Friday night's appalling hockey fight on Sun Valley ice and its repercussions have made the Sun Valley Suns men's hockey program believe the old adage that no good deed goes unpunished.
Prior to the fight, which put one Oregon player in the hospital overnight with severe facial injuries and prompted police to investigate assault charges on the Sun Valley perpetrator, the Suns had been pressing all the right buttons in community acceptance during their 30th year of existence.
The Suns unveiled a new nonprofit organization dedicated to raising awareness and fund-raising for youth-oriented athletic programs in the Wood River Valley. They devoted all gate receipts from six Saturday night games to six different youth programs. Suns players tried hard to set higher standards on and off the ice.
Two meaningful steps forward and, with Friday's fight, four distressing steps back. For all their good public relations intentions, the Suns found themselves locked in tight to an age-old hockey culture that tolerates fighting during games. That has to change. The pendulum has to swing over to the side of discouraging fights, or else the Suns won't survive.
The outcome of Friday's hockey game was settled in the Suns' favor long before the controversial fracas broke out with less than two minutes left. It was a mismatch, and the teams didn't seem to harbor any hostilities. But things can change instantly in hockey, a game played at high speeds and with sharp skates and sticks. Overlooked Friday night was another fight that erupted about four minutes earlier than the savage beating in question. Had the officials been empowered to penalize the earlier offenders with strict penalties, and had the referee been mandated to warn both benches to curtail further fighting, the more serious fight probably wouldn't have happened at all.
Because of the game's inherent dangers and the importance of defending themselves, hockey players insist on keeping their fighting options open. But the Suns seem to realize, after Friday, that stricter fighting penalties have to be enforced. They have pledged to install a new college or international rule system that will better discourage fighting during home games. That would be a step in the right direction.
The Suns need to go further, however, and insist that the stricter fighting penalties be enforced throughout the valley's youth hockey program. For whatever reason, some of the worst fighting violations have occurred over the years in local high school hockey games. By providing a good example and tackling the fighting issue head on, the Suns can truly meet their goal of supporting the valley's youth.
