French Canadians Hate Old Time Hockey
Quebec was playing Chicoutimi Saturday night in the QMJHL playoffs. There was a huge brawl at the end of the second period and the father of the goalie for Quebec started yelling at his son to go down and fight the other goalie.
Did I mention that goalie was Jonathan Roy and his father is Patrick Roy?
One of the places I saw this had a scathing rebuke for this. Unfortunately, it was in French. Fortunately, I had five years of French in Junior high and high school, so I have roughly translated this for you:
Whereas Saguenéens carried out 7-1 with 27 seconds to be made at the second period, the players of the Ramparts decided to prepare the ground for the meetings in games three and four which will be disputed Tuesday and Wednesday in Colisée Pepsi. While the players present on the ice came to the blows, the Quebec goalie (roughly translated as Quebec guard!) Jonathan Roy moved towards his opposite Bobby Nadeau in order to start the combat. Initially restrained by one of the two referees in the middle of the rink, Roy benefited from one moment of carelessness of this last and insistence from its trainer-chief and father Patrick Roy to fight Nadeau. He refused to fight, trying to dodge the blows of Roy. Number 30 then left the skating rink under the hootings of crowd, not being obstructed for the narguer with the passage. Initially, Mikaël Audette was sent in the fray in third period to replace Jonathan Roy, driven out part after the fray after having bailed out 12 minutes of penalty including two extreme misconduct. He should be suspended! Ah yes, the match finished 10-1 for Chicoutimi and the series is equal 1-1. Next match, Tuesday in Quebec. Jonathan Roy, son of Patrick, destroys Bobby Nadeau. Ramparts goaltender, Jonathan Roy, its of Patrick, rushed into Bobby Nadeau full speed, threw 10 punches at Nadeau' s head. Bobby never replied. What has disgusting act.
Obviously. this was written by a fan of Chicoutimi.
There was another article I found on Slam (in French of course) which had Guy Charbonnet pretty ticked off about the whole thing:
Guy Carbonneau did not appreciate at all the disgraceful incidents which occurred Saturday at the time of the second match of the series between Saguenéens and the Ramparts. Carbonneau, which is shareholder and president of Saguenéens, found deplorable the fact that the Ramparts goalie Jonathan Roy, fought with the goalie of Saguenéens, Bobby Nadeau.
Here's the fight in all its' glory. Gary Bettman, pay attention. This is what puts butts in seats!
Did I mention that goalie was Jonathan Roy and his father is Patrick Roy?
One of the places I saw this had a scathing rebuke for this. Unfortunately, it was in French. Fortunately, I had five years of French in Junior high and high school, so I have roughly translated this for you:
Whereas Saguenéens carried out 7-1 with 27 seconds to be made at the second period, the players of the Ramparts decided to prepare the ground for the meetings in games three and four which will be disputed Tuesday and Wednesday in Colisée Pepsi. While the players present on the ice came to the blows, the Quebec goalie (roughly translated as Quebec guard!) Jonathan Roy moved towards his opposite Bobby Nadeau in order to start the combat. Initially restrained by one of the two referees in the middle of the rink, Roy benefited from one moment of carelessness of this last and insistence from its trainer-chief and father Patrick Roy to fight Nadeau. He refused to fight, trying to dodge the blows of Roy. Number 30 then left the skating rink under the hootings of crowd, not being obstructed for the narguer with the passage. Initially, Mikaël Audette was sent in the fray in third period to replace Jonathan Roy, driven out part after the fray after having bailed out 12 minutes of penalty including two extreme misconduct. He should be suspended! Ah yes, the match finished 10-1 for Chicoutimi and the series is equal 1-1. Next match, Tuesday in Quebec. Jonathan Roy, son of Patrick, destroys Bobby Nadeau. Ramparts goaltender, Jonathan Roy, its of Patrick, rushed into Bobby Nadeau full speed, threw 10 punches at Nadeau' s head. Bobby never replied. What has disgusting act.
Obviously. this was written by a fan of Chicoutimi.
There was another article I found on Slam (in French of course) which had Guy Charbonnet pretty ticked off about the whole thing:
Guy Carbonneau did not appreciate at all the disgraceful incidents which occurred Saturday at the time of the second match of the series between Saguenéens and the Ramparts. Carbonneau, which is shareholder and president of Saguenéens, found deplorable the fact that the Ramparts goalie Jonathan Roy, fought with the goalie of Saguenéens, Bobby Nadeau.
Here's the fight in all its' glory. Gary Bettman, pay attention. This is what puts butts in seats!
I want to say first of all that I am Canadian and I have played or coached hockey for over 30 years. I appreciate a hard fought hockey game with a ton of passion. Sometimes, that passion will erupt into fighting on the ice and when that fighting is spontaneous it also is very exciting and I believe should remain a part of the game. What I don't like is antics like that of Jonathan Roy in the fight against the Quebec Ramparts goalie. In your article you make Roy sound like a "good Canadian kid" sticking up for his teammates and that the NHL should encourage this type of behavior. The Ramparts goalie had no desire to fight Roy and in fact never even removed his gloves. Roy mugged the goalie and threw at least 10 punches at a player who had no part of the fights on the ice and wanted nothing to do with fighting Roy. If the goalies met at Center Ice and decided that they both wanted to fight then I have no problem with that, but when the opposing goalie declined to fight Roy should have found another dance partner.
Hockey is a great game and fighting is a part of the passion and the glory. What Jonathan Roy did to the other goalie was wrong and he deserves whatever punishment he gets.
Fights like this do attract a certain element in our society and if there were more incidents like these arenas would very likely have higher attendance figures throughout the U.S., however, those who are attracted to this are the same people who gather around fights outside of bars on weekend nights waiting to see somebody get killed. They are not fans of Hockey, they are fans of violence, and they will go where the violence is.
If you enjoy this type of hockey go rent Slap Shot with Paul Newman. A very funny movie that pokes fun of the perceived notion of what Hockey is, but do not expect the NHL or any other respectable league to start encouraging this behavior.
Leave that to the WWE and MMA type organizations.
Reply to this
I love Slap Shot! It's a great movie!
I agree what Roy did was wrong and he should be punished. But it was fun to watch.
I've never been in a bar fight, but I strongly believe there is a physical element to the game that the NHL is trying to weed out to the detriment of the game. When hockey turns into soccer, it's not a fun game anymore.
Reply to this
Habs inside/out site says you people are morons, maybe someone should come over there and bitch slap you, Mike. By the way, how is that gay cooking class.
Reply to this
Recently, changes have been made at the amateur hockey levels to improve game play, while changes at professional levels have been made to make the game more exciting to spectators.
Hockey Canada and USA Hockey's rulebooks differ primarily in technical matters such as the severity of penalties handed out for various fouls.
Reply to this