Not all hockey fans are familiar with the meaning of the word tafgai. At one time, every professional team had such a player. So, tough guy is a professional hockey player who is fluent in fist fighting technique. Such players make hockey more interesting for the viewer. Fights of tough guys are spectacular and make hockey more popular.
Who are tough guys?
Tafgai are players who are not set to score goals. Quite often, they enter the field only at the right time, and then are removed until the end of the game. The presence of such players in the team makes it more secure. As soon as the moment comes when one of the rivals plays hard with the leader, tough guy immediately enters into business. Some of them have experience in various martial arts. The team in which tough guy won is energized and feels more relaxed. During fisticuffs, they sometimes get terrible injuries, such as a broken nose and jaw, injuries to the hand, a broken eyebrow and nose bridge. This is only a small part of the damage that most of them suffered during their career. Tafgai are real wars that are not afraid of pain.
Classification
Each tough guy in hockey performs certain tasks. Such players can be divided into the following types:
Bodyguard or "policeman". His main task is to protect the leaders of his team from power players of the opponent. The policeman is looking for the player who plays the hardest against the leader and eliminates him by brute force or provokes the battle. Due to this, the leader of his team feels more freely and confidently.
Hunter. Such a player, on the contrary, must remove the opponent’s leaders from the game. Such tough guy call the goals before the game surname. Thus, his team will have an advantage in the game.
How do tough guys train?
As a rule, such a role in hockey is chosen by young people with a powerful physique and a fighting character. Not everyone can stand such a difficult role in the team. Tufgai must have the skills of boxing and other martial arts. Tufgai in hockey must injure as many people as possible during the game. This is necessary so that the opposing team was afraid to play hard hockey and the leaders could show all their skills. In addition to fights, the tough guy should also be able to play hockey. In the history of this sport there have been cases when the “policemen” played in the position of the striker and scored goals.
Required skills
Tufgai is a hockey player who must be able to fight on ice. If the "policeman" is uncertainly standing on the ice, then during the fight he will have no chance. Therefore, each tough guy is initially taught a specialized hockey martial arts. Each fighter must be able to do the following:
Confidently stand on the ice.
Fight in hockey uniform.
Quickly discard a helmet from an opponent.
Deliver accurate and powerful shots from an uncomfortable position.
General player
With the advent of the financial limit and large disqualifications for fights, teams began to abandon tough guys. They were replaced by power hockey players who would be useful in the game. Such a player must be able to conduct a quality power reception. It is advisable that he does not break the rules.
Conditional Rules
Each tough guy during the game must comply with the following mandatory rules:
Do not beat the opponent with a club. Before the battle, each of the fighters must throw her on the field.
It is forbidden to attack an opponent who is initially clearly injured.
Attacking the goalkeeper is prohibited and will cause great anger to the opposing team.
You cannot attack from the back.
And also fighters on ice should, if possible, observe the following unwritten rules:
It is undesirable to attack a player without warning. As a rule, the tough guy first calls the opponent to the battle by a strong push with a club or a throw on the ice.
A self-respecting tough guy should not attack a player who does not want to engage in battle. If only he did not offend the guardian "policeman".
Do not engage in battle with an opponent who is noticeably weaker physically. Usually tough guys in such cases lay the player on the ice, preventing them from moving.
If the opponent’s player surrenders, then it is undesirable to beat him.
Combat technique
A duel on ice is very different from fighting in the ring. Tough guy before the fight throws a stick and ice hockey gloves on the ice. At the same time, they are usually thrown aside so as not to stumble later. It is very difficult to maintain balance in a boxing position on skates. Tough guys, as a rule, grab one opponent’s shirt with one hand. Due to this, they maintain balance and control it. An ice fighter must always remove his helmet from the opponent. Best of all, if he manages to do it on one try. Otherwise, the fighter can damage the fist with a strong blow to the opponent’s helmet or glass.
The tough guys have one very popular trick. It consists in the fact that one of the fighters, grabbing a T-shirt from behind, pulls it on the head of the other. If he managed to do this, then the opponent will be completely neutralized. Due to the t-shirt pulled over his head, he will not see anything and will not be able to strike. The opponent at this moment, as a rule, continues the battle with a number of powerful blows. The judges, seeing the beating, begin to intervene and end the fight.
The difference between tough guy and power player
In modern hockey, clubs usually no longer have tough guys. They were replaced by power players who know how to play hockey at a high level. The tough guys, as a rule, enter the field just before the fight and leave until the end of the game, eliminating the goal. Power players per game perform a large number of power tricks, but some of them do not take part in fights. In modern hockey, tough players are valued who perform permitted power tricks in hockey, since removal from the field often leads to a conceded goal. If necessary, the power player can join the battle and there he will feel comfortable. But this is not their main goal. Among power hockey players there are often strikers who have a powerful physique.
Popular tough guys of the present
In modern hockey, not many real tough guys are known who staged an ice battle. The most outstanding fighters on ice include the following hockey players:
Chris Simon Chris is from Canada. For a long time he was one of the main tough guys in the NHL. Now he has finished his professional career and is raising four children. But in his youth, he was one of the most dangerous players in the league. Simon was selected in the NHL draft by the Philadelphia Flyers Club in 1990. Already in the first season, this hockey player participated in several bloody battles. Chris Simon in his long career managed to play in Russia. In the club “Vityaz” at the same time several strong tough guys were gathered, who kept the whole league in fear. After a couple of years, Chris moved to the Novokuznetsk “Metallurg”. There he completed his professional career.
Andrey Nazarov. This hockey player has already completed his professional career and began to work as a coach. Andrei is polite and solidly dressed, but even on the coaching bridge he came into conflict with the audience. This player played in the forward position. He began his performances at Dynamo Moscow, and then went overseas to play for the San Jose Sharks team. On a hockey platform, he regularly performed power tricks and fought with the strongest tough guys. Nazarov, thanks to his strong character and martial arts skills, played in the NHL for 12 years. He was the first Russian tough guy in the NHL.
Jeremy Jablonski. This tough guy comes from Canada, but he is very well known to Russian hockey fans. In 2003, he was awarded the unofficial title of the most formidable tough guy NHL. Jeremy has had many professional fights. In 2011, the NHL refused the services of fighters on ice and Yablonski came to Russia to play for the Vityaz club. In the debut meeting, he received 56 minutes of a penalty. In Russia, Jablonski participated in many fights. For this he was regularly disqualified. Jeremy Jablonski inflicted heavy injuries on his opponents with force. In 2013, this tough guy left Russia, to the delight of many teams.
John Mirasti. This Canadian hockey player was a member of the scandalous club “Hero”. Until that moment, he played in some American teams. Mirasti gained fame after a fight with Jablonski. These fighters held one of the brightest and longest fights in the history of hockey. After that, Mirasti went to Russia, to the club “Vityaz”. It was there that he played along with his main rival. Mirasti and Jablonski inspired fear in the rivals of the Vityaz club. This Canadian hockey player managed to conduct one fight in martial arts. In it, John lost in the first round.
Evgeny Artyukhin. This tough guy of the Russian team spent a lot of fights in the KHL. His father once engaged in wrestling. Eugene himself is actively engaged in martial arts. Artyukhin has excellent physical strength. That is why hockey players do not like to play against him. Now Evgeny Artyukhin stands for HC Siberia.
The most vivid fights
Among the large number of ice battles there are the most striking and outstanding. These include:
Fight Jablonski and Mirasti. The brightest duel between friends in life took place on December 19, 2008 in AHL. These two fighters drove up to the center of the field, took off their gloves and set to work. In a few minutes, they delivered over 100 hits to each other.
The hockey match between the teams “Vityaz” and “Vanguard” for a long time will be remembered by all fans of Russia. Three minutes after the start of the match, a mass brawl began, in which all the team players participated. After that, the match was interrupted.
The fight of Aaron Downey and Brad Norton after a long discussion of the media. For forty seconds, these fighters did not strike a single blow. Then the judges got tired of it and they sent the hockey players to the penalty box.
In modern hockey there were no tafgays left. What this word means is no longer known to young fans of this sport. It is hard work. The tough guys received a large number of various injuries, and then again went out into the field.