Ice Guardians Page #8

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And then you sit down with him

and discover that he has

the most magnificent set of

ethics and morals

you have ever seen in your life.

In pursuing the question

of the enforcer,

you're pursuing the question

of 'what it is to be human.'

What does the enforcer call on?

Profound loyalty.

Loyalty so deep that he's

willing to risk his own...

Structure!

His own body, his own bones,

his own teeth, his own brain.

On behalf of protecting people

he deeply loves?

The enforcer is

the most ethical and moral

member... of the tribe.

Because he is willing to undergo

such incredible sacrifice.

That's looking at it from the

inside of the group.

Looking at it from the outside

of the group,

the enforcer is the ultimate enemy,

the super-bad guy.

And must be eliminated.

But that's 'cause you

and I are looking at it

from the point of view of another group.

If we were looking at it from

within the group

that the enforcer defends,

we would love the enforcer

b ecause the enforcer loves

every single one of us so much.

He is willing to give his life for us.

I mean you think about

that what their role is.

They're gonna go out and stand

in front of millions of people

and bare-fist fight for their teammates.

That tells you right

there what their credibility is.

So sometimes that is, uh...

why a call up comes for somebody

who, y'know isn't gonna put 30 goals up.

It's because you want that

element in your locker room.

You want that element at your practices.

You want that element in the gym.

You want that element in your games.

Having that guy

who's supporting everybody,

who's willing to put himself

on the line,

and sacrifice and be selfless and...

drive his head through a wall

for anybody on his team.

A lotta times enforcers

are players that...

People sometimes wonder why

they get along with

everybody in the room.

And a lotta times it's because they

were like everybody in the room.

A lot of it has to do with...

them not taking for granted

the opportunity that they have.

They're living every day

like it could be their

last day in the NHL.

With very few exceptions,

I had better dealings

with the tough guys.

The guys that you knew were... up front

about what their role on their team was

than some of the flashier guys.

We used to call 'em "pretty boys."

It's unbelievable,

the things they do - away from the game.

And then you look at 'em when they...

pull that jersey over their head

and they become this bigger than life...

Person that will drop the gloves

and protect his teammates,

and fight for his city and his fans.

At the end of the day, you can't

put your body on the line

the way we do

if it's just for money

or if it's just for the lifestyle.

There's gotta be more to it.

There was a series of studies done

with the University of Chicago

on group evolution.

And in the evolution of a group,

you usually have a leader,

you have a lieutenant, who's

a kind of an enforcer,

you have a joker,

and you have a nerd.

And no matter where

they looked in society,

no matter what kinds of groups

they looked at,

juvenile gangs, the mafia,

legitimate groups of all kinds,

they found this basic structure.

So they tried an experiment.

They took just the alpha leaders

and they put them in a group.

To see how a group that's all

leaders would formulate itself.

And what happened?

One became the leader,

one became the enforcer,

one became the joker

and one even became the nerd.

Every group they studied

had that breakdown.

So the breakdown in hockey

that leads to an enforcer

is actually the externalization

of an old, deep, emotional,

human and social template.

You're always going to get

people who are much more likely

to lay themselves on the line

for other people.

And you find those people are

much more attracted to things

like the military.

And they're

much more likely to be willing

to sacrifice their own health

or their own body

for... somebody else.

If you're the kind of person

that's drawn to that kind behaviour,

you'll find some outlet for that.

Whether that's taking on

that role in hockey

or whether it's engaging in another way.

When I was in Tampa Bay,

a few reporters came up to me

and asked me,

y'know Zee, at the end of

the day, y'ever step back

and say is this all worth it?

Is it worth it to fight

33 times a year...

And have a busted-up hand,

and have stitches in your face?

My answer to them was that

when I was in the

East Coast Hockey League,

I was makin' $360 after-taxes a week.

And I was doin' the same thing.

They have a love for it.

Because if you don't,

you wouldn't do it.

Konopka upset that

he wasn't able to continue.

It's not civilized to admit that

you love that adrenaline rush

because you're putting yourself

in that type of competition

and that type of battle

with somebody else but...

Man, the adrenaline.

People go chasing it many,

many different ways.

I always thought it was like a drug

when you come out of

that penalty box or somethin'.

Is it?

I don't know...

You're fired up.

It's the best feeling.

It's not uh, trendy to say is...

how many of the guys that fight

for a living like doing it?

The shame isn't a universal thing

for all the hockey fighters,

I don't think.

I say things like

"If I coulda scored 30 goals,

I woulda never fought."

But I think I'm just crazy enough

to actually realize that...

If I saw somebody go after

my, my teammates,

and... know that I could do

something about it,

it's, it's still there,

and that switch still flips.

The Latin principle ...

which roughly translates to,

"No injury is done to he whom consents"

is actually a very, very

embedded legal term

which means that sports, in particular,

but certainly sort of

other areas as well,

people can engage in

kind of... violent behaviours

because they're consenting to it.

So for example, a boxer

can't sort of, sue his opponent

if he loses a fight...

because he's consented

to go into the ring

and engage in that violence with

a kind of full appreciation,

full consent of what will happen.

When you drop your gloves,

you're saying,

"I am allowing you to do something

that is harmful to my well-being."

"We have that, that unwritten

contract between us."

McGrattan loses

his balance, gets back up

and they're both saying, no, no, no

we're both fine, let us go.

Yeah of course there's gonna

be somethin' negative

that happens out of it.

That's the nature of the beast.

I mean...

That's what happens when

two grown men fight.

Is everything perfect in the

enforcement category in the NHL?

No.

But there's nothin' perfect in life.

We literally have numbers

of people dying every year

working on crab boats

so that you can get yer

'snow crab-leg special' at Red Lobster.

And then we have entertainers

who go out and punch each other

in the face

or go out and bash into

each other for 3 or 4 hours.

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