Once upon a time (well, 2009), Mike Milbury was advised that “pansification” was an improper term to use when describing attempts to curtail fighting in the NHL. However, on Saturday’s edition of the CBC’s “Hockey Night In Canada”, Milbury was singing a different tune, one the Globe & Mail’s Bruce Dowbiggin suspects was inspired by the recent revelations concerning brain trauma suffered by the late Bob Probert.
Citing the alarming number of concussions and other injuries resulting from the NHL’s addiction to fisticuffs (particularly the staged version), Milbury spoke the words: “The only reason we have fighting in the game is because we like it.” Over the objections of host Ron MacLean that deterrence works, Milbury growled: “Don’t tell me we police it, Ron … it’s still hogwash.”
Milbury also questioned the role of designated fighters who sit at the end of the bench awaiting their chance for a fixed-appointment bout. “For what purpose are they on the end of the bench?”
Even as MacLean revived the usual chestnuts about accountability and protecting skill players like Sidney Crosby (injured in spite of the palace guard), Milbury held fast in the face of the “policing the game” mantra. “Because it’s a first segment obscenity, I’ll put it in the short form … B.S,” Milbury said. Leading his Hotstove cohort, Pierre LeBrun, to tease: “The wussification of Mike Milbury, never thought I’d see it.”
Even as MacLean revived the usual chestnuts about accountability and protecting skill players like Sidney Crosby (injured in spite of the palace guard), Milbury held fast in the face of the “policing the game” mantra. “Because it’s a first segment obscenity, I’ll put it in the short form … B.S,” Milbury said. Leading his Hotstove cohort, Pierre LeBrun, to tease: “The wussification of Mike Milbury, never thought I’d see it.”