DO MORE ON HOCKEY VIOLENCE: HARPER

bali, indonesia • Prime Minister Stephen Harper waded gingerly Tuesday into the debate on hockey violence.

“I do think that authorities have historically not taken their responsibility to … keep the rough, tough part of the game within the rules,” the prime minister said. The remark may have been a shot at the National Hockey League, which had a sombre opening night when Montreal fighter George Parros suffered a serious head injury.

“I particularly worry about the headshot phenomenon. This is, as others have said, evidence [of ] longer-term cerebral damage. These are very serious issues and they have to be taken seriously by the NHL and other sports bodies.”

Harper described his particular “area of interest and expertise” as pre-First World War professional hockey. His

book, A Great Game: The Forgotten Leafs & The Rise of Pro

fessional Hockey, which he has been researching and writing for several years, is to be published in early November.

The debate about the place of violence in hockey “is as old as hockey itself,” Harper said. “There has never been an era in hockey, from the very beginning, where violence was not an issue of controversy.”

The prime minister believes violence in the sport was significantly worse in its early days.

“This is an era when players were hitting each other over the head with sticks and they did not wear helmets or any kind of modern, sturdy equipment,” he said. “[They] were pretty lightly equipped and the violence is quite shocking. That is not a justification. I do worry about this. I think that the toughness of the game is part of the game. But I have always been an admirer of the skill.”

Referring to the recent spate of hockey violence, he said: “I am not trying to be nonchalant on some of these incidents, which are of concern to any parent watching this and seeing examples set and worrying about what could happen to their own boys and girls when they step on the ice.”