NHL Playoffs 2012: Overreaction to Violence Puts Sport in Negative Light

Skating, passing, goals, saves, hits and (like it or not) fights are all part of what makes ice hockey the game that it is.

Despite meager TV ratings and media coverage during the regular season, many sports fans admittedly tune in just for the playoffs and being 2012, are using social media and the internet to spout off their unfounded opinions as to what is taking place on the ice.

Sport journalists have fed off such reactions, such as The Hockey News' Ken Campbell, who stated that the "NHL is dragging itself back into the dark ages," and Jim Litke of the Associated Press calls the NHL "out of control."

To those who have actually watched all or a majority of the playoff games, you would know that there has been almost nothing but great hockey played in each of the series, with incredible storylines such as the President's Trophy winning Vancouver Canucks and NHL poster-child Sidney Crosby and his Penguins both on the brink of elimination just three games into the playoffs, and teams like the Washington Capitals and Florida Panthers proving that despite coming from the weak Southeast Division, it's anyone's game come playoffs.

However, the media spin is to sensationalize all the violence, as if Christians are being fed to lions on the ice every night this week on the NBC Sports Network. It's not uncommon for writers and highlight shows to completely overlook all context when reporting the fights that go on, but any hockey fan could tell you things must have gotten pretty nasty for guys like Joe Pavelski and Kris Russell to fight in St. Louis Saturday night.

The real story in Pittsburgh is not the fights, nor Arron Asham's nasty crosscheck to Brayden Schenn. It's the fact that the Pens were picked by many to go all the way, and to date, have fallen flat on their faces, surrendering 20 goals in just three games while being unable to stay disciplined or play through any type of adversity against their in-state rivals.

The fact that there have been several fights and James Neal ran around towards the end of Sunday's blowout should come as no surprise to anyone who understands the sport.

I would argue that it is refreshing to see players finally standing up for themselves, although with the league cleansing itself of nearly every enforcer, and relegation of fighting duty down to a select two or three players per team, maybe they have no choice but to take matters into their own hands.

Did you ever see Gretzky fight while Edmonton was winning Stanley Cups every year? Of course not, because he had a team full of guys who would back him up, unlike Crosby who basically only has Asham, Deryk Engelland and Craig Adams to bail him out, or clean up his messes when he pulls petty stunts like he did with Jakub Voracek.

This also leads to wilder, unorthodox fights, where you don't see players abiding by the code as much as when two regular fighters square off, and most of the playoff fights have featured "non-fighters."

This, coupled with the level of intensity that it takes to get players of this ilk to engage, leads to more cheap shots in scrums before fights break out, as well as players continuing to throw punches while on the ice, since they probably only stayed up for two or three wild swings in the first place. We saw this in St. Louis with Roman Polak and Justin Braun, and nearly in the fight between Dominic Moore and Vladimir Sobotka, before Sobotka held up.

The only fight between regular fighters so far has been Adams vs. Scott Hartnell, which stemmed from Crosby getting involved with Hartnell, and I consider any hair pulling accidental in that fight.

And regardless, Adams' suspension was an automatic one-gamer for instigating in the last five minutes. In Matt Carkner's case, he was dead set on revenge and gave Brian Boyle an old school 1970's beatdown, and was disciplined as such. He made the statement that Erik Karlsson and Ottawa's skill players were off limits to rough up in scrums, and you can't value that enough.

Despite the league always making moves to curtail fighting such as the introduction of the instigator penalty some years ago or the speeding up of the game that mostly phased out the "goons" who couldn't skate with the new pace, they certainly haven't missed an opportunity to promote the action these playoff series have provided, featuring the Pens and Flyers on their NHL.com homepage.

That game also drew the highest US television ratings for a playoff game in ten years for NBC, while over two million Canadians tuned into game three between New York and Ottawa on CBC.

Sure, Asham's cross check was over the line, and a reactionary move that he surely regrets after receiving a four-game ban. Raffi Torres turned what was to be a clean hit into one that will cost him a paycheck or two, and put Marian Hossa on a stretcher.

Shea Weber took some liberties with Henrik Zetterberg, and the Wings addressed it exactly how they should have, as Todd Bertuzzi stepped up and fought the Nashville blueliner. That's how hockey is meant to be, and in that case, whether you think Weber should have been suspended or not, both sides did the right thing, and the series has gone on without incident, and has given us a couple great games.

One thing is for sure, the media is going to blow up every act of violence that occurs throughout the playoffs, and if the people buy into it, it will ruin hockey for them.

Embrace the sport for all that it is and even if you don't like fighting, try and gain an understanding for it. When games get violent in the playoffs, teams are brought closer together than any other time during the season, and can harness that momentum to go all the way to Lord Stanley.

Games are only going to get more intense as the playoffs go on, and as a hockey fan I cannot wait.