Flyers' tough guy Schultz thinks players should provide their own 'protection'

One of the problems with hockey today, Flyers' legendary tough guy Dave Schultz was saying, is that players no longer have the freedom to monitor each other.

"There were guys like [Wayne] Gretzky who used to say, 'We need protection,' and now the only protection star players have is the National Hockey League's judicial system: Colin Campbell," said Schultz, whose single-season record for penalty minutes has stood for 35 years. "[But] players can police themselves. There used to be a thing called the code. The code is kind of gone."

Schultz was a key member of the Flyers' Stanley Cup-winning teams in the 1970s. While he scored a combined 29 goals in the two championship seasons, Schultz was most valuable for his role as an enforcer. In 1974-75, Schultz racked up the record 472 penalty minutes and had 25 fights, according to the terrific website HockeyFights.com.

"There's still certain rules and [current fighters] follow them," he said. "Like if a guy's hurt, you don't fight him."

But if an opponent took a cheapshot at one of the Flyers' skilled players, he could expect a quick visit from the man still affectionately known as "The Hammer."

"Today, you can drive Danny Briere's head into the boards and get suspended and lose some money," Schultz said. "In my day, you'd have to turn around because there would be guys lined up and you'd have to fight. That prevented a lot of guys from doing a lot of B.S."

Schultz and other proponents of hockey fighting argue that the instigator rule instituted in 1992 actually has made life less safe for star players. The rule gives a penalty to a player for unilaterally starting a fight. As such, retribution for a hit on a star player could wind up costing the aggrieved team even more.

"That's a bad rule," he said. "The instigator rule changed the game. It changed players being able to protect their teammates."

Suspensions and fines also are laughable, Schultz argues. There is no greater deterrent to cheapshots than being forced to fight after delivering one.

"I was only suspended one time," Schultz said. "I head-butted [Bruins' nemesis Terry] O'Reilly because he was holding my hands."

Sounds like O'Reilly violated "the code" and Schultz made him pay. What a concept. *