In the recent years, there has been a huge debate on whether fighting should be a part of hockey. Some people are very passionate about it being part of the game, while some find it too dangerous and unnecessary. I believe that fighting is absolutely necessary in hockey, let me tell you why.
Photo found on Wikimedia
One reason I believe fighting is necessary is because I am a smaller guy who scores a lot of goals, so I was always subject to cheap shots from opposing players. Without fighting, there would be no way to stand up for the little guys like me. Cheap shots happen way less in hockey because of fighting.
Another reason, and this kind of goes hand in hand with the first reason, is the fact that way more serious injuries happen due to cheap, dirty hits than hockey fights. Fighting may be a little dangerous, but I believe the sport would be even more dangerous without fighting.
The final reason I say that fighting is necessary to the sport is simply the fact that a good fight can get a teams adrenaline pumping and give a team some momentum in the game. Nothing like a good fight to get a team out of a rut.
I get that fighting in hockey can be dangerous, but to me, as well as basically any hockey purist, it is one of the most important parts of a hockey game. Plus, they really are fun to watch!
In North America there are three major professional hockey leagues: the National Hockey League (NHL), the American Hockey League (AHL), and the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL). I will tell you a little bit about each of these leagues.
NHL
The NHL is a league for the absolute best hockey players in the world. The league is made up of 30 teams. Of the 30 teams, 23 are in the United States, and the other 7 are in Canada. The teams in the NHL play 82 regular season games, then the teams that make the playoffs compete for the greatest trophy in all of sports, the Stanley Cup.
AHL
The AHL is basically one step down from the NHL. The minor league of hockey if you will. Each team in the AHL is affiliated with one of the teams in the NHL. The players in the AHL are not quite the same level as the players of the NHL, but are definitely no slouch. Players in the AHL could be called up to the NHL at any time. The AHL also has 30 teams and plays 82 regular season games, but the trophy that they are competing for is called the Calder Cup.
ECHL
The ECHL is essentially one step down from the AHL. There are a ton of good players in the ECHL as well. The ECHL consists of 28 teams all competing for the Kelly Cup. I am not as familiar with the ECHL as I am with the other two major leagues, but I do know a few people who play in the league and they are some of the best players I know.
All three leagues are very fast paced and fun to watch.
The last thing I will talk about when it comes to the Topeka hockey scene is the Topeka Adult Hockey League, or as it is affectionately called by the participants, Beer League. Beer League is SO much fun. I have played in the league since I aged out of more competitive hockey after high school, so I am currently playing my fourth season in the league. The league ranges from kids around the age of 18 to the wily veterans of the league in their fifties and sixties.
There are six teams in the league: Glory Days, The Office, Tailgator's, Blind Tiger, Bullfrogs, and the sponsorless Seal Team 6. The teams are drafted to be as even as possible. The way this is done, is every player is assigned a rating of A, B, C, or D. A skaters being the most skilled, and so on. I am considered an A skater, and I play for Glory Days.
It is just a rec league, but it is a lot of fun and can get a little competitive. Sometimes tempers flare and things get out of hand, but after the game is over everyone will have a beer and it will all be good again. It would great to have more people come support the league by coming to watch games. They are played at the Kansas Expocentre and it is absolutely free. I will post a link to the schedule below. Thanks for taking the time to read about this league!
In my last post, I talked about one of the local hockey teams here in Topeka. In this post I will shed some light on the other Topeka junior team: the Topeka Capitals.
The Topeka Capitals are a Tier 3 junior hockey team that plays in the NA3HL. The Capitals are a tier lower than the Roadrunners (who are tier 2 and play in the NAHL). The Caps players range from age 16 to 21, and are playing to get noticed and hopefully get scholarships to play in college. Since the Capitals are a tier 3 junior team, the players do have to pay to play. In tier 1 and 2 leagues, the players play for free. The Capitals play their home games at the Kansas Expocentre and travel all around the Midwest and the Southern parts of the country to play games. There are even some players on the team from around the area, with people from Kansas City and around the KC area. While the level of play in this league is not as high as it is for the Roadrunners in the NAHL, it is still good hockey and can be a lot of fun to watch. Come check them out sometime!
As a native Topekan who plays hockey, I feel like I would be remiss in my duties if I didn't take some time to talk about the local hockey scene. In this post, I will tell you a little bit about the Topeka Roadrunners.
The Topeka Roadrunners are a junior hockey team that plays in the North American Hockey League (NAHL). They are considered a junior team because the players are not paid, and this in no way is a professional league. The players of this league are generally ages 16 to 21, and are playing to hopefully get noticed by major colleges or pro teams. Many of the Roadrunners players have already committed to play Division 1 college hockey next year, and this is largely because of the attention of college scouts that has come with being a member of the Roadrunners and the NAHL in general.
The Roadrunners play their home games at Landon Arena in the Kansas Expocentre, and they usually have a fairly decent size crowd (they average around 2,000 people). The games are really fun to watch, and it is free for Washburn students to get in with their Washburn ID. So if you are looking for something to do on a Friday or Saturday night, you might check the Roadrunner's schedule (I will post the link for this below), and come out to a game sometime!
In a game of hockey, each team has six players on the ice at even strength. Each of those players among a team is playing a different position. I am going to describe each position, where they line up, and what their job is in a game.
Goaltender/Goalie
Goalies have one of the toughest jobs in all of sports. They can make or break a team's confidence and completely influence a game. A goalie has one huge job, and that is to keep the puck out of their net. If a goalie doesn't perform well, the team doesn't have a very good chance of winning.
Defenseman
A team at full strength will have two defensemen on the ice. They line up behind the forwards, one on the left side, and one on the right side. A defenseman's job depends on their style of play. There are offensive-minded defenseman, stay at home defensemen, and those who combine those two styles. An offensive defenseman's job is to create offense as well as cover his assignment in the defensive zone. A stay at home defenseman is going to play a very physical game, and while they won't provide much offense, they will be very solid in the defensive zone.
Wingers
A team also has two wingers, left and right wingers. A left winger lines up the left of the center, and a right winger lines up to the right. Wingers work their respective sides of the ice. In the defensive zone they generally cover the other team's defensemen. On offense they try to score, pass, and work along the boards.
Center
The center is sort of the "quarterback" of a hockey team. A center must be good at face-offs and passing, and it doesn't hurt if he's a good shot as well. Coaches want a lot of creativity in this position as well as a lot of hockey smarts.
Those are the different positions of a hockey team and the things that are expected of them throughout a game. Each position has importance, and if one player doesn't do their job well, the whole team suffers.
Since I am writing blog posts about a sport that isn't as well known as football or basketball, I thought I would start out by explaining some of the basics. I will talk about some of the penalties, as well as some of other miscellaneous calls that can be made. I will start out with the most common,
Offsides
Offsides is when any member of the attacking team precedes the puck over the defending team's blue line. Delayed offsides is when a member of the attacking team is across the blue line, and then the puck is shot into the zone. In the case of a delayed offside, all attacking players must leave the zone before they can play the puck.
Icing
When a player shoots the puck across the center red line and past the opposing red goal line. Icing is not called if the player's team is killing a penalty, a teammate of the player shooting the puck touches it before a player from the opposing team, the defending goalie touches the puck first or if the puck travels through the crease (semicircle of blue paint in front of the goal) on its way to the red line.
This diagram should help illustrate what both icing and offsides mean.
Those are the two main rules of hockey. But there is also quite a few penalties that can be called. A team plays shorthanded when one or more of its players is charged with a penalty. However, no team is forced to play more than two players below full strength (five skaters) at any time. If a third penalty is assessed to the same team, it is suspended until the first penalty expires. When a penalty is called on a goalie, a teammate serves his time in the penalty box.
Minor Penalties
Two minutes - Called for boarding, charging, cross-checking, elbowing, holding, hooking, high-sticking, interference, roughing, slashing, spearing, tripping and unsportsmanlike conduct.
Major Penalties
Five minutes - Called for fighting or when minor penalties are committed with deliberate intent to injure. Major penalties for slashing, spearing, high-sticking, butt-ending and cross-checking carry automatic game misconducts.
Misconducts
Ten minutes - Called for various forms of unsportsmanlike behavior or when a player incurs a second major penalty in a game. This is a penalty against an individual and not a team, so a substitute is permitted.
You now know a little bit about the basics of hockey. I tried to make it as simple as possible while paraphrasing from an old rulebook I had from when I officiated hockey games, and I hope this post was helpful. To help explain the finer things about hockey and conclude this post, I must enlist a clip from one of my favorite movies, Slapshot.
