Long's injuries were serious. He went into convulsions after being struck. He suffered a broken nose, nasal cavity and cheekbone. Doctors found a blood spot on his brain. A cut from the tip of his nose to the tip of his lip required 20 stitches to close.

Boulerice's attorney, Jim Howarth, has been quoted as saying that because the incident occurred during a hockey game, criminal charges ought not to apply. "What people do in a hockey game is not what you do on a date," he is quoted as saying. "It's like boxing in that regard. Are we going to start arresting boxers?"

We cannot and will not comment on the issue of whether Mr. Howarth's client, Jesse Boulerice, is guilty or not guilty. That will be determined by a court of law. As a matter of law, though, Mr. Howarth's position is not correct. The law in most North American jurisdictions recognizes that participating in a sporting event does not render one immune to criminal prosecution. Behaviour that is criminal outside the arena is, with some exception, criminal inside the arena. The test is whether the behaviour is something one would reasonably expect as a normal part of participating in the sport. A charge of assault would not flow from a tackle in football or a punch in boxing or a bodycheck in hockey, though these actions might constitute assaults if they occurred on a city street. Those who participate in these sporting events can reasonably expect that they will have a certain amount of physical force inflicted upon them, and are deemed to have consented to such force.

It is not enough, however, to impose upon governments the responsibility of eliminating hockey violence. Where criminal charges are not laid, a league will still have an obligation to impose stiff penalties to deter others from engaging in violent behaviour. Hockey leagues, professional or otherwise, must take steps to ensure that such behaviour on the ice is properly penalized.

The more difficult issue is defining "violence" in the context of a hockey game. The rules of ice hockey permit the use of certain forms of physical force -- e.g. bodychecking -- without penalty. This is a matter of common sense. Even if one wanted to eliminate body contact in ice hockey, it would not be possible. When one places 12 persons in an enclosed area on a slippery surface, and ask them to chase a small, round piece of rubber, body contact is going to be unavoidable. Determining whether such contact is deliberate or accidental would be extremely difficult.

Violence in hockey, then, is something beyond the body contact recognized as an essential part of the game. But within this context, any movement that seeks to curb "violence" in hockey has to advance an appropriate definition of violence. This means answering the question: what to do about fighting in hockey. That will be the topic of a future issue of "Hockey.Ontheweb".

[Graphics courtesy of Ice Skating Clipart Galore. Thanks to Lisa Ilona Hlavacek for permission.]