After the article of Omaha Police Chief Jim Skinner - crack down on
fighting on the ice concerning the Omaha Lancers USHL team. Mike Kelly
sports editor for the Omaha World Herald wrote an article concerning
Jim Skinner's police enforcement. I thought you might find it interest-
ing. "The Heat Is On Hockey Fights" "Three cheers for Jim Skinner, Omaha
police chief. It has never been cler to me how combatants on athletic
fields can seemingly be above the law.
As reported Thursday (Feb. 28) by Jerry Fricke of The World Herald in
an article that quickly made the national news wires, Skinner acknowledged
that he had sent letters to the coaches of the Omaha Lancers and Sioux City
Musketeers warning that players who fight can be prosecuted.
Put down your hockey sticks, puck fans. The chief is not anti-hockey.
His daughter is a member of te Lancer Flames, the dancing team that
performs during intermissions, and he enjoys the games.
He just doesn't enjoy people risking serious injury over a sport,
assuming you consider ice hockey a sport.
(This is the sports editor)
"The National Hockey League is close to a scandal, a game played by
big, toothless men who seem to enjoy bashing each other's brains in.
Check the TV "highlights," or lowlights. Any night.
The biggest cheer at some hockey games is reserved for when players drop
their gloves to the ice and menacingly "face off." Then they try to pull
each other's jersey over the opponent's head while they flail away.
RED ICE?
Knuckles and fist thrown violently against flesh and bone are bad enough,
even though the Lancers' "Red Ice Rooters" might love to see the ice turn
red.
It's worse when sticks are involved.
Said Chief Skinner, who on Feb. 2 at Ak-Sar-Ben Coliseum witnessed a violent
fight in which two players were ejected and suspended: "I just wanted to convey
the message that somebody could be severely injured, and the players could face
criminal charges even though it happens during a sporting event."
Let's not pick on ice hockey, even though it deserves to be picked on.
Basketball players and others who think their courst or fields are enclaves in
which they enjoy immunity from prosecution should also take note of Skinner's
warning.
As Lancers Coach Dave Morinville said, athletes in other sports fight, too.
This is not just a hockey problem.
Hockey is atough sport, and the athletes are to be admired.
The Lancers' Angelo Ricci skates and maneuvers well, and is what is called
an "opportunist" in front of the net. Brent Cary is one of the quickest in
the U.S. Hockey League, tied for the lead in "short-handed" goals (when his
team is short a man because of a penalty), with five.
The Lancers have other good players, and are a phenomenon - the once lowly
franchise, which made national news four years ago by going 0-48-0, and last
year won hte USHL championship, is the envy of every other sports team in
Omaha with its full-season, 24 game sellout, 5,908 per night.
GOOD LUCK
I wrote about the Lancers when they were pathetic, playing at Hitchcock
Park Ice Rink in front of a few hundred and losing every night. I enjoyed
their rise in skill and popularity, and always have wished them well. I
even have made it to an occasional game.
But as my mail often points out, I am not a regular at Lancer games. If
I want fights, there's always the Golden Gloves or Bruce "The Mouse" Strauss'
boxing shows at Peony Park.
When the Omaha Knights were in town, in the early 70s, I took in a game
but left when a lout behind me drenched me in beer. I must admit that most
hockey fans do not spill their beer onhte person in front of them.
Last season, when I attended a Lancers' game with a school group, our
parents and students were treated to an evening of vulgar, obscene gestures
between a beer-swilling young man a few rows in front of us, and another
beer-swilling young man in the next section.
What's scary is not the immature gesturing, but the thought that the two
idiots would be driving home that night.
HIGH STICKING
The Lancers have many great fans who don't over-drink, who don't long for
fights, and who don't necessarily enjoy high-sticking, spearing, slashing and
all those other cool hockey terms.
The Lancers have done a good job of policine the coliseum adding security
officers, since fined $2,500 by the league two years ago for not controlling
their rowdy crowd.
Some fans just love the spectacle. They thrill t the musical strains of
"The Heat is On" whenever the Lancers score, and that's great.
But now the police chief has declared that, indeed, the heat is on.
No, Omaha's finest needn't stand in the coliseum with citation books at
the ready and whistles in their mouths. They don't need to handcuff ever
player who goes hard into the corner and slams an opponent into the boards.
But hockey players and other athletes should remember that they don't
hold a special position, tht they're not above the law. Assault and battery
is assault and battey.
Chief Skinner says he'll probably be a season-ticket holder next season.
That's good. It should make everone a little safter knowing that Omaha's top
cop is watching."
My personal opinion is this article was very insulting to the hockey players
as well as the fans that follow hockey. I feel that Mike Kelly has a right to
share his opinion - but as editor of the sports column is very narrow minded
to the sport let me repeat to the sport of hockey. Hockey takes alot of skill
and determination to excell in this highly competitive sport. To manuever on
two thin blades at high speeds on ice while manuevering a puck is to be admired
. The players come to Omaha from all over the United States and Canada and hav
e Contributed alot to our community. Only to mention a few of the activities
that I know they have participated in is visited hospitals, schools, and
have helped the elderly for no compensation.
Several players who I know have signed up for colleges:
Brent Cary - Denver
Angelo Ricci - Denver
Shane Cleavland - Denver
Jeff Lembke - North Dakato
Jude Sandvall - Possibly Harvard
Kelly Hultgren - St. Cloud
Paul Koch - Denver or St. Cloud
Dan Albers
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