[Regina]

OnTheIce OnTheIce:

Lemmy Lemmy:

OnTheIce OnTheIce:

I'm on the ice 3-4 times a week with my own hockey and with the team I coach. Have been playing hockey for 25 years. I'll trust my own experience, thanks.

Haven't been in any fights in those 25 years, eh? The first thing you do after you drop the gloves is rip out your opponent's rubber "U" straps that hang by the ears. They pop off real easy and the chin strap comes with 'em. Helmet off.

Experienced fighters know how to rip helmets off and even they can't snap a strap with 1 pull everytime....how many times do we see NHL guys yanking on the u-straps because they won't pop?

This is a 16 year old kid. Hardly the Tie Domi of the league with a decade of ripping helmets off.

I don't think you pay attention to what goes on in the game. Even if there isn't a fight, the face washing can result in the U strap getting broken. Gets him off the ice while the trainers put on a new one. One of the oldest tricks in the book. Why do you think they don't let go and are jerking and pulling at the helmet?
By the time they hit bantam or midget they are more than strong enough to pop them. Even unclipping the strap on one side of the helmet is enough to get the hemet off easy.

[Regina]

I don't know why we are debating how easy it is to get a helmet off. Just look at the video and you can see how easy it is to get off........pretty obvious. The kid just grabbed the cage and jerked it off. You won't see that while you're coaching IP 1 or 2 but it's very common when they get bigger.

[OnTheIce]

Regina Regina:

I don't know why we are debating how easy it is to get a helmet off. Just look at the video and you can see how easy it is to get it off........pretty obvious. The kid just grabbed the cage and jerked it off. You won't see that while you're coaching IP 1 or 2 but it's very common when they get bigger.

Because it's not what I've personally experienced in all my years playing and coaching. Just a different experience, it seems.

[Regina]

OnTheIce OnTheIce:

Regina Regina:

I don't know why we are debating how easy it is to get a helmet off. Just look at the video and you can see how easy it is to get it off........pretty obvious. The kid just grabbed the cage and jerked it off. You won't see that while you're coaching IP 1 or 2 but it's very common when they get bigger.

Because it's not what I've personally experienced in all my years playing and coaching. Just a different experience, it seems.

What is the highest level of hockey you've coached?

[Tyler_1]

I always assumed that if you want to be a hockey player, you are going to get the crap beat out of you at some point. You also might end up trying beat the crap out of someone. Don't parents realize that when they are out buying all the padding and stuff at the sports store for their kids?

[Regina]

DonnaWho DonnaWho:

I always assumed that if you want to be a hockey player, you are going to get the crap beat out of you at some point. You also might end up trying beat the crap out of someone. Don't parents realize that when they are out buying all the padding and stuff at the sports store for their kids?

It's more a physical game as they get older but for the most part I bet 90% of the kids play their whole organized hockey life without getting into a fight. That would include the odd shoving a wrestling match where no actual punches were thrown as well. Looking at the whole, very few get into a helmet and gloves off toe to toe fight.

[Tyler_1]

Regina Regina:

DonnaWho DonnaWho:

I always assumed that if you want to be a hockey player, you are going to get the crap beat out of you at some point. You also might end up trying beat the crap out of someone. Don't parents realize that when they are out buying all the padding and stuff at the sports store for their kids?

It's more a physical game as they get older but for the most part I bet 90% of the kids play their whole organized hockey life without getting into a fight. That would include the odd shoving a wrestling match where no actual punches were thrown as well. Looking at the whole, very few get into a helmet and gloves off toe to toe fight.

Oh...
Well then I am wrong. Am I wrong enough to get a warning? It would be like going to the penalty box.

[OnTheIce]

Regina Regina:

OnTheIce OnTheIce:

Regina Regina:

I don't know why we are debating how easy it is to get a helmet off. Just look at the video and you can see how easy it is to get it off........pretty obvious. The kid just grabbed the cage and jerked it off. You won't see that while you're coaching IP 1 or 2 but it's very common when they get bigger.

Because it's not what I've personally experienced in all my years playing and coaching. Just a different experience, it seems.

What is the highest level of hockey you've coached?

Bantam AAA before my son was playing rep. I'm now coaching Minor Atom AA with my son.

[Regina]

Bantam AAA and you've never seem a helmet ripped off?

[OnTheIce]

Regina Regina:

Bantam AAA and you've never seem a helmet ripped off?

I've never seen a helmet ripped off with a pinky finger, as described above. I've seen guys reef on straps to pop them off but I have no experience the ease in which Lemmy or you describe.

Even my son's helmet....the damn button is so hard to unstrap that I have to reef on it to get it off and haven't popped a u-strap in all the years he's been playing.

[Benn]

If hockey people and leagues really wanted fighting out of hockey they would make a rule that a player is ejected from the league if he even fights once. Its a simple solution but not done, only reason I can see it because hockey leagues and parents want fighting in hockey. So if you put your kid in it you are agreeing to put him at risk of injury to a fight. Now in this case yes the real question is when does it cross from an accepted hockey fight to an assault? You'll have as many opinions as people commenting. This is the question the cops are likely waffling on when they say they continue to investigate. If I have to take sides I'd say it was an assault for the simple fact the kid getting beat did not try to fight back or look like he was trying.

For doing what he did to the goalie he did deserve something like a good hit into the board or a shot or two but when a guy is down and not fighting and you keep going it is not considered sport, not even the UFC allows this.

[OnTheIce]

Benn Benn:

If hockey people and leagues really wanted fighting out of hockey they would make a rule that a player is ejected from the league if he even fights once. Its a simple solution but not done, only reason I can see it because hockey leagues and parents want fighting in hockey. So if you put your kid in it you are agreeing to put him at risk of injury to a fight. Now in this case yes the real question is when does it cross from an accepted hockey fight to an assault? You'll have as many opinions as people commenting. This is the question the cops are likely waffling on when they say they continue to investigate. If I have to take sides I'd say it was an assault for the simple fact the kid getting beat did not try to fight back or look like he was trying.

For doing what he did to the goalie he did deserve something like a good hit into the board or a shot or two but when a guy is down and not fighting and you keep going it is not considered sport, not even the UFC allows this.

Not a great idea because it's not fair to the person who didn't start the fight.

If you come at me to fight and throw the first punch, rest assured I'll fight back and I shouldn't be punished because I don't feel like having my face used as a punching bag.

[Regina]

OnTheIce OnTheIce:

Regina Regina:

Bantam AAA and you've never seem a helmet ripped off?

I've never seen a helmet ripped off with a pinky finger, as described above. I've seen guys reef on straps to pop them off but I have no experience the ease in which Lemmy or you describe.

Even my son's helmet....the damn button is so hard to unstrap that I have to reef on it to get it off and haven't popped a u-strap in all the years he's been playing.

Lemmy is a Ref so he can speak to the frequency and ease to which they pop off. I can't recall seeing little ones breaking them but my nephews who played AAA Bantam and Minor Midget then OHL and the other Junior A have snapped lots of them and visa versa. I've skated with pro players for 20+ years in the summer and during the lockout with 4 of them 3 times a week. It is so common that I can't believe someone who watches hockey hasn't see it. It's just a little stunt to get the other guy off the ice till the trainer can fix it. The proof is in the video anyway.

[OnTheIce]

Regina Regina:

I can't believe someone who watches hockey hasn't see it. It's just a little stunt to get the other guy off the ice till the trainer can fix it. The proof is in the video anyway.

I see it, but when I see it, it's not as easy as described. I often see guys in the scrum tugging on the straps and they sometimes they snap and pop off. The rubber ones have lots of give and typically snap off eventually.

Lemmy has suggested that tough guys use harder fabric straps which just isn't the case. A quick look at any recent pictures of guys like McGrattan and Orr, you'll see they're wearing the standard u-straps on their helmets.

[Lemmy]

OnTheIce OnTheIce:

Lemmy has suggested that tough guys use harder fabric straps which just isn't the case. A quick look at any recent pictures of guys like McGrattan and Orr, you'll see they're wearing the standard u-straps on their helmets.

Yeah, it is the case. Whenever I officiated a Senior A or Junior B or C game, we'd check the players in warmups to see who'd replaced the U-straps with skate laces so we knew who to keep a closer eye on during the game. When you've refereed 1000 or more Senior/Junior games then you can tell what is and what isn't the case. There's a hell of a lot more fighting in Senior A than in any pro game.