob Probert. All former “policemen” on NHL skates. All men mortgaged by their fights that ended their lives.
How many others live with problems of depression, violence, addiction?
The ineffable Gary Bettman, commissioner of the NHL, repeats that fights are healthy for hockey. That they bring out the bad guy, like a valve without which the sport would be even more violent.
It’s porridge for cats.
Last June, researchers showed that after a fight, the number of minor penalties imposed for violent acts, far from decreasing, increases. And that the teams that fight also commit more minor infractions1.
It’s true, there are fewer fights than a few years ago in the NHL and the QMJHL.
In 2020, the Minister of Sports Isabelle Charest had even threatened to withdraw financial assistance from the teams of the LHJMQ if they were not more severe towards fights.
Since then, a player who throws away the gloves is given a 10-minute misconduct penalty in addition to his 5-minute major penalty. After three battles, he received a one-game suspension.
You can see an improvement there. Or another accommodation that comes to tell the players: fights certainly have consequences, but they are part of the game.
The proof that the phenomenon is not stemmed? Last Sunday, there was a fight in the QMJHL. The day before, there had been three. Two days before? Three others.
In this case, however, it would be easy to act. In the US National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), a struggling player is kicked out of the game and is suspended the following game. Fights are extremely rare there.
We also play hockey without punching each other during the world championships and the Olympic Games, to the delight of the fans. As well as in Finland, Sweden, Slovakia and many other places.
To Liberal MP Enrico Ciccone who proposes to legislate to ban fights in sports involving minors, Minister Isabelle Charest replies that a Quebec law is not the solution since the QMJHL also has teams in the Maritimes. Instead, she wants to pressure the league to act by regulation.
OKAY. But it is high time to achieve results. Especially since the QMJHL remains a Quebec entity and the minister could perfectly demand stricter regulations, applicable to the entire league.
The case of the NHL? It is certainly more complex. But do you really think that if Quebec put on its pants and banned fights on its territory, the Montreal Canadiens would move to Vermont?
Battles carry significant risks for the protagonists. They send a message of violence to onlookers, including many young people.
The era of ancient Roman gladiators is long over. It’s time to stop the circus.