Julien hoped that the fights would be punished more severely
In 2019-2020, a fight broke out every four games.
Share September 21, 2020 7:31 p.m. Share Julien hoped that fights would be punished more severely
Jérôme Gaudreau La Tribune SHERBROOKE – Don't count the head coach of the Sherbrooke Phoenix, Stéphane Julien, among the apostles of violence in hockey. The one who also wears the GM hat was in favor of tougher rules on the hockey brawl. But several governors voted against changing this rule last Thursday, much to the disappointment of Stéphane Julien.
These governors were to vote on the proposal to add a 10-minute misconduct penalty to the existing five-minute fighting penalty. An option that appealed to the majority of the teams, but since it was not two-thirds of the governors who were in favor, the rules concerning the battle in the QMJHL will remain the same this season.
“An initial document had been drafted and we reworked certain points of this document to lighten it up by having the assurance that the new rules would be accepted, but in my opinion, there are directors general who did not talked to their governor, because the proposal was rejected and it didn't line up with that though. We are moving towards cleaner hockey, with less violence. It was logical in my opinion to make the rules stricter, ”said Stéphane Julien, who has already played in the QMJHL and in Europe as a defender and captain of his teams.
Indeed, the number of fights per game has been in free fall for ten years in the QMJHL. Only one fight breaks out in four games now.
“It's normal, the regulations are more severe. Brawls are now prohibited if planned. The offending players will be expelled from the game. “
Not to mention the rule of the helmet, which is forbidden to take away or even to extract from the opponent, and the regulation which results in a match suspension for fights occurring within five minutes of the end of the game.
“We even thought of bringing as a proposal to suspend the coach who would see one of his players fight in the last five minutes of the game or one of his players fight a second time in the same match, but we have withdrawn this proposal to keep only the one to expel a player having fought. And as long as giving a penalty of ten additional minutes, I think he wants to send the player off directly, ”believes Stéphane Julien.
Banning fights overnight would be impossible according to the Sherbrooke coach.
“But they need to be regulated more and it's only a matter of time before we get to stricter rules. I am not against the fight and I am not shocked to know the result of the last vote, but I believe that a change will be inevitable. For that, the governors will have to come to an agreement, ”concludes Stéphane Julien.
