The Players' Tribune: Why We Fight by Brandon Prust

[hototogisu]

Another good read from The Players' Tribune following pieces by Couture, Avery and Seguin.

http://www.theplayerstribune.com/why-we-fight/

Click to read more...

 

[EpicDing]

Great to hear that story with Stepan at the end, great article.

 

[SB164]

I said something like, “Hey bud, I’m really thinking about being a fighter. How do I do that?â€

He was like, “Well, you get your ass beat a couple times and then hopefully you figure it out.â€

 

[Antropovsky]

That’s the easy part. The tough part is the day leading up to the game when you know you’re going up against a tough guy. You can’t help but think about it all day, and you go through a roller coaster of emotions. It can be almost impossible to think about the actual hockey part of the game. You definitely lose some sleep at nap time.

Something tells me that Carlyle and Burke will read this with a big smile on their faces.

 

[saillias]

So Prust knowingly threw a late hit on Derek Stepan which broke his jaw in order to goad the NYR into fighting him in a playoff series where they did not want to fight. And in the same breath is trying to convince me the rats are the problem, and not him and other fighters.

 

[chupanibre]

Good read, he probably also agreed to the fight vs Zac Rinaldo because he ALWAYS beats him.

 

[Cursed Lemon]

So Prust knowingly threw a late hit on Derek Stepan which broke his jaw in order to goad the NYR into fighting him in a playoff series where they did not want to fight. And in the same breath is trying to convince me the rats are the problem, and not him and other fighters.

Just a little bit of dissonance going on, there.

 

[Muston Atthews]

So Prust knowingly threw a late hit on Derek Stepan which broke his jaw in order to goad the NYR into fighting him in a playoff series where they did not want to fight. And in the same breath is trying to convince me the rats are the problem, and not him and other fighters.

If that's how you're going to spin it, then yeah, you're gonna feel like that's what he said.

 

[sandysan]

So Prust knowingly threw a late hit on Derek Stepan which broke his jaw in order to goad the NYR into fighting him in a playoff series where they did not want to fight. And in the same breath is trying to convince me the rats are the problem, and not him and other fighters.

no he said he was looking and no one would oblige so he forced the issue. same way rinaldo did. someone answers the bell, mabey stephan doesnt eat through a straw for a couple of weeks.

and anyone who calls brandon prust ( a guy who routinely punches up) a rat should watch more hockey. a lot more.

The quote about lundquist is gold

 

[HarrisonFord]

Great read, I'm a big fan of these articles so far

 

[AlexModvechkin8]

Thought it was a really good article. Enjoyed it. Nothing ground breaking, but still informative.

 

[Jray42]

These player's tribune articles are great.

 

[Oan]

I don't buy what he's saying, more specifically the part where he writes that if a rat refuses to fight, it causes his team to lose momentum. How so? He also writes:

But here’s the thing about rats: They’re almost always bad for a team.

Not true. Everyone loves to have a good rat/pest on their team.

 

[CH25]

Prust is a beauty, I love reading these articles

 

[leafsfuture]

I respect guys who do the job 100%. Its a tough job. I just think we would be better off without it.

And thats not a knock on Prust. If the NHL took out fighting he would still be in the league. Has enough skill, and size to stay

 

[Clamshells]

So Prust knowingly threw a late hit on Derek Stepan which broke his jaw in order to goad the NYR into fighting him in a playoff series where they did not want to fight. And in the same breath is trying to convince me the rats are the problem, and not him and other fighters.

I thought it was pretty clear, he was using it as an example of what happens when you don't have a fighter on your side. If NYR has a guy that Prust knows will fight him, in his own words, he thinks twice about making that hit.

 

[Do Make Say Think]

I thought it was pretty clear, he was using it as an example of what happens when you don't have a fighter on your side. If NYR has a guy that Prust knows will fight him, in his own words, he thinks twice about making that hit.

So Prust broke a former teammates jaw because he didn't fear retaliation

Sounds like a complete ****** nozzle to me, which is unsurprising, the guy is pretty terrible

 

[Sabresfansince1980]

no he said he was looking and no one would oblige so he forced the issue. same way rinaldo did. someone answers the bell, mabey stephan doesnt eat through a straw for a couple of weeks.

and anyone who calls brandon prust ( a guy who routinely punches up) a rat should watch more hockey. a lot more.

The quote about lundquist is gold

I thought it was pretty clear, he was using it as an example of what happens when you don't have a fighter on your side. If NYR has a guy that Prust knows will fight him, in his own words, he thinks twice about making that hit.

There is one reason that falls into a moral justification for delivering an intentionally dirty hit on a player - that player intentionally hurt someone with a dirty hit also.

Even that reason will fall outside someone's moral code, but for me that is all I can think of that can justify it. Everything else, which Prust described, is a cop-out full of twisted logic.

 

[Tarasenko]

Wow great text, great read.

 

[Clamshells]

So Prust broke a former teammates jaw because he didn't fear retaliation

Sounds like a complete ****** nozzle to me, which is unsurprising, the guy is pretty terrible

There is one reason that falls into a moral justification for delivering an intentionally dirty hit on a player - that player intentionally hurt someone with a dirty hit also.

Even that reason will fall outside someone's moral code, but for me that is all I can think of that can justify it. Everything else, which Prust described, is a cop-out full of twisted logic.

He made his hit to gain an advantage in the game, for his team, obviously not to injure. Its seems to me like the injury wasn't intentional, and he does regret what happened to Stepan.

Players do make bad decisions, and don't always think their actions through, which can lead to injuries and whatever. Having that little thing in the back of their mind to make them second guess that first instinct to go for the hit, for fear of getting their own injury, is the point I think he's trying to make.

 

[nobuddy]

"fighting is good actually"

- a guy who only makes a living because he fights

 

[Random Forest]

"Players like me keep the game honest. Sometimes you just gotta throw a late hit and break a guy's jaw to keep the game from getting too violent!"



It's quite sad because the pro-fighting guys truly believe in the stuff they say. They don't realize how nonsensical it is, though. It'll be tough to ever abolish it from the game for that reason. It's a wholly irrational attachment to a particular aspect of the game. It's tough to ever bargain or reason with irrationality. Logic and sense are not friendly when it comes to that.


EDIT: Yes, I'll be waiting for the "Your team employs Zac Rinaldo!" or "LOL coming from a Flyers fan" responses to my post which wholly ignore the substantive discussion. Hopefully this preemptively quashes that.

 

[KingWantsCup]

Nice article. I'm happy he talked about the '14 ECF.

 

[Mrb1p]

These are great, but Prust really isn't the sharpest tool in the shed

 

[Stjonnypopo]

"fighting is good actually"

- a guy who only makes a living because he fights

That's what makes this debate interesting. So many people want to get it out of the game and a player explains to you the other side of the coin. Now it's up to you to form yourself a decision.