Enforcer (ice hockey)
| Enforcer |
|---|
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| Ice hockey positions |
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Goalkeeper Defender Left Wing - Center - Right Wing |
| Others |
| Enforcer - Grinder - Team Captain - Pest - power forward - Rover |
An enforcer is an ice hockey player , primarily in North America , who protects the star strikers within their own team so that they can fully concentrate on their game. Through body checks , aggressive actions or provoked fights, he tries to interrupt the flow of the opponent and distract him. Good ice hockey players who have to score goals and defend themselves at the same time are more prone to injury and their strength is quickly worn out - especially in the long NHL season. An example is striker Eric Lindros , who suffered numerous concussions in his career .
One of the most famous enforcers is Dave "The Hammer" Schultz , who holds the NHL season record with 472 minutes in the penalty box. Most of the time reserve players take on these duties, but excellent strikers who were also enforcers could be. a. Gordie Howe , Jarome Iginla or Tiger Williams (holds the NHL career record with 3,966 penalty minutes). Howe is the godfather of the unofficial Gordie Howe hat trick , which you “score” when you score a goal, an assist and a fist fight in the same game: Rick Tocchet is the record holder (18).
Sometimes an enforcer is also referred to as a goon , but the latter is rather derogatory in the sense of a “dumb thug”. In contrast to the enforcer, a goon is usually only sent to the field for a brawl or an unfair action and thus comes in some games on ice times of less than 10 seconds. In the German-speaking leagues, the enforcer is usually referred to as a guard .
After three active enforcers from the National Hockey League , Derek Boogaard , Rick Rypien and Wade Belak , died in 2011 and it became known that all three suffered from depression , the role of the enforcer came up for discussion.
Individual evidence
- ^ Heiko Oldkörper: The lousy job of the beating professionals. In: Sport. Spiegel Online , September 4, 2011, accessed on March 31, 2018 : "A series of deaths shakes the North American ice hockey league NHL"