Fighting regulations: the QMJHL is laughed out of the United States

At the beginning of August, the QMJHL confirmed what had already been in the air for several months: starting with the coming season, fights will be much more tightly regulated.

Match misconduct and suspensions: everything is in place to discourage players from throwing down the gloves.

In Quebec, the decision was generally well received. There’s obviously a group of people(including Milan Lucic) who oppose it, but there’s a larger group(including Matthew Barnaby) who support it.

It’s being done to protect the youngsters, especially as the majority of them will never play professionally.

Today, however, the Twitter X account of Spittin’ Chiclets, an American podcast, decided to openly mock the Quebec junior circuit with a publication that, in their opinion, shows us the state of the QMJHL in five years’ time.

It shows field hockey players playing in a unicycle in a gymnasium. And, of course, there’s no contact.

I don’t need to tell you that the comments are full of laughs about the QMJHL.

It’s not necessarily the first time this has caused a stir outside Quebec, but in this particular case, it’s a little hard to take this joke/criticism/other seriously for one simple reason: in the NCAA, which is the American college circuit, the policy affecting fighting is very similar to the new policy adopted by the QMJHL.

And Ryan Whitney, one of the podcast hosts, played in the NCAA before turning pro. But that’s not mentioned, of course.

In fact, the NCAA goes one step further by forcing its players to wear full-face grills, something the QMJHL doesn’t do. And yet, that doesn’t stop the Spittin’ Chiclets from mocking the QMJHL, which adopts a less advanced policy than what was put in place in the NCAA some twenty years ago.

The reality is that laughing at the QMJHL is a winning formula in the United States. Of course, over there, they won’t miss a chance to laugh at the Quebec circuit, even if they’re laughing at something that exists in their own neck of the woods.

What’s good for the Quebec pussycat isn’t necessarily good for the American pussycat, it seems.

I confess I find the whole thing rather sad, but in the end, the important thing is that the QMJHL makes the right decision for itself, regardless of what others may think.

Hats off to Mario Cecchini for this one.

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