Fighting change or a Sharp wake up call?

LONDON,U.K- For many English Premier League fans in the UK, fighting had become a distant memory with players less and less likely to fight thanks to the worldwide introduction of `Zero Tolerance’ and the English Ice Hockey Association’s ‘IMP’ (Impeding Means Penalty) appliance of the laws of the game much of the physicality of the game had dropped out. The only thing that fans would see would usually be two players having a bout of handbags in the corner after a perceived dirty hit or some other reason. The days of an ‘enforcer’ were seemingly long gone and players who fought had to be able to play too. Fighting alone was not enough to get you a roster spot in the UK.
That was until the signing of Andrew Sharp late last year.
Sharp was recruited to the Romford Raiders of the EPL having previously played in the Ligue Nord-Américaine de Hockey (LNAH) where he had played and iced on the same ice pads as the likes of Steve Bossé, Gabe Yeung, Jon Mirasty and Sean McMorrow. To many casual hockey fans these names won’t mean much, but to the ‘hockey fight fan’ they are legends. The LNAH turns a blind eye to out and out fighting and to the league commissioners it’s a vital part of the league’s income and the attendance levels reflect that. With attendance of well over 5000 in some cases it’s the sort of level of attendance that the second tier of British hockey can only dream of.
It is arguably the toughest league in the world and a mecca for tough players and fight fans alike.  
The EPL has a few players who could be easily described as ‘enforcers’ and a deterrent to opposing sides. Players like Jason Coles, Mark Williams and Vaclav Zavoral are all tough players and can look after themselves, but rarely do they drop the gloves for the sake of a fight and there is usually a good reason for them to square off with an opponent. On the other side of the coin there are also a fair amount of players who will try and goad others into a fight.
When Sharp arrived he tried very hard to eliminate the cheap-shots and get players to respect ‘the code’ amongst fighters and players in general.
“I’ve always liked squaring off in my fights and it gives a good show to the fans, it doesn’t give one fighter an upper hand and gives you both an equal opportunity to do well in the fight. You will get a lot more respect that way,” Sharp said. 
Sharp also described what happens as a result of playing hard of hearing. “If a player has been warned repeatedly and is blatantly trying to injure my team I suppose a job has to be done, I play aggressive but not dirty,” Sharp said. “I try to protect and intimidate, I did get frustrated from the lack of willing combatants and may have gone a bit too far at times because I had a job to do and a name to make.” 
Romford legend and one of Sharp’s teammates, Mark Williams, was quick to agree about removing cheap-shots.
“After fighting the tough guys in the league, people that cheap shot tend to stay away from you, don’t get me wrong I still get checked and run a little but that’s hockey,” Williams said.
Another player who clearly can see the aspect of Sharp’s game is Nathanael Williams, forward of Raiders’ rivals Chelmsford Chieftains.  “A lot was made of Sharp’s style making others change the way they played the game, some players didn’t believe Sharp was as tough as made out mainly due to his lack of ice time, but arguably his most effective tactic was during the warm up and the intimidation he dished out during it,” Williams said.
“The warm up is where Sharp excels by not only being the most amount of ice he gets, but this is where 90% of his intimidation antics come into play.” The Chieftains forward has his own way of dealing with Sharp’s antics. “I think a good rule is don’t fight him in the game, he didn’t really change how I played the game because he wasn’t on the ice long enough to be a factor,” Williams said. 
A fight can be good for team morale and give the momentum back to the team. In his last appearance in a Raiders shirt, Sharp fought Zavoral of the Guildford Flames at the first face off. 
“I was starting the game with no intentions of fighting when I looked over at our bench and half our team was sitting down while Guildford‘s bench was standing up and moving around, it looked to me like our team was not up for the game while their team seemed ready,” Sharp said. 
While on the ice there is no love lost between the two players, Sharp does have different views away from the ice. “I respect Zavoral a lot, he fought me twice when other players avoided me like the plague,” Sharp said. “He is a big guy and does his job very well and I would love to have him on my team any day.” 
The crowd roared as their hero skated to the box and the game was set to be a tough one from there on and the crowd lapped it up. The noise was deafening and the fans were on their feet cheering and egging their team on. Not only the home fans, but the travelling Flames’ fans too.
In attendance that night was a director of a rival EPL club who commented, “You can’t buy this sort of atmosphere, unless you have a character like Sharp on your team.”   
So, is the Sharp era over or is there a future for guys like him in the EPL? His team mate Mark Williams offered his opinion.
“I don’t think in the EPL there is need for an out and out enforcer like Sharp; I think there is definitely a need for a guy who can go with the toughest guys in the league, the EPL is not the toughest league around and if you have a player who is only there to fight they will get frustrated as they will spend most of their time on the bench,” Williams said.  “The player also needs another role in the team if he (Sharp) comes back to the UK then it will be the Elite League as there are only a few players in the EPL willing to go with the tougher guys like Sharp.”
Nathanael Williams added, “I’d prefer a Zavoral or a Jason Rushton on my team any day because as well as commanding respect, they are good players, I think if more players like Sharp were brought into the EPL I think Sharp would slowly retreat off the roster.”  
Could we see more EPL teams bringing in players like Sharp to boost attendances or is the sport more likely to achieve ‘bums on seats’ through marketing the game? It’s quite possible that increased attendance is a result of the ‘Sharp factor`.
Some within the game feel that there is more to the sport than fighting and should be marketed as such. There are many who believe that the sport should base its marketing on fighting.
Nathanael Williams, not averse to fighting when the situation calls for it, believes that fighting is important, “Although it shouldn’t be the case, the key for turning British hockey into a successful enterprise may lay in the hands of more fighting, as the old saying goes ‘If you fight, they will come’ or something like that.”.
His namesake, Mark, generally disagrees, “Hockey is the best and fastest, most physical team sport on the planet.  We should not have to market it just on the fights.”
“It annoys me when you tell people you play hockey and all they think is that it’s a brawl every game,” lamented Mark Williams.
“Guys at all levels from Elite down to under 10s work very hard in practice to improve their game, they don’t spend hours on the ice practicing fighting.” Mark doesn’t dispute that hockey needs fighting but feels strongly about the essence of the game.  “Yes fighting is needed in hockey and yes the physical side should never disappear but the truth is the game winning goal is shot by a guy who shoots a puck nearly 100 miles an hour whilst balancing on two pieces of steel whilst on ice,” Williams said. 
“If teams can’t market hockey as hockey then they need to look at what they are doing.”     In part two there will be more about fighting and the comparisons between British fighters and non-British fighters, plus Sharp reveals which of his team mates he would swap from the EPL to the LNAH and vice versa.   Contact the author at Pete.lewis@prohockeynews.com