Just a thought - Can't we all just get along!

The Hockey season is a long and winding road - didn't Paul McCartney and the Beattles say that - and sometimes one season blends into another.  With that in mind, I thought I would dedicate a part of our website to what I have decided to tab, "Pete's Ponderings"  - a weekly article that will be posted in this section to discuss various issues in or out of the game of hockey.  The piece du jour might discuss the NCAA, NHL, local or world events or a myriad of other issues that might be topical at the time.  I have many thoughts about some of the topics I want to focus on and delve into over the coming weeks and months.  These articles will simply be my opinions, some light reading if you so choose.  Several ideas/issues which quickly come to mind and in no particular order include:

*Fighting in the game of hockey
*Concussions
*The USA Presidential Race
*Price of Real Estate in Greater Victoria
*The World Cup in September
*Jamie Benn and his chances of winning a Stanley Cup
*Officials
*Varying Organizational philosophies in the VIJHL
*Importance of Chemistry in winning
*Volunteers
*1972 Summit Series
*Bobby Hull - my boyhood idol and what he meant to me

With that being said, I will kick off the inaugural edition of "Pete's Ponderings" and take the opportunity to discuss fighting in the game of hockey.  And I want to be clear right off the top, I despise it and it is part of the sport that in my opinion has run its course.  It's time for it to be removed from the game.  And with that being said, here we go!

Back in the very late 80's and early 90's, Coreen and I billeted two players back-to-back over three years both of whom played on the old Victoria Cougars of the Western Hockey League.  One day we received a call from the Cougars assistant coach, Dougy Hobbs, and he told me that they had a 16-year-old kid coming in from Kamloops who they thought would one day be the captain of their Club and they wanted him to go into a "Hockey family."  I was not sure what that meant at the time although we were somewhat flattered.  We had gone to the occasional WHL game however, had never shown an interest in billeting players.  Our son was six years old and we thought that it might be a great fit with an "older brother" in the house and so after an hour or so of tossing the idea around, we accepted.  Looking back years in time now that we are on the other end of the spectrum, I would say that Hobbs and the Cougars looking for a "Hockey family" meant that they were in desperate need of a billet for a young kid.  They probably went to the phone book and decided to start at the back rather than the front for a change of pace.....and it worked!  We loved both kids and still stay in touch with them today, it was a great experience for all three of us. 

Fighting was a huge part of the game over that time, players were expected to shed the mitts for any reason.  After every single whistle near the net there was always a scrum and gloves could go flying at any time.  I think it kept a lot of the popcorn sales to a minimum, folks did not want to leave their seats in case they missed a good tilt. 

I remember talking to our first billet Quinn McGowan, and I asked him if he had ever been in a fight before, either on or off the ice.  I knew that it was on his mind a lot.  I honestly think he had never even raised his voice never mind gone nose-to-nose, toes-to-toes!  He was 6'3 and weighed about a buck sixty and had long flowing red hair and a smile with a set of chiclets that most would give their eye tooth for.  He was definitely not a fighter but had chosen a sport where it was expected.  The Club and players on the Club talked about his first fight and it was not a question of if, but when. 

As fate would have it, the first exhibition game would be at the Panorama Recreation Centre close to our home and it was against Quinn's hometown Kamloops Blazers.  Quinn was in the lineup and was clearly nervous for his first WHL game.  He asked me about fighting, when and how he should do it.  I told him to completely forget about it until his first shift on the ice with under 8 minutes left in the game.  I explained that this way he could focus on his game as a solid D, spending most of the game trying to impress the coaching staff, and he could leave the fighting for the very end.  I told him that on the first stoppage in play with less than 8 minutes to go, to line up against another rookie from the Blazers who would be just as green in the pugilistic department and to grab onto him when the puck was dropped.  I told him to control the other guy's arms so he wouldn't get hit, maybe throw a punch or two and to then lift up on the bottom of his pants to get him off balance and send him to the ice.  As Don Cherry would say, "Two guys having a little tussle with nobody getting hurt."  But he would have to do it with over 5 minutes left because if it was later in the game, he would be suspended for the next game....exhibition rules.  There was obviously a lot more to fighting than fighting and we both had a chuckle about it.

Quinn played a strong game for a young rookie and saw a lion's share of ice.  He followed the plan to a tee, did exactly what we discussed and had a little skirmish late in the affair.  As he was leaving the game at the centre ice gate at the Panorama, he looked up at me and we both smiled.  He had had his first fight in Major Junior in his very first game!  He had crossed a big, big bridge and I was proud of him for the courage he displayed.  I remember a lady that was around my age sitting in the crowd and she blasted me for cheering on our billet son for fighting.  I quietly said to her that she did not know much about the game and that comment made her even hotter under the collar.  It's a good old game that we have all come to love, and I always say, "It's an emotional game for emotional people!"

I did not know the lady at the time of our encounter at the game but as fate would have it, her son was the same age as ours and I would end up coaching him until he was 16 years old. Vicki Guiget and her husband Mark would become very good friends of ours and their son Colin would go on to play many years with our son Craig.  Colin went on to play in the BCHL in Junior A when he was 16 years old in Alberni and would ultimately head to the USA on an NCAA Scholarship when his Junior Career was over.

I look back at the way the game was when Vicki was so upset and I now agree with her in every way.   I believe that with the information we now have access to with respect to head injuries and concussions, fighting should be eliminated from the game.  I make sure it is on the VIJHL agenda every single Annual General Meeting, looking for support from the other eight Governors to change the rules, to blaze a trail for Junior Hockey in the Country.  I tell our players that I do not want them to fight, it has no place in the game any more.

When Quinn moved on, we next billeted a 17-year-old kid named Fran DeFrenza who was traded from the Tri-City Americans to the Victoria Cougars for the rights to Paul Kariya.  The designated fighter on the Cougars was Johnny Baduke, a tough kid who was a returning player.  A youngster named Chris Hawes came out of Prince George and he was only 17 years old.  He was big and tough and he made no bones about the fact he was going to be the new tough guy.  I liked Hawsy, lots of fun to be around with a big personality.  Hawes went with Baduke again and again and again in camp and at the end of camp they traded Baduke to Portland and a young Hawsy was the man.  He fought a lot.  Too much.  He fought a big kid named Brown from Seattle many times that year and Brown had his number.  I remember sitting in the old Memorial Arena and Hawsy fought Brown twice.  The second time, Brown hit him so hard that Hawsy needed both linesmen to take him to the box without falling.  Hawsy wanted to fight again but it did not happen that game.

I remember talking to his dad a couple weeks later and he asked me what I thought as I was at every game.  I told him the kid fought too much and even though there was no information out about head trauma at that time, it seemed plain to me that it was not a good thing.  I started to change my position on fighting in the game after Brown landed a bomb on Hawsy.

Fast forward a number of years and I was on the bench for the Victoria Salsa at home against the Vernon Vipers at Bear Mountain Arena.  Mike Vandecamp was on the Vipers bench and at one point our Derrick Knowles dropped the gloves with the Vipers Aaron Volpatti, yes the same Volpatti who went on to play for the Vancouver Canucks.  It was the "Best" fight I have ever seen and it went on and on and on and on.  Big shots were landed by both players.  On Monday morning, our team was watching the fight over and over and over while they sat in the dressing room after practice.  Vandecamp called me and asked me how Knowles looked and he said that Volpatti looked like he had been hit by a bus.  I told him Knowles had a couple scrapes but that was it.  We agreed we had both never seen anything like it and Vandecamp asked if I could send him a tape.  Fighting was still very important in the game, each Club from Junior to the NHL had several guys who could fill the "Role."  There was no education available.

Now let's look at the VIJHL.  We have kids in our League who are 16 years old and we have kids in our League who are 20 years old.  Joe Stafford-Veale is one of those 16-year-olds on our Club, a smaller player with a lion-sized heart.  If Joe drops the gloves this year I will be sour.  There is just no need.  I actually would love if the Peninsula Panthers went this entire season without a fight, the game has changed.  I have told all of our players exactly the same thing.

We had a player's meeting and I asked them what fighting brings to the sport.  One of the young kids that I had just signed said it sometimes raises the emotion in the game, it is very much needed in the game.  I asked him what his favourite hockey game or set of games were and I told him that for me it was the 1972 Summit Series with the Russians.  I was in Grade 10.  He told me that for him it was the 2010 Olympics when "Sid the Kid" scored the winner in overtime in Vancouver to send the Canadians onto Gold.  He said it was the most emotional game he has ever seen.  Lots of the kids agreed.  I asked him how many fights were in that game, how many fights happened in the Olympics??  Zero, none, nadda, zippo!

There is no fighting in Minor Hockey.  There is no fighting in NCAA Hockey.  Why do we have fighting in Junior??

If anyone out there has not seen the movie "Concussion", it is about Mike Webster who played centre for the Pittsburg Steelers of the NFL a way back when.  It highlights several other players and the tragedies surrounding their respective head injuries.  I remember watching Mike Webster and many of the others as a much younger NFL sports enthusiast.  If you have not seen the movie, by all means find some time to watch.  And when you do, you will agree that there is absolutely no way we should have fighting in our beautiful game of hockey.  There is clearly no place for it.  Our children are too important!

Pete Zubersky, GM
Peninsula Panthers Jr. Hockey Club