Six months after the QMJHL announced it would ban fighting, what impact did this decision have on the world of hockey? In recent weeks, the Journal has surveyed leagues around the world, including players passionate about fighting and experts concerned about athletes’ brains. We will present the result to you in the coming days.
By eliminating fighting, the QMJHL will produce even fewer professional players, believe Mathieu Olivier and Yanick Turcotte, two of its former players who threw down the gloves several times during their time in the league.
For Olivier, now playing in Columbus, eliminating fighting in the QMJHL will only reinforce unfavorable stereotypes about that circuit and deprive players hoping to make the pros the crucial preparation for that goal.
“That aspect still has its place in the game. I don’t know where we’re going, but I think we’re not putting our young guys in a situation that prepares them for pros.” Not because of the fights, but because of the style of play, the interactions on the ice and the manner as the boys take their place.
“NHL hockey is still a man’s game. There are still guys who are 6 feet tall and weigh 200 pounds who are frightened by the mere sight of them. The ability to defend allows less physically strong players to still feel comfortable on the ice. The QMJHL only develops a few players of my style and there will be even fewer.”
A tool in the trunk
An opinion that contradicts what Nashville Predators recruiter Jean-Philippe Glaude said in an interview with the Journal last March.
“There is no connection between a player’s ambitions and the abolition of combat. “When we watch players between 16 and 20 years old playing, we want to see talented young people who compete, who continue to improve, who practice their sport with passion,” he had previously listed, to precisely cite the example Mathieu Olivier .
“We didn’t invite him to our development camp because he had already fought six times by the time he was 18,” he emphasized.
“We invited him because he had an incredible feel for hockey, because he had a physical dimension, but he knew how to play hockey and we thought he could improve.”
Given these comments, Olivier didn’t say he completely disagreed with Glaude. However, he insists that the physical aspect of his game, which includes fighting, was an invaluable tool in his chest.
“It was a plus for my career. When I had a few games in a row where things weren’t going well, when I didn’t score points when there was a big check or argument, it gave me confidence again.”
A “soft” league?
Turcotte, who plays in the ECHL, agrees with Olivier’s comments when he mentions that this decision will further disparage Quebec from the rest of the circuit.
“I hear about it a lot from people who aren’t from Quebec. The QMJHL is in some ways considered the soft league of the Canadian Hockey League. Recruiters are more likely to look for players of my style in Ontario and out west. I find it a pity.”