Been to three games the past two weeks.
NY Rangers vs Toronto, Anaheim Ducks vs Toronto and LA Kings vs Vancouver Canucks.
In the Ducks vs Toronto game there were three serious fights within the 13 first minutes. Before the game was over I counted 8 fights. 8 fights that were more violent than any fight I´ve seen in Sweden.
I understand that you can get upset for a second, but to fight on the ice for minutes.. come on.
The American crowd sure loves it though. At the Staples Center in LA and Madison Square Garden in NYC the crowd make way less noise than in my home arena in Skellefteå, which usually hold around 5,000 people. Except when there´s a fight, then the crowd goes nuts.
One great thing about attending sport events in America is that you can drink there. In Sweden you have to be in designated areas to consume alcohol which I obviously think is outrageous.
On the other hand if you allowed Swedes to drink in their seats and sit next to supporters of the opposing team (like they do in the NHL f ex) you would have fights in the crowd, no question.
In case you were wondering how all drunk Americans get home after a hockey game you don´t need to wonder any more, they drive. And the cops never interfere / care. Unless you walk on the crosswalk while you have a red light, then the cops go crazy. I know this because it happened to me last week.
After I showed the kook cop my Swedish drivers license he said I can´t walk across the crosswalk when there´s a red light. I said I didn´t know that and since the crosswalk was in a parking lot and there were no cars coming I assumed that it was a good idea to cross.
He replied:
- You´re not here to assume or think what´s safe, the government does that for you!
I said: - Ok, I get it. Sorry.
Then he went on for a few minutes how I was an idiot for coming from Sweden and walking across a parking lot without waiting for the light to turn green.. and how I was going to rip the traffic ticket if he knew where to send it.
Pretty funny actually, I really wish I would have recorded the conversation, it would have made a killing on Youtube.
Here are three clips from the Canadian hockey league LNAH. They love fighting and thinks the NHL are too controlling when it comes to regulating fights on the ice.