But I love the sport. October is one of my favorite months just for the sole fact of postseason baseball, NFL/College football, and the start of hockey season.
I fully intended on writing about what a joke I think Thursday Night Football is, but then tonight, in an AHL hockey game I saw something that made me FURIOUS.
To catch those of you who do not watch hockey up, the AHL is essentially the AAA level for hockey. It's a league of teams that are affiliated with NHL teams, and used as a development tool for players.
It was neat two years ago because we still had a team in Houston, and during the lockout, all of the young guys who could safely be optioned to their AHL affiliates (a complicated stipulation that would take far too long to explain), were sent down.
Meaning that two years ago when OKC (AHL Affiliate of Edmonton) came to Houston, I got to see 3 first overall picks, and 2 additional outstanding players, sitting 4 rows off the ice. There were some guys there from Edmonton who told us that it was cheaper for them to fly to Houston, buy tickets to the game, and pay for a hotel, that it would be for them to score those same seats in Edmonton, if by some slim chance in hell tickets that good came up on the resale market.
In short, the AHL is a really neat way to see the NHL's talent of tomorrow. I miss having a team near me.
Anywho, in tonights Adirondack/Rochester game a fight broke out between Trevor Gillies (ADK) and William Carrier (ROC). And by fight I mean, Gillies started wailing on Carrier's face (it was rather one sided), takes him to the ice, and then actually pick Carriers head up, and slams it back onto the ice.
Thank God hockey players wear helmets.
Think I'm exaggerating? Here's the video.
In the world today, where we fully understand the repercussions of head injuries, this is inexcusable. As a remotely decent human being...it's inexcusable.
Don't get me wrong. I think there's a place for fighting in hockey. I believe in it as a tactic, and I love that it's the kind of sport where you can put someone in their place for playing a little dirty.
I don't like cheap or dirty shots, and Trevor Gillies is a master at them. (Still don't believe me? Do a quick youtube search of "Trevor Gillies Fights." The Tangradi elbow to the face is just one of many.)
I don't think there's a place for them in any sport. Very few things make me more mad than an illegal chop block in football. It's a play DESIGNED to hurt people.
And picking up someone's head and slamming it into a surface, helmeted or not, is a move that I expect from a thug on the Houston streets. Not a guy who has more than likely worked his ass off to play the game he loves for a living.
What scares me the most about situations like this is the league wide fallout. How often do we see one person ruin it for the bunch? At what point does the NHL/AHL feel like they have to draw a line about the "enforcers" and "goons" of the game.
Seriously, at what point do you trust that fighting isn't crossing a line. That referee had his hands on the guy, trying to separate them, and then that move. How do you trust that a goon on the ice is just going to use fighting as a tactic, and not potentially damage a guy for the rest of his life.
Hockey is dangerous enough, heck all sports are dangerous enough, without intent to harm in there. We've all seen freak accidents that have set players back for months. I don't want to know a sports world where people are intentionally dirty all the time. You'll find that most of the teams or players that I hate across all of sports tend to play dirty.
Trevor Gillies has a history of this type of behavior. IF he has a job after tomorrow, I will be thoroughly disappointed.
XOXO
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