[panoo]

Elliott Pap, CanWest News Service
Published: Friday, February 02, 2007

VANCOUVER - It all began, simply enough, in a letter from a hockey fan decrying the purple language used by hockey players and coaches.

With so many close-ups on TV, even someone possessing poor lip-reading skills could make out the F-bombs being dropped in rinks around the league.

The subject cried out for a little investigative work and the questions were simple. Is there too much swearing in hockey? Could anything be done about it?

"Of course, there is too much swearing," Canucks defenceman Mattias Ohlund said. "Hockey is an emotional game. Guys are jacked up and, at times, you get upset. It doesn't matter if you play in Sweden, the NHL, the East Coast League or in a beer league, swearing is just part of the mentality of the game."

But does it have to be so frequent? Children may be watching and listening.

"I have three kids and I don't swear at home," said Canucks winger Matt Cooke, a former Windsor Spitfire. "The rink is a totally different atmosphere. I had a lip-reading experience this year when I scored the overtime winner against Edmonton. The camera was right on me and I was so happy I said, 'Bleeping rights, boys!' coming into the pile. You could see it plain as day.

"Thank God my five-year-old can't read lips, but my 13-year-old knew what I was saying. She just told me, 'Dad, you know everyone is watching what you say.'"

San Jose Sharks forward Mike Grier agreed there is far too much swearing in hockey.

"It's grown men in the heat of the moment and I don't know if anything can be done about it," Grier said. "Sometimes, you feel better if you kind of let out some profanity."

Sharks coach Ron Wilson of Windsor is an educated man. He can articulate with the best of them. Alas, even he admits to using the odd naughty word.

PART OF THE GAME

FULL STORY

 

[faulkner91sf]

not only is this happening in the NHL but alsmot every league i know of there is too much swearing..CHL, all the junior b and c leagues. Some as young as 12 ive heard just sit there and swear at each other.

 

[Hockey Phenom]

not only is this happening in the NHL but alsmot every league i know of there is too much swearing..CHL, all the junior b and c leagues. Some as young as 12 ive heard just sit there and swear at each other.

Yea,

Even some of my team mates cuss
and they're 14.

I gues it is associated with hockey, you know
like it's a tough sport so people cuss.

 

[datsyukdangler1]

It is associated with hockey. And, it has been for quite some time. Out of all sports, hockey is the perfect fitting sport to use swearing. It's just a part of the game, in my opinion.

 

[BE-LEAF-ABLE]

I've noticed this as well. You can see it so clearly on the ice when a player scores, when a player get mad, when a team wins...

Pretty much every play.

 

[faulkner91sf]

hahaha

"that was a nice f***ing save jiggy" hahaha. your right, pretty much every play.

 

[Canuck]

its part of the game, the league cant do anything about that.

 

[Rob123xyz]

They might just as well try to stop baseball players from scratching their privates.:dunno:

 

[Rids]

Look at the attention that the two Super Bowl coaches received these past weeks for not using those words. It's an oddity now to find coaches and players that don't swear their heads off but at the same time it's refreshing when you do hear that about a player or coach.

Don Cherry has a story about that on one of his Rock'em Sock'em videos (somewhere in the 10-14 range) of a little old lady telling him to clean up his mouth during a game. He went up into the stands and apoligized for it.

 

[panoo]

Cursing is part of the game, just like spitting, hitting and yes, sometimes fighting, it's hockey, not figure skating!!!

People get emotional, things are said. I'm sure Bettman and his clowns have sworn a few times over the past 15 years or so!!

It's not like they swear when they are doing an interview or anything. Half the players probably don't even realize that the camera is on them when they do it.

 

[ragologist]

They might just as well try to stop baseball players from scratching their privates.:dunno:

I spent my summers hanging out at the minor league ballpark in my hometown when I was growing up, especially by the bullpen during games. With the amount of cursing I heard, it had to be intentional. These kids figured they were professional ballplayers, so they had to start every sentence with a bad word, end each sentence with a bad word, and throw a few random bad words in the middle just for color. (And my father couldn't figure out where I had learned all those words...)

I have to believe that it is behavior that can be fixed to an extent, if the fixing starts with the kids.

 

[imported_shookem]

Every teenager swears too much as it is anyways.

I don't see the big deal, we all grew up watching the same game, do any of us use that lanuage because of it?

 

[BE-LEAF-ABLE]

I try to never use the language at all. I don't even remember the last time one of those words came out of my mouth, so it must have been a long time ago (since I'm sure I have at some point in time).

And yeah, I get asked about that quite a lot actually. Why don't I swear as much as everyone else (or why do I create words to substitute them). I guess I try to keep things simple. If I mess up, yeah I'll someitmes be angry and let off some steam... but it's okay.

I guess it also has to do with my English. I try as best as possible to keep it neat. Maybe my typing is a bit off sometimes (if I decide not to preview a post, like right now), but on the whole I do a pretty good job if I do say so myself. It helps to expand your vocabulary and work on your Grammar.

Anyway, I don't think it can be comepletely taken out of the game, but I do hope that the NHL doesn't continue to lead the charge in that category, as it currently seems to do.