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We’re in the most dreaded part of the hockey year… off season. We’re past the draft and free agency frenzy, but we’re not quite at training camp and news about roster lines. These few weeks seem to almost drag on in an unnatural way.
Down here in Australia it’s the middle of winter, and the Australian Ice Hockey League is in the latter parts of the regular season. The AIHL features 8 teams from around Australia; Gold Coast Blue Tongues, Melbourne Ice, Adelaide A’s, Sydney Bears, Western Sydney Ice Dogs, Canberra Knights, Central Coast Rhinos and the Newcastle North Stars.
Image on the right: Dave Upton of the Blue Tongues battles for the puck along the boards with Dunwoodie of the Ice Dogs.
They’re some of the most hated… and loved players in hockey. They are often the topics of discussion, the creators of controversy and most often the most misunderstood role players in a hockey team.
They are the fighters. Names like Sean Avery, Georges Laraque, Rob Ray, Bob Probert are synonymous with classic NHL video highlight reels.
Recently in the AIHL (Australian Ice Hockey League) there was a fight in a game between the Gold Coast Blue Tongues and the Western Sydney Ice Dogs. Import player for the Blue Tongues Bryan Lachance was target and finally let it fly. Lachance comes from the LNAH in Canada (Quebec Radio X) where he has set a name for himself as a quality legit fighter.
In the fight last weekend however the fight turned a nasty shade of dirty when Lachance, who had clearly won the fight dropped the guy to the ground and continued to punch him. That’s not where the real issue lies though. After the Ice Dog went down, Lachance proceeded to pull his hair and knee him. The Refs either failed to see it, or chose not to do anything about it.
The question however is simply, when someone is a fighter of Lachances calibre, why would they need to resort to such disgusting behaviour? It disgraces not just the player, but also the team.
We’re in the most dreaded part of the hockey year… off season. We’re past the draft and free agency frenzy, but we’re not quite at training camp and news about roster lines. These few weeks seem to almost drag on in an unnatural way.
