Que. junior hockey brawl victim unsure of league's move on fighting 15 years later
Que. junior hockey brawl victim unsure of league's move on fighting 15 years later
The victim of one of junior hockey's most notorious on-ice brawls is still grappling with fighting's place in the game — even as the league where he played moves to further eliminate the practice.
Dr. Bobby Nadeau was a goaltender with the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League's Chicoutimi Sagueneens in 2008 when he was attacked by Quebec Remparts backup netminder Jonathan Roy during a playoff game.
The son of Montreal Canadiens great Patrick Roy skated the length of the rink and pummelled Nadeau, who wasn't injured and didn't fight back. Roy subsequently pleaded guilty to an assault charge, but was granted an absolute discharge that left him without a criminal record.
The ugly incident and its fallout shone a light on violence in hockey, with then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper among those weighing in.
Fast forward some 15 years later, QMJHL team owners agreed last month to effectively ban fighting from their circuit, which, like the Ontario Hockey League and Western Hockey League, largely caters to players aged 16 to 20 under the Canadian Hockey League's umbrella.
"I don't really know what to think," Nadeau, now a dentist in Kingston, Ont., said this week in an interview with The Canadian Press. "We want to progress in the right direction. Before we can find out the answers, it's important to ask the right questions."
A player who drops the gloves in the QMJHL has been assessed an additional 10-minute misconduct on top of the usual five-minute penalty since 2020 following a request from the Quebec government to clamp down.
"I'm not for totally abolishing fighting," Nadeau said. "I've always taken for granted that there's been fighting. But in a way, I think it could be part of the problem of progressing and evolving — that you don't want to get out of the status quo.
"It's important to get out there and start at least thinking about these things."
QMJHL spokesman Maxime Blouin said the league has seen a significant reduction in fighting since 2020, and is further reacting to calls from Isabelle Charest, the minister responsible for sports in the province.
"Black and white in our rule book that fighting is forbidden," Blouin said in an interview. "We are leaning toward more severe sanctions."
Fighting is permitted in North America's professional leagues, including the NHL, while the OHL and WHL have moved to reduce fisticuffs in recent years.
Spokesmen for both of Canada's other major junior leagues said their officials haven't been involved in similar conversations to what's being discussed in the QMJHL.
Blouin added any new decisions on fighting won't be confirmed until after this season. The league is also wading through different scenarios in hopes of coming up with a framework for changes to sanctions, which could include automatic game misconducts and/or suspensions.
Despite his personal history, Nadeau is torn about completely removing something from hockey he still sees as valuable under certain conditions.
"It could lead to more vicious plays," said the 34-year-old from Lac Etchemin, Que. "Will it lead to players feeling more brave with their stick?"
Nadeau would also like to see other dangerous on-ice indiscretions punished more severely.
"Is this going to fully abolish fighting?" he said. "Maybe it'll be at a lower frequency. But if fights become illegal, it'd be equally important to double down on cheap shots and hits to the head."
Toronto Maple Leafs winger Wayne Simmonds, who's been involved in more than 70 fights during his NHL career, isn't a fan of the QMJHL's direction.
"I understand if they want to take out staged fighting," he said of two players tangling immediately after a faceoff. "But fighting within hockey … is more than just the fight.
"(Players) can govern the game."
Toronto teammate Alexander Kerfoot played U.S. college hockey where fighting is banned.
"Slippery slope if you eliminate fighting entirely," he said. "But I also understand that head injuries are a big problem."
The QMJHL has a committee of coaches, general managers and owners to examine next steps, but Nadeau would like to see players, both in junior and pro, involved in response to the government's request.
"We often have policymakers trying to make decisions without consulting the actual people," he said. "The players, what do they think?"
Blouin, who indicated between five and 10 per cent of past concussions in the QMJHL were the result of fighting, said safety is the No. 1 priority.
"Hockey today is not about fighting," he said. "It's about speed, skill.
"That's really what we want to build our league on — the players' abilities."
Nadeau, meanwhile, has sympathy for ex-enforcers and other former players dealing with health concerns blamed on fighting, but as a member of the medical profession, he'd like to see links through data.
"Really important to analyze this correctly," he said. "Is it the fighting? Or is it the body checking that leads to this potential head trauma? Or are there other factors?
"It's important to determine without a doubt it's the fighting that leads to those consequences before we take the decision to totally abolish."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 23, 2023.
Canada's special rapporteur on foreign interference David Johnston calls the allegations swirling around his objectivity 'quite simply false,' and said Tuesday he plans to push ahead with his work, launching public hearings next month
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau should see to it that mass murderers serve their entire sentences in maximum-security prison.
The number of interactions between killer whales and humans has increased alarmingly in recent years. CTVNews.ca asked an expert to explain the reasons behind the increase in interactions, explore the types of encounters, and examine the implications for both humans and killer whales.
The PGA Tour ended its expensive fight with Saudi Arabia's golf venture and now is joining forces with it, making a stunning announcement Tuesday of a merger that creates a commercial operation with the Public Investment Fund and the European tour.
Across Canada, the average price of rent climbed back up after pandemic lows, with the monthly rate new tenants face now 20 per cent higher than it was two years ago, according to just-released rental data.
While the Liberals insist a Pacific Rim trade bloc should welcome anyone who meets its standards, an internal document suggests Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wants China kept out.
The federal government has given an updated deal to a public-service union that signed its collective agreement in the fall in order to match deals reached with the Public Service Alliance of Canada during a strike this spring.
Prince Harry entered a courtroom witness box Tuesday, swearing to tell the truth in testimony against a tabloid publisher he accuses of phone hacking and other unlawful snooping.
Canada's emergency preparedness minister says images of wildfires burning across the country are some of the most severe ever witnessed in Canada and the current forecast for the next few months indicates the potential for continued higher-than-normal fire activity.
The actions of the teen who repeatedly slashed a North York massage parlour receptionist 42 times with a sword, killing her and injuring her manager, were an act of terrorism, an Ontario Superior Court Justice found Monday in a 'historical' decision in Canada.
The smell of smoke is in the air throughout the city of Toronto and could get worse before the week is over as wildfires continue to burn in Quebec and northern Ontario.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on the correctional services commissioner to “step aside, step down, or [..] be fired” after moving serial killer Paul Bernardo to a medium-security prison.
Firefighters battling the 25,000-hectare Shelburne wildfire say the wet weather has helped crews directly attack the blaze, now they’re hoping for a break in the rain.
Hammonds Plains Road reopened to traffic early Tuesday morning more than week after wildfires began in the Halifax area. Officials say the fires in the area are contained, though crews continue to deal with hot spots and flare ups.
Canada's emergency preparedness minister says images of wildfires burning across the country are some of the most severe ever witnessed in Canada and the current forecast for the next few months indicates the potential for continued higher-than-normal fire activity.
Marking the two year anniversary of the alleged terror attack that took the lives of four members of the same family, the board has announced an Anti-Islamophobia Strategy.
On this day in 2021, four out of five members of a London, Ont. family were killed while they were out for a walk and struck by a vehicle, in an apparently deliberate attack.
An investigation is underway after a crash between a car and a transport truck on Tuesday morning. It happened around 9 a.m. on Highbury Avenue near Ron McNeil Line, north of St. Thomas.
While firefighters get more forest fires under control in northern Ontario, travel restrictions declared under an emergency order are being expanded in several communities.
A 13-year-old male from Elliot Lake in northern Ontario has been charged with sexual assault again, bringing the total to 10, after another survivor came forward.
A grieving widow whose husband was run over and killed by a speeding OPP officer can't believe the force told her it won't hold a public hearing into the case because it decided the misconduct was 'not serious.'
Calgary-based Cenovus Energy says it has safely restarted a portion of its production that was shut down because of the threat of wildfires in northern and central Alberta.
Innisfail RCMP say an officer was attacked by the driver and passenger of a truck they'd stopped on suspicion of impaired driving on Saturday, but the accused's lawyer has a different story of the encounter.
The Coalition of Muslim Women (CMW) of KW is organizing a vigil on Tuesday evening to commemorate the lives lost on June 6, 2021 when four out of the five members of the Afzaal family were struck and killed by a man in a truck in London, Ont.
A B.C. woman has agreed to cancel her nursing registration for at least 18 months after failing to provide round-the-clock care for a patient with “significant” needs.
The provincial wildfire service is warning British Columbians to have a go-bag and make an evacuation plan with this year's wildfire season off to an alarming start.
Police in Australia are investigating the suspicious death of a woman who used to live in Surrey, BC, after her body was found in her apartment on the outskirts of Sydney.
Mounties in the town of McLennan, Alta. are hoping members of the public can help them identify two men who tried to steal a bank machine from the local ATB Financial.
Over 50 people were packed into an un-air-conditioned council chamber in Yorkton on Monday, looking for more clarity on the future of the city’s public library.
It’s been 79 years since the war effort known as ‘D-Day,’ which eventually led to the liberation of western Europe during World War II. The day was marked with a service in Normandy with the Royal Regina Rifles on hand.
A special air quality statement remains in effect for the National Capital Region because of wildfire smoke blowing across the region. Environment Canada's air quality health index is at its highest level of risk.
The wildfire burning at Centennial Lake, about 150 km west of Ottawa is still not under control, but the local mayor says it has been significantly reduced.
The federal government has given an updated deal to a public-service union that signed its collective agreement in the fall in order to match deals reached with the Public Service Alliance of Canada during a strike this spring.
While Saskatoon Tribal Council (STC) publicly mulled moving its downtown emergency shelter to a location on 20th Street near the city's core, city documents reveal the wellness centre's present Fairhaven area location was heavily favoured early in the process.
