I'm not entirely sure whether or not I ever attended a Rangers game when I was a kid. If I did, though, I don't remember it. Last night, however, courtesy of a friend I was able to watch the Caps game from the Steptoe & Johnson luxury suite (because nothing says hockey like a white-shoe law firm ... even funnier, they share the suite with a French company) and one can't help ask oneself, "where are the cheerleaders?" My buddy was trying to tell me it would be too hard to recruit people with the requisite skating skills, but I don't find that very convincing, the world must be awash in young women who used to figure skate and then had to abandon their olympic dreams. I'd certainly believe that per-unit labor costs for ice cheerleaders might be higher than for, say, the Wizards Dance Team but you could address that by simply fielding a smaller squad, there's no need to go down to zero.
« At CFR; December 15, 2003 | Main | Phone Haters »
Ice Dancers Needed
11 Feb 2007 12:48 pm
Comments (28)
"cheerleader-like women to clean up the ice..."
You mean chicks on zambonis? Hmmm. Yeah, I guess I'd pay to see that.
The Stars (the Dallas Stars) have Ice Girls. Who have a calender.
m, ya'll are behind
OT, but Scott's comments are down so I can't troll him there: What is up with fighting in hockey? Apparently in last night's Penguins-Maple Leafs game a player was carried off unconscious, bleeding all over the ice, after a fight in which his helmet was knocked off and his head hit the ice. The reports I've seen treat this as pretty much normal behavior with unfortunate consequences, and talk about how starting a different fight was a good strategic move for the Leafs. In other sports (besides boxing), wouldn't an on-field fight that put someone in the hospital be a league-wide scandal if not a criminal case?
My fiancee is a big Islanders fans. As a result, I've been to several games in the past couple years. I can report that they employ "Ice Girls".
These attractive young women skate out onto the ice during the time outs with brooms and dust pans, sweeping up the ice shavings. In between periods they ride the Zamboni and operate the t-shirt cannon.
Hockey rules.
I really don't have an explanation. I went to tons of Caps games in the 80s, and I never thought "where are the cheerleaders." Moving to Michigan and seeing a great bunch of college hockey (and some Red Wings games), the thought never occurred there either. Skating is inherently difficut. Really the best thing you would get outside of a professional type skating troupe would be some spins and straight line skating....But again the crowd may just love a bunch of women with implants and skimpy outfits falling down all over the ice.
I think the issue is more of a logistics issue. When will they perform? There arent the myriad of endless timeouts there are in basketball (each team only has one timeout). The "dancers" would have to be herded out of the Zamboni doors, and after their "show" they would just dissappear. There just isnt the room to have dancers on nonexistant "sidelines." Plus between periods many rinks would rather have a Score-O type shootout, or showcase the future of the sport with youth-hockey groups taking the ice. (as a side note, I did get to do the score-o thing inbetween periods of a Caps/Flyers game ages ago.)
A lack of buxom cheerleaders is the only thing that keeps me from attending hockey games.
Oh wait. Just remembered something. I used to drive a Zamboni at a local ice rink here in Michigan.
Figure skaters tear the *hit out of the ice.
If there is any type of jumping, the toe-picks gouge out a nice hole. To properly fix the holes, someone would have to follow around with some snow, puck and water bottle to fill in the holes. A typical Zamboni resurface is not enough to fill the holes. The players would revolt if they had to go back out on an ice surface full of craters.
zAmboni's right about the ice being the issue. As well as figure skaters gouging up the ice, they require different conditions from hockey players. Figure skaters need the ice to be soft and slushy, whereas hockey players need a surface that's as hard and smooth as possible. The two things just aren't very compatible with each other.
Fighting in hockey - if you want to watch hockey, but not fighting, try college hockey, where there is much less, and big NHL brawls are pretty much not allowed (or, at least, come with much more severe consequences).
Cheerleaders - when faced with the question of trying to come up with a 'Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders' or 'Laker Girls' type squad, in Green Bay, WI (population just passed 100,000), the Packer organization did the sensible and correct thing. They recruited the cheerleading squads from the two local colleges, St.Norberts and UW-Green Bay. No silicone-injected "dancers", just college kids - girls and guys - cheering for the local team. Yet another reason to love the Pack!
The Carolina Hurricanes have what is effectively a cheerleading group called the "Storm Squad." Hockey purists hate it.
The Carolina Hurricanes have what is effectively a cheerleading group called the "Storm Squad." Hockey purists hate it.
Good for the purists. Of course, Matt has been apparently brainwashed by the NBA into thinking that the "show" is the thing (cheerleaders, loud music, strobe lights, etc.)
I know some colleges have skating hockey cheerleaders. When I was at Michigan Tech, our skating mascot got into some serious trouble for using the blade of his stick to lift up the skirt of one of Minnesota's cheerleaders before a tournament game.
"In other sports (besides boxing), wouldn't an on-field fight that put someone in the hospital be a league-wide scandal if not a criminal case?"
Baseball? I'm sure it's happened, although baseball players tend to be better at running out of dugouts than at throwing a punch.
"Fighting in hockey - if you want to watch hockey, but not fighting, try college hockey, where there is much less, and big NHL brawls are pretty much not allowed (or, at least, come with much more severe consequences)."
When I was goign to Michigan State, they cleared the benches with Western Michigan and both of State's goalies got suspended for a game. They brought some guy in off the street as a walkon to play for one game.
If you want to watch hockey with way more fighting than the NHL, I don't think I've ever seen a UHL game that didn't feature a fight.
"in which his helmet was knocked off and his head hit the ice."
In theory, if someone challenges you to a fight and you accept, you're supposed to take your helmet off.
Like Bill Simmons, I can't remember anyone getting seriously hurt in a baseball fight. People seem to get hurt more often kicking or punching objects in the clubhouse.
Matt--I'm basically agnostic about legal fighting, but that kind of injury in a hockey fight is actually pretty unusual. I will say that football is vastly more violent, and produces way more serious injuries, than hockey but it seems to get a free pass. (And NBA fan has an even better case there, of course.)
"I can't remember anyone getting seriously hurt in a baseball fight."
Tiger Pitcher Dave Rozema, who blew out his knee in 1982 trying to kick some guy from the Twins . . . out for rest of season.
Scott, football definitely leads to a lot more injuries, and the long-term effects on the players' brains can be terrible (and it's a scandal that more isn't done about this). But it doesn't seem as common for football players to just start hitting each other, as opposed to injuring each other by doing something that's allegedly related to the game; in fact, they're supposed to be ejected if they throw a punch.
The basketball analogy is really on target, though, because part of what I was thinking about is that if NHL-style fighting were endemic in a league in which most players were black, we'd never hear the end of it.
I'm not sure, I'm not a sports fan, but Hockey doesn't have sidelines, does it? In other sports the cheerleaders aren't on the field or the court proper but off to the side.
"I can't remember anyone getting seriously hurt in a baseball fight."
1965 - John Roseboro and Juan Marichal (Dodgers and Giants)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Roseboro#The_Marichal_Incident
OK, but these baseball fight injuries are 25 and 42 years old, and hitting someone with a bat in a baseball fight is decidedly unusual. The Pens-Leafs fight isn't going to be rememberd 42 years later -- not only was it not the lead story in NHL roundups, it wasn't even the lead story in articles about that game.
This post should have been illustrated.
Matt, the difference is fighting is "normal behavior" in hockey, it is an accepted part of the culture by players and fans and there are even rules that govern it. You'll almost never hear of a bench-clearing brawl in hockey and there is a reason for that. Hockey fights are not generally a response to a some real or perceived personal affront. Also, if you've never actually seen a hockey fight, try to imagine what punching someone while on skates must be like. I'm not saying people don't get hurt, although it is usually just a black eye, but getting hit by a puck, falling or crashing into the boards awkwardly causes more serious injuries.
I'm not really a fan of the fights but I can appreciate a good fight in hockey, especially when it does flow from events in a game.
The Phoenix Coyotes have cheerleaders. They mostly run up and down the aisles but during intermission they run outon the ice and do ice dances. They don't skate at all and i have no idea how they don't slip.
We'd appreciate it if you guys didin't ruin hockey like you ruined basketball. (Invented by a Canadian by the way). I'm sure hockey Commish Betman would put in Cheerleaders if he could get them -- which is why he should have never been hired.
Hockey fights have rules to keep them clean. Break the rules and you'll be punished by more than a penalty or a suspension.
" but Hockey doesn't have sidelines, does it? In other sports the cheerleaders aren't on the field or the court proper but off to the side."
You could suspend them in lucite spheres above the ice. Throw spotlites on them during stoppages of play.
"I'm not really a fan of the fights but I can appreciate a good fight in hockey, especially when it does flow from events in a game."
Yeah, the Red Wings' brawl with Colorado in 96-97 was cool, but only because it was part of their march to the cup and it was revenge on the hated Claude Lemieux, a player who refused to play by the rules and fight when he was confronted about prior cheap shots, including smashing someone's face into the boards. If they'd gone on to have a so-so season, or it hadn't been against a hated rival, no one would remember it.
Plus, it's funny to see goalies fight with all that equipment on.
Comments closed February 25, 2007.
| 
Heads in the Sand
The Flames have cheerleader-like women to clean up the ice during every break, which I think is very common...
Posted by Scott Lemieux | February 11, 2007 1:09 PM