It was a collision between hockey cultures, played out on live television. Something we could use more of.
On one side, Jamal Mayers, a respected, hard-nosed veteran of 915 NHL games with five different teams. On the other, Jennifer Botterill, a Harvard-educated, three-time Olympic champion with the Canadian women’s team.
The forum was a Sportsnet intermission panel, which also included host Caroline Cameron and long-time baseball and junior hockey analyst Sam Cosentino. But the argument was really between Mayers and Botterill, with Mayers representing the traditional, eye-for-an-eye hockey culture, and Botterill representing the progressive, there-has-to-be-a-better-way culture.
The fact that the two locked horns was, in and of itself, a welcome development. It wasn’t so long ago that anything other than the most conservative hockey opinions, particularly as they related to violence in the game, were essentially not allowed on the major broadcast networks in this country.
But the times they are a-changin’, as we’ve all witnessed this week with the splashy debut of the Professional Women’s Hockey League. And a voice is being given to points of view on the sport that have been shouted down for too long.
The topic that sparked the Mayers-Botterill debate was an incident on New Year’s Eve between Winnipeg and Minnesota in which Wild forward Ryan Hartman deliberately high-sticked Jets forward Cole Perfetti in the face after the puck was dropped for a faceoff.
Why did Hartman do this? Not because Hartman and Perfetti had a beef with one another. No, it was because Minnesota star Kirill Kaprizov had been injured the day before in a game between the two teams when he was cross-checked in the ribs from behind twice by Winnipeg defenceman Brendan Dillon without penalty.
So in the next game, Hartman cut Perfetti, again with no penalty called. Perfetti revealed afterward that Hartman told him he had clipped him intentionally because of the hit on Kaprizov. The fact that Perfetti was wearing a television microphone provided conclusive evidence that was the case.
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“We caught it all,” said the 22-year-old Perfetti. “He said, ‘No disrespect, nothing against you, it had to happen, something had to happen for what happened to Kaprizov.' Kind of a weird thing to come out and admit it.”
Hartman was fined $4,400 (U.S.) by beleaguered NHL player safety boss George Parros. Apparently knowing one player deliberately injured another player was not enough evidence for Curious George to act more forcefully despite the fact Hartman is a repeat offender. It’s the seventh time he has been fined or suspended by the league.
Mayers opened the Sportsnet segment by saying Hartman did the right thing.
The dressing room was the place to be on tonight's panel. 🍿 pic.twitter.com/zqpfHg3xdH
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) January 4, 2024
“To me, Hartman is sending a message that you’re not going to go after our star player,” Mayers said. “I know the game has changed, but there’s still an element of fear, of being aggressive and sending a message.
“The fact that we know he meant to do it … that’s the only reason we’re talking about it.”
Cosentino said he had no problem with Hartman seeking revenge, but that he should have high-sticked a more senior Winnipeg player. Then Botterill engaged in the debate and everything changed.
“Both the terms you guys use, revenge and sending a message,” she said. “Perfetti, a young, great player in the league. That’s what you want to (subject) your young players to?
“I don’t think that’s what’s selling your game for your biggest stars, your skill players. If you’re a young player coming up, be ready because this could happen to you at any point?”
Mayers then said, “Yeah, it could.” To which Botterill replied, “And you’re OK with that? If it’s your son playing? And he takes that two-hander to the face? That it was a good message to send?”
Mayers was undaunted, saying if it happened to his son, then his son should go out and take revenge on another player.
“Then he’s going to understand you have to go and do something to make amends yourself,” Mayers said. “This isn’t archaic.”
Botterill jumped in. “Yes it is! Yes it is archaic!”
Perhaps sensing how ridiculous his arguments were sounding, Mayers delivered the kicker that all traditionalists resort to in these circumstances.
“There is an element of meanness,” he said. “There is an element of not being nice out there. And if you don’t like that element then maybe you don’t like playoff hockey.”
In other words, if you don’t like it, don’t watch.
Botterill didn’t back down. “There’s a difference between tough and physical and cheap and dirty,” she said. “And to me (Hartman’s high stick) is cheap and dirty.”
Both Mayers and Botterill, of course, were right: Mayers for saying this is the way many hockey people in the male-dominated hockey culture think; Botterill for calling it nonsensical and dangerous, plus the fact it does nothing to sell the game or showcase talented players.
Mayers wants players to police the game themselves and believes hockey at its best is an unending series of revenge moments. You hurt my teammate, I hurt yours. Botterill suggested that better refereeing would mean a penalty would have been called on Dillon, and that might have stopped the entire series of events before it started.
Regardless of which opinion you might support, it’s clear that the voice of women in the sport is greater than ever, and not all are going to support the same reactionary ideas many male broadcasters have for so long because it’s safe to do so and doesn’t ruffle feathers.
It’s much more difficult for the orthodoxy to dismiss the opinions of someone with the credentials of Botterill, who is becoming one of the most influential voices in the game.
The more debates, the more challenges to long-held beliefs, the better. Hockey needs it.
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