Down Goes DiPietro

For Islander fans like myself, there hasn't been a whole lot to cheer about over the past two decades.  Because of the team's constant losing, not only is being an Isles fan depressing, it's also difficult.  Unless you live in New York you almost never catch an Islanders highlight, and even while living in Manhattan I only saw the team's clips  after SNY or NY1 finished with the Giants, Jets, Knicks, Nets, Rangers, Devils, St.John's, and Christ the King High School.

So you can imagine my surprise when I saw, while watching Sportscenter a few days ago, that Islanders vs. Penguins highlights were set to air towards the top of the hour.  I suspected it was because Sidney Crosby had become the first player to score ten goals in an NHL game or something, but instead it was because the New York "goalie" (in quotes, because I think you have to occasionally stop the puck from going into the net to be considered a goalie . . .) got his ass handed to him in a hockey fight by Pittsburgh goaltender Brent Johnson.

Now, this post isn't going to be about how it's terrible to be an Isles fan and how they can't do anything, even fight, competently; every fan has a team that's down in the dumps from time to time (or, in the case of the Isles, decade to decade), and you don't need me to tell you that losing sucks.  I do want to talk a bit about the role of fighting in hockey, though.  I've gone to many Islander games at Nassau Coliseum over the years, and nothing gets the fans going like a good fight.  Advocates of the fighting say that it's a crucial part of the game which can swing momentum, intimidate opponents and rile up the crowd.  I say it's one of the stupidest things in professional sports, and the fact that it's still allowed boggles my mind.

Watch the clip above and honestly tell me that that's good for the game of hockey.  Given all of the good rule changes the NHL has made following the 2004-05 lockout (eliminating the two-line pass, making overtime 4-on-4, adding the shootouts to avoid ties in the regular season, etc.), how is fighting still allowed?  What does it do other than make games longer, set a bad influence for younger fans that the league is supposedly trying to attract, and allow old, fat, mullet-sporting fans to talk reverently about the good ole' days to hockey?  Hockey is such an awesome sports - it's fast, it's aggressive, and it's fun.  Everything but the fights, that is, which are slow, lame and primitive.

After learning that the only reason Sportcenter nearly led with an Islanders highlight was because of a fight between the goalies, I suddenly wished that the video wasn't aired at all.  While I can't wait for the day that the Islanders (and the rest of the NHL) are relevant again, I hope it's for something other than fighting.  While the NFL, NBA and MLB work hard to curb excessive violence in their respective sports, the NHL stands idly by and lets things like this happen.  Let's leave the fighting for people who want to watch boxing or (for reasons incomprehensible to me) Mixed Martial Arts, and appreciate fight-free hockey for the wonderful sport it is.