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There were good reasons for Bobby Nadeau not to fight Jonathan Roy during the recent junior hockey brawl between the Québec Remparts and Chicoutimi Saguenéens.
It could have resulted in a suspension, and Nadeau is Chicoutimi's No. 1 goaltender, unlike Roy, who, in addition to being the son of Remparts owner-coach Patrick Roy, is the team's backup.
Or perhaps Nadeau didn't know how to fight. Hockey Night in Canada analyst Don Cherry says throwing punches when you're wearing goaltending equipment is difficult if you haven't done it.
"I never, ever blamed a goalie for turtling," Cherry said. "Believe me, it's a knack with all that equipment on. For a guy who doesn't fight, he can't fight with that stuff."
There has been plenty of reaction, most of it disgust, to the donnybrook in which Patrick Roy, a Hockey Hall of Famer, cheered on his son, who skated the length of the ice to pummel Nadeau and then flipped the crowd his middle finger.
But hockey writer and television commentator Pierre LeBrun focused most of his contempt on Nadeau and critics of the brawl.
"When did the tree huggers take over this bloody country?" LeBrun huffed in a column on sportsnet.ca. "When did we all become such bleeding hearts that a junior hockey brawl shocked our collective senses so badly we became outraged?
"Cripes, if anyone should be criticized it should be [Nadeau] for standing there like a Nancy Boy and not trying to defend himself when Roy came after him."
LeBrun's putdowns were so laughably stereotypical as to seem like bad satire. Still, they were part of the dialogue. And, in this country, a hockey issue is sure to ignite a conversation.
Tonight, Cherry will likely discuss the brawl on Hockey Night. He may also air a series of clips to support his argument that touch icing should be abolished.
Touch icing's latest victim was Minnesota Wild defenceman Kurtis Foster, who broke his leg when he was pushed into the boards by San Jose Sharks forward Torrey Mitchell in a race for the puck.
The NHL establishment and its media fret over no-touch icing eliminating the game's pace and contact, but Cherry says they don't know what they're talking about.
"If I thought it would take anything away from the game, do you think I would say it?" he said. "The ex-players who are against it are little pantywaists who wouldn't go into the corners if their lives depended on it."
Cherry is, of course, right about touch icing. It's dangerous and contributes nothing to hockey.
Just as the NHL should have listened to Cherry on the subject years ago, it should also pay attention to free advice from other commentators.
A few weeks ago on Hockey Night, former NHL player Scott Mellanby suggested ideas for improving offence: After a penalty is called, drop the puck in the offensive zone; call icings during power plays; and after each period, switch the team benches to require defencemen to skate the farthest distance to reach the defensive zone.
Mellanby mentioned the recommendation of his father, Ralph Mellanby, the former head of Hockey Night, to change lines on the fly. Anything that makes coaching more difficult will increase offensive opportunities because mistakes will be made.
Changing on the fly was tried about 30 years ago in an exhibition game in which the Boston Bruins, coached by Cherry, participated.
"I kind of liked it," Cherry said. "I'll tell you one thing, you didn't stand there with your arms folded, falling asleep. You had to have the guys ready, because it was just a blur."
TSN's Mike Milbury advocates counting goals that are directed in with skates, as long as the skate doesn't leave the ice.
To improve workplace safety and puckhandling, get rid of composite sticks and return to wooden sticks, Neil Smith of Versus and Pierre McGuire of TSN say.
TSN's Glenn Healy says apply research and development to rebuild the rink boards, making them more forgiving. And find a way to remove the hazard of the dasher.
The league should listen. In the hidebound world of the NHL, after all, new ideas are as rare as a championship parade in Toronto.
