Sports Business: The Death Of The Goon

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Did you happen to catch the little tete-à-tete between Toronto’s Wade Belak and Ottawa’s Brian McGrattan in the rematch of the Battle of Ontario?

In case you missed it, it was one of those meaningless bouts that occurred early in the second period during the second of back-to-back games to kick off the season between bitter rivals. It took place away from the play and apparently for no reason other than that is what both men are paid to do — fight. McGrattan would suggest he was simply trying to give his home team a lift after it fell behind 2-0 by doing what he does best; except, in the end, the fight accomplished absolutely nothing.



Choreographed fights

The pair traded blow-for-blow punches, eventually got tired, gave the linesmen the signal to separate them, and rather politely headed to their home away from home: the penalty box. It was one of those tilts without a clear winner that prompts the uneducated — particularly those who have never exchanged knuckles while trying to balance themselves on skates — to suggest NHL fights are as phoney as the choreographed theatrics in professional wrestling. Of course that is pure bunk, but when Belak gives McGrattan a little wink after they have settled themselves in the penalty box, well, you can see why some observers suggest that fights are staged.

And it was one of those fights you are seeing fewer and fewer of with each passing year. Fighting in the NHL is on the decline; it was down 41% in the 2005-06 season from 2003-04, the year before the lockout. In fact, there were only 0.75 fighting majors called per game in 2005-06 compared to 1.27 in 2003-04.



A game in flux

The NHL still has a handful of goons, but they are rapidly becoming extinct. In fact, McGrattan, who led the NHL with 19 fights as a rookie, spent the off-season working out with talented teammate Jason Spezza in an attempt to raise his skill level. McGrattan says he is very aware of the direction that the NHL game is heading and does not want to be left behind in the dust.

“I’ll be the first to admit fighters are a dying breed, and to play in the NHL today, you have to be able to play a regular shift,” says the 6-foot-5-inch, 238-pound McGrattan, who led the AHL in penalty minutes in 2004 with 551.

“You have to be able to bring more to the table than just fighting. The guys who play just two shifts a night and do nothing more than fight will fade away.”

The Hammer talks about the nancy boys…