All over the Canada, the news is being dominated by accounts of a hockey brawl that spun out of control.Which might make you stop for a moment and think, "How in the world is that different from any other day in Canada?"
Well, this brawl involved 8-year old kids. Oops.
As it turned out, the guy with the best view of things was the Zamboni driver:
Sitting atop the Zamboni, Lorne Wollis heard the buzzer sound and watched in disbelief as eight-year-olds jumped off the benches, raced across the hockey rink and wrestled opposing players to the ice.There's a video of the brawl currently in the hands of the local police force, and it apparently features footage of the coach of the Niagara Falls team march over to the Duffield bench and spit in the other coach's face -- a classic moment that deserves to be immortalized forever on YouTube. For the CBC account of the melee, click here.
The Niagara Falls Thunder Novice AAA team had just lost 8-1 to the Duffield Devils - their first defeat in a three-day Ontario tournament last weekend, in front of hundreds of spectators at Exhibition Park arena in Guelph, Ont.
The melee was the culmination of a game in which players were taking "cheap shots" at each other throughout, Mr. Wollis said. Tempers flared.
"They started chirping at each other, and before you knew it, players were leaving the benches as much as the coaches tried to stop them. ... They had them by the backs of their shirts and everything," said Mr. Wollis, who has operated a Zamboni for 33 years.
When you hear news like this, it's hard to know whether to laugh or cry. After all, Canada is the same country that gave the world the Derek Boogaard Fight School, where kids between the ages of 12-18 were enrolled to learn the finer points of on-ice pugilism.
Previously on FanHouse:
Time to KO the Derek Boogaard Fight School
Derek Boogaard's School of Hard Knocks
Sorry, No Photos
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 7)
11-27-2007 @ 11:16AM
Colonial said...
Why even bother stopping the brawl? Just let them get tired. What kind of damage can an 8 year old do anyway? "Oh how cute, they think they are real hockey players".
Reply
11-27-2007 @ 12:03PM
steve-oh said...
They should have these rugrats brawling each other inbetween periods of the NHL games, rather than the Charlie Brown scrimmages..
Reply
11-27-2007 @ 3:52PM
doogie said...
Boys will be boys. If not here, then it'll be in the schoolyard or at the bus stop or in some kid's basement.
Kids fight. Whatever.
Reply
11-28-2007 @ 8:04AM
Rhyno101stLRSD said...
Wat do you want to make kids these days, sissies? hockey is a rough sport played by rough men. so these boys needed to "get some"...good for them, they EARNED it. so stop sqauking and let 'em fight if they want. you wanna play in the NHL? you better be prepared to defend urself, coz they will test you. Anyway, how much damage can a 8yr old do with all that equipment? lighten up...
Reply
11-28-2007 @ 8:13AM
Nick said...
What else do you expect from a sport that celebrates bloody fist fights among adult professionals. The 8 year olds were only mimicing what they see their sports hero's do in every game.
Admittedly, I'm not a hockey fan. It's just about the only sport I don't like, for a couple of reasons: 1) a 3 1/2 hour game that ends in a tie is down right miserable and 'tie-ing' is not what competition is about (gladly they've changed the rules to help that) and 2) the promotion of fighting. There's no sportsmanship or class in on-ice/field/court fighting.
Reply
11-28-2007 @ 8:29AM
Lee said...
uh, hey guys, an 8 yr old, with a hockey stick, can cripple or kill another 8 yr old.
If they wanna fight, let them put on some gloves and duke it out, but not with sticks.
what am I saying? i'm wasting my time here, because ANY adult that can remotely picture hockey as a sport, and not an out of control wrestling match with sticks, has obviously taken 1 shot too many to the head anyhow.
Reply
11-28-2007 @ 8:49AM
wyldsyde53 said...
Seems as though Niagara Falls people are trash on both sides of the border. As a coach of youth baseball, I have seen parents and kids from the falls act like complete idiots it is horrifying.
Reply
11-28-2007 @ 9:14AM
Karol said...
Kids will be kids.. I don't think the above showed that they were also taught about sportsmanship and integrity, pride.
They looked like a bunch of hooligans. Some parenting going on there!
Reply
11-28-2007 @ 9:15AM
Dave said...
Ever watch girls hockey? It's all about passing, skating, and puck handling. I wonder where such an outlandish idea as that came from, not Canada I'll bet.
Reply
11-28-2007 @ 9:26AM
Paula said...
As long as they're fighting fair, that's hockey. Whacking each other with their equipment is not. All I remember about the very first pro game I ever went to was at one point during the game, there was a big fight that broke out and all their sticks and helmets and gloves were lying in a big circle at our end of the ice. After years of watching the game, I can assure you even *I* could end up in a fight on the ice, it's such an intense sport!
Reply
11-28-2007 @ 9:32AM
Mike said...
First off, hockey is the most challenging sport to play in the world and requires the most skill of any athlete. Think about it, if you cant skate, and skate really well, you cant play. Any other sport you run. Everyone can run. Secondly let the kids go. We are in a society that is sissifying our young ones. You want your kids to be sissies and back down from every confrontation in life, have them go play soccer. Then my kids will be playing hockey and learning that some times in life you have to fight for things. My kids will meet challenges head on, while yours are in the background waiting for someone to pull out a red card cause you tripped them. WAAAAAH!!!
Reply
11-28-2007 @ 9:51AM
twitty said...
Hockey is not the hardest sport in the world. Baseball requires mental and physical skill. It is all about thinking strategy. Hockey requires you to go fast on skates, try doing it on foot and hitting an opponent at full strength like you do in football.
Hockey may be a hard sport but is also the least watched. No many people like hockey and it will always stay that way unless someone like a Tiger Woods comes and wows everyone.
Reply
11-28-2007 @ 9:56AM
Gabby said...
Most of you must be imbeciles or know little of youth hockey. Living in New England just outside of Boston where youth hockey is the biggest kid's sport, my son played hockey from beginner level through Mite (5-6 year olds) and all levels in between through high school. He played in-house, travel and select levels. I guess I must have seen several hundred youth hockey games in that time played from Ohio to Quebec, Canada. At no point was it OK to fight and it was always an automatic suspension of a minimum of 1, but usually more - in extreme cases an entire season - to fight. Yes hockey is a tough sport and requires skills which many Americans fail to appreciate. Merely being able to play an high speed, action oriented game with dexterity WHILE transversing a slippery sheet of ice on razor sharp steel or tungsten blades is amazing in itself. But fighting is not part of the skill and should not be condoned as part of the sport/game. There is nothing more enjoyable than watching a game of skilled players compete in hockey in a penaltyless game. If you want to enjoy hockey watch it for the skill of the players not their fighting ability. They all are tough just to paly the game.
Reply
11-28-2007 @ 10:00AM
Susan said...
I can hardly believe the majority of ignorant comments coming from adults on this message board.
Reply
11-28-2007 @ 10:02AM
Michael said...
Please send my confirmation email
Michael of Art
Reply
11-28-2007 @ 10:03AM
David said...
Sissifying had been going on way before this.Men in this country have been getting "deballed" for quite some time.So if you feel that's what's happening here,it's nothing new.
Wes Craven,the film director,said when he was a kid he had a problem with a bully.I don't think it had escalated to fisticuffs,but it was,I suppose,headed that way.Anyhoo,he asked his mother to talk to the principal and she refused."Sometimes you have to fight," she said.The next day,the bully stepped to him and young Wesley said,"You may beat me up,but you're gonna lose your left eye trying."
The kid never messed with him after that.
Now there's a momma who had it right!
Reply
11-28-2007 @ 10:03AM
Michael said...
Kids will be kids, as long as the sticks are not in it. The other issue is worse, the lack of sportsmanship of one coach spitting on the other,
that is not only un gentlemanly, but low class, the kids do not need to learn that.
Michael of Art
Reply
11-28-2007 @ 10:04AM
CHERYL said...
Those boys should be taught sportsmanship, not how to brawl when they lose. And if the referees where paying attention during the game, maybe the 'cheap shotters' should have taken out of the game. NHL player fights are part of the game and there are even fight rules in the NHL, but they do set bad examples to kids. Distinctions must be made by coaches,parents and NHL players that learning to play the game well AND fairly is best.
Reply
11-28-2007 @ 10:07AM
R. L. Deringer said...
Why Do I bother ? Most of You people are idiots.
Reply
11-28-2007 @ 10:25AM
Linda said...
My opinion is this: if the kids are ON THE ICE and PLAYING A GAME, and a fight breaks out, then THAT is what real Hockey is all about - even in the big leagues. However, TO CLEAR THE BENCH to start a fight - big NO NO - even at the professional level. If a player leaves the bench after a fight starts on the ice, they are penalized, fined, both. Let the kids learn ALL the BIG LEAGUE rules and go from there. Again - not the fighting, but clearning of the benches - too dangerous, especially for the kids
Reply