Brian Murphy: Wild’s Ryan Hartman lost the battle in NHL’s endless war against common sense

On Nov 3, 2022

It was not a fight that landed Wild winger Ryan Hartman in injury purgatory, but a ham-fisted response to Jarred Tinordi’s drive-by check Sunday at Chicago’s United Center.

All heart, no brain. And now Hartman’s right arm presumably hangs in a sling while Minnesota plays without a key forward for however long the club’s latest “upper body injury” designation lasts.

What a farce.

Hartman’s misguided machismo and indefinite convalescence are a consequence of the NHL’s knuckle-dragger insistence that, despite evidence to the contrary, fighting deters violence in the only sticks-and-balls sport that still tolerates it.

All because Hartman, after casually dumping the puck into the Blackhawks’ zone, was offended by Tinordi’s audacity to deliver a finishing check in front of the Wild bench.

Never mind that Tinordi, who stands 6-feet-6, 229 pounds, towers 6 inches over Hartman and outweighs him by 32 pounds. Why should an evenly matched bout matter when there is vengeance to seek and messages to be sent that … what, the Wild aren’t going to be pushed around by a journeyman defenseman and an inferior opponent in November?

Tinordi seemed bemused by Hartman’s aggression but obliged him in dropping the gloves. The pair pirouetted a few seconds before Tinordi pounded Hartman in the right shoulder with a blow that dropped him to the ice in obvious pain.

Hartman, his limb and pride dangling by a thread, immediately went to the dressing room with 14 minutes remaining in the second period and has not been seen since. The whole episode was such a charade that referees only levied roughing minors against the combatants.

Riveting entertainment.

The Wild eventually won in a shootout. However, Hartman — a “heartbeat guy for our hockey club,” according to coach Dean Evason — is sidelined as Minnesota scrambles to fortify its injury-plagued forward ranks less than a month into the season.

Hartman should ask teammate Matt Dumba how to rue his decision since the shell of a Wild defenseman knows a thing or two about wrecking his “upper body” and potent shot with dumb fights in the name of pride.

Haven’t we seen enough of these clown cars circling the center ice logos?

The NHL isn’t that sacred where fighting cannot be totally banned like in civilized society, no matter how many purists swear by its deterrence and dismiss rational criticism as outside agitators who just don’t get their sport.

After all the concussion studies and awareness, zero-tolerance across lower levels of hockey and harsh enforcement other leagues dole out for fisticuffs, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman insists fighting really is no big deal.

That there are fewer and fewer bouts every season (true).

That it keeps players honest (suspect).

That players want to keep fighting part of the game (which ones?).

And that there is only so much he can do as one of the most powerful executives in sports (says the bean counter who has bludgeoned the players into submission with three owner lockouts since he took office in 1993).

Listen to what Bettman told Canada’s House of Commons during 2019 testimony on sports-related concussions:

“With all due respect, under the federal labor laws, particularly in the United States, the rules of our game are mandatory subjects of collective bargaining,” Bettman said with his usual smugness.

“And with respect to the elimination, it’s interesting to say we tolerate it, but it’s a penalty. The answer is it is penalized.”

Five whole minutes for players to feel shame in the penalty box, spit out their chicklets and contemplate drinking from a sippy cup in retirement.

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If a defensive lineman in the NFL so much as backhands a quarterback in the facemask he will be ejected from the game and fined a king’s ransom.

NBA brawls died with the Detroit Pistons “Bad Boys” in the 1990s. Draconian crackdowns follow fewer and fewer hand-to-hand tussles.

Brushbacks in baseball are a relic because any pitcher who dares throw high and tight is immediately warned and subsequently tossed by umpires who have no patience for score-settling.

But hockey is different, we are continually scolded. Anyone who takes liberties with his stick or rubs a star player the wrong way must pay the price by answering whoever challenges them.

Moreover, a young player still proving himself – or some minor-leaguer scrambling to keep his NHL dream alive – must be willing to trade blows and expose their body and mind to injury to succeed and advance.

Otherwise, the gatekeepers tell us, it will be anarchy on the ice.

Really?

Forbes published an article in June that buried that theory like an Ovechkin one-timer.

An analysis of all NHL penalties from 2010-11 through 2018-19 – a total of 2,842 games – showed a 66% increase in minor penalties after a fight occurred compared to matches that did not have a fight.

So much for deterrence.

Overall, fighting during that span decreased from .52 per game to .18. It has been falling every season since 2008-09.

To be sure, the rules that were changed during Bettman’s 2004-05 lockout liberated the game from its oppressive clutching-and-grabbing style and allowed speed, skill and playmaking to flourish like no other era.

Roster and salary cap space are so precious that teams can no longer afford to carry an enforcer to play 4 minutes a game and spend infinitely more time in the box.

What are fighting advocates even fighting to preserve?

Anyone needing a fix can find practically any fight or brawl in the last 50 years on YouTube. From the Hartman-Tinordi do-si-do to bloodbaths between helmetless players who smoked between periods and rehydrated with oranges and beer.

“Slap Shot” remains the greatest hockey movie ever made, and while it played bloody brawls for laughs, it subtly exposed fighting and staged violence as a circus act that brings out the worst in competitors and spectators.

Bettman implied to Canadian legislators three years ago that fighting prevents head injuries and discourages cheap shots.

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