GOALIE FIGHTS
Goalie Fights: What Is The Real Conflict?
When NHL goalies Byron Dafoe of the Boston Bruins and Olaf Kolzig of the Washington Capitals began fighting each other during a recent game-turned-brawl, the announcers were shocked that the two were going after each other. \"One was the best man at the other\'s wedding!\" screamed one announcer as the supposed best friends tried to wrestle each other to the ground. Isn\'t any fight between goalies a little strange, though, even if they\'re not friends?
Hockey goalies remain close to their nets, so they\'re not in contact with each other during the game. Their respective goal lines are 174 feet apart, so a goalie would need a megaphone to shout insults at his counterpart and be heard above the bustle of the game and the fans. Communicating with offensive gestures is also hard, since stiff equipment prevents goalies from even giving opponents the finger, said Amherst men\'s hockey Head Coach Jack Arena \'83. \"You could try, but you wouldn\'t be able to detect it,\" he said.
So why do goalies fight each other? The notion seems as absurd as batters charging center-fielders in baseball. Sylvain Daigle, a goalie for the American Hockey League\'s Springfield Falcons, says that most goalies fight to protect outnumbered teammates, not to hurt opposing netminders. \"We don\'t fight to fight,\" he told The Student. \"If two of their guys are on one of yours, you have to help your buddy.\"
If one goalie gets involved, chances are the other will too, and the two will end up fighting each other. According to Arena, there is more structure to hockey fights than there appears to be. \"In pro hockey, there are fights that look like absolute mayhem, but there\'s actually a code of conduct,\" he said. \"The unwritten rule is that the goalie stays out, but if one gets involved, the opposing goalie is almost obligated to join in.\"
Sometimes, though, goalies go after each other even if neither one has joined the brawl. In these cases, they send each other subtle instigation signals from across the ice. \"You just stare at him,\" said Robert Esche, the Falcons\' other goalie. \"If he starts skating, you meet at center ice and go.\"
These fights can be vicious, but they are rarely pretty. \"There\'s all that bulky equipment,\" explained Esche. Besides mobility problems, he added, \"Goalies don\'t have any [fighting] technique.\"
At Amherst, where hockey fights are extremely rare, the goalies don\'t worry about their boxing skills. Goalie Nick Rieser \'01 said he once became entangled with another goalie in high school, but neither one threw a punch.
\"I\'ve always fought forwards--never goalies,\" said Esche, who acknowledged that many goalies are reluctant to fight, but insisted that he is not one of them. \"There are goalies out there who I\'m sure will wet the bed,\" he said. \"But I\'d never hesitate to fight.\"
His demeanor backed up his aggressive claim, and suggested that many hockey players don\'t need a reason--they\'re just ready to fight.
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