Fights Sell Tickets but Ruin Games

A hockey game in Inglewood Wednesday night went into the record books when, parenthetically, the Los Angeles Kings defeated the Edmondon Oilers, 4-2. Eighty-six penalties were issued, smashing the standing National Hockey League mark of 84--not a record to be proud of. Wouldn’t it be nice if someone cleaned this game up?

A Kings coach later talked about the violence as if it were all part of the game. It has become that, sadly, but it doesn’t need to be. There’s no real reason why the NHL has to stage blood baths when the game itself offers so much excitement. Sooner or later, failure to stem the violence may indicate that something is so wrong with the administration and policing of professional hockey that outside authority has to step in: Some city like Los Angeles signals an intention to restore hockey’s inherent grace and beauty by force of law. An aggressive district attorney surely would get some attention by serving notice that assault on the ice will result in arrest and prosecution. After all, it’s hard to imagine the conduct that routinely goes on at NHL games being so lightly penalized in any other quarter of society. Other sports can clean up their acts, but not hockey.

The league so far has resorted to penalties and suspensions in an unconvincing attempt to stem the tide of gouged eyes and broken teeth. That’s not enough, because the prevailing ethic remains that fights are part of the game. They may be box office, perhaps, but it’s sure not the game that America grew up playing--and loving.