Malc
05-21-2008, 05:52 PM
by Patrick Hruby/ESPN.com
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=goons
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Josh Kemp, a 15-year-old from Saskatchewan with close-cropped blond hair and a broad, lanky frame, is captain of his youth hockey team. Last season, he played in a provincial all-star tournament. He also led his league in penalty minutes and has been working with boxing coach Frank Fiacco since he was 10.
"Josh has a great shot, and he's a good defenseman," says dad Curtis Kemp. "But he's not going to be Wayne Gretzky. He brings another element."
"Other kids are pretty much sitting there flailing their arms around," Josh says. "I actually know what to do."
"He has learned to hit hard," Curtis says. "One hit and it's over."
"I love doing it," Josh says.
"Last year, we're in a tournament in Prince Albert, a real dirty game, and Josh knocks out one kid, then another," Curtis says. "The coach sends out a third guy. Josh knocks him out, too."
"That was fun," Josh says with a laugh, looking slightly embarrassed. "I didn't even know what had happened until my team told me after."
"Josh is going to the Kelowna Rockets' WHL camp next week, his first real taste of what junior hockey can be," Curtis says. "I can say unequivocally that he wouldn't be going if we hadn't come to the Lonsdale Boxing Club in Regina."
"I just like fighting," Josh says.
"Not one time did he get in trouble for it," Curtis says. "He filled a role with the team."
He filled a role with the team. Baseball has designated hitters. Hockey has designated punchers. Why? The answer lies in what author Ross Bernstein calls "the code," the unwritten rules of hockey brawling that govern everything from who fights whom to Laraque's famously wishing fellow tough guy Raitis Ivanans "Good luck, man" before pummelling him. It's no coincidence Boogaard and Josh Kemp have fathers who are cops, and no accident the puckheads use the term "enforcer" instead of "goon."
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http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=goons
...
Josh Kemp, a 15-year-old from Saskatchewan with close-cropped blond hair and a broad, lanky frame, is captain of his youth hockey team. Last season, he played in a provincial all-star tournament. He also led his league in penalty minutes and has been working with boxing coach Frank Fiacco since he was 10.
"Josh has a great shot, and he's a good defenseman," says dad Curtis Kemp. "But he's not going to be Wayne Gretzky. He brings another element."
"Other kids are pretty much sitting there flailing their arms around," Josh says. "I actually know what to do."
"He has learned to hit hard," Curtis says. "One hit and it's over."
"I love doing it," Josh says.
"Last year, we're in a tournament in Prince Albert, a real dirty game, and Josh knocks out one kid, then another," Curtis says. "The coach sends out a third guy. Josh knocks him out, too."
"That was fun," Josh says with a laugh, looking slightly embarrassed. "I didn't even know what had happened until my team told me after."
"Josh is going to the Kelowna Rockets' WHL camp next week, his first real taste of what junior hockey can be," Curtis says. "I can say unequivocally that he wouldn't be going if we hadn't come to the Lonsdale Boxing Club in Regina."
"I just like fighting," Josh says.
"Not one time did he get in trouble for it," Curtis says. "He filled a role with the team."
He filled a role with the team. Baseball has designated hitters. Hockey has designated punchers. Why? The answer lies in what author Ross Bernstein calls "the code," the unwritten rules of hockey brawling that govern everything from who fights whom to Laraque's famously wishing fellow tough guy Raitis Ivanans "Good luck, man" before pummelling him. It's no coincidence Boogaard and Josh Kemp have fathers who are cops, and no accident the puckheads use the term "enforcer" instead of "goon."
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