Watering the Tree of Hockey


caroljane

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A good game and yay win for the |Leafs against their eternal rivals Canadiens in the season opener was marred and muted by the blood sacrifice of Habs enforcer George Parros on Tuesday. It a grisly foundation for the season, like the ancient Polynesian custom of burying a slave alive in the cornerstone of a new building.

I loved the opening ceremonies, the hokey torch-passing, the shots of frail Beliveau in the stands... not too proud, but too humble, to be the torchlighter.

I loved seeing Reimer lead his team onto the ice as the deserving starter, absorbing the boos as badges of honour.

I didn't love the stupid fights, and nobody loved the concussed Parros bleeding facedown onto the ice.

Hockey fights to Canadians are as gun rights to Americans, so deeply cultural and emotional a subject that logic cannot be applied to it.

They exist because the league wants them, because the team owners want them because the GMs and coaches want them. because the majority of players and fans want them.So it is said.

From the bottom of this pyramid, it seems true that most fans who can afford to attend live games do want them, judging from the cheers when gloves come off. They just don't want the optimum outcomes, like unconscious or dead bodies.

I don't want them, except goalie fights which are entertaining spectacles and guaranteed no-injury due to both combatants being entirely armoured in upholstery.

It's Our Game, not the Roman's Games.

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