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Mike Wise and Playoff Hockey

Beer in hand and hockey on TV, I am loving life right now. While it would certainly be accurate to say that I am a die-hard fan of the Buffalo Sabres, it is probably more accurate to say that I am a fan of all hockey. So even though the Sabres didn't make the playoffs this year, I am quite happy to be watching the Washington Capitals take on the Philadelphia Flyers tonight.

Hey, how about that Mike Wise article in the Washington Post? (free subscription required) What's that? You haven't heard anything about this article? Well, it's got some hockey fans and commentators pretty hot right now. Rumor has it that 20,000 copies of it were printed out to be given away to fans at the Wachovia Center in Philly, but the plan mysteriously fell through at the last minute.

Wise doesn't like the way the rough-and-tough Flyers are physically dominating and punishing the graceful, offense-minded Caps. He complains that fights are shown on the video scoreboard, and the Philly fans are too bloodthirsty. He wishes Gary Bettman could only realize that this is just bad for hockey.

I am happy to make the argument that this is simply what playoff hockey is all about. The Caps - and other pretty teams who skate and shoot beautifully but don't have grit and gristle - get cut down by teams who might have less talent but who have more guts. That's how the game is played, and that's why my beloved Sabres were eliminated soundly by the Ottawa Senators last year despite having the best regular-season record in the league. You don't have to be happy about it, but every team knows that's reality.

Wise and others who pine for more grace and fewer fights need to come to the realization that the sport they like is not the sport these players are playing, and that's not wrong. There are many things a team needs to go deep in the NHL playoffs, and physicality is tops on the list. To wish it were otherwise is to ask hockey to become some other sport.

But rather than turn this into a long treatise on what place violence should have in the sport, I'm going to point out that Wise's article probably doesn't much offend Philly fans. Consider this paragraph:

For most of the evening, there was this unmistakable air of testosterone coming from the Flyers' direction that just reeked of physicality, a way of exerting their mauling style on the Capitals that just sent their denizens into some medieval state of euphoria.

The Flyers, who in years past have gone by the nicknames "Broad Street Bullies" and "Legion of Doom", attract their fans specifically because they reek of physicality. In fact, most hockey fans would rather see their team get physical and dominate, rather than be pretty and eliminated - just ask any fan of the Buffalo Sabres. I would be proud to see my team eliminate another team by any means, including physical domination.

So Mr. Wise, don't gripe about the Flyers. Gripe about the Caps. They are a phenomenally talented and exciting young team, and they don't need the refs to toughen up - they need to toughen up themselves. If they can't get physical against Philly, they deserve the early summer vacation - and I say that as a fan.