Respect

As the head shot debate rages on, along with all the other high profile dirty plays being seen around the NHL and other hockey leagues, the problem to me is becoming more and more apparent. And there was another great example last night when Iginla squared off against Clowe. And the problem is respect, or lack of.

Lets have a closer look at that using last nights scrap as the example. Have a look at the fight here .Both combatants knew what was coming, it was not something that occur ed in a scrum of players where the gloves drop in a heartbeat and its on. Last night, both Clowe and Iginla knew they were going to trade some punches, and gave them selves some ice to prepare. The biggest difference was that Iginla took off his helmet and Clowe didn't. Yes, Iggy does wear a visor and Clowe doesn't so according to the NHL rulebook he HAS to take his helmet off when fighting or risk receiving an additional minor penalty, although I am not actually sure how often this is enforced. Having Iggy in the box for 5 minutes is enough.

Now I am making an assumption to start this next bit, but I think it will be hard to find a hockey fan out there that will disagree with me. Iggy would be taking his helmet off in those situations even if he DIDN'T wear a visor. Why do I say this? Well simply because of the kind of hockey player I know Iginla is. He has class, and he has RESPECT for the other players. For a bit more on Iggy, see here A few years ago, I probably would have said that this would be the case for 99% of NHL players. Now, I am not so sure that is the case.

This is not a problem that is going to go away overnight, even with a few rule changes to ban head shots. The lack of respect is still going to be there, and we are going to continue to see bad hockey plays where there are some serious injuries. Players like that will find a way.

Hockey is a fast game, made even more so post lockout and I believe that the game has never been as exciting to watch as it is now. Aside from the shootout that is. Due to the speed, there are going to be accidents at times. Its the intent that matters.