Let Hockey Help Set Good Path After TB’s Cooper Fumbles

Words are kind of my thing, so my initial reaction to a certain comment made by Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper earlier this week was to wonder if others would also find it cringeworthy. They did. Good.

There is no reason hockey can’t be the context for a reminder of language that would best be weeded out of our everyday usage, particularly in sports.

We aren’t talking about general vulgarity. That’s not likely to go anywhere and, frankly, if that bothers anyone, it’s more about decorum.

This is about making an angry point or directing trash talk at others by relying on — and perpetuating — demeaning generalizations and slurs at the expense of some faction of society. That language is saying the subject of such comments is lesser than, just like that faction of society is perceived by some to be.

Here’s what happened in Cooper’s case. It was just after his Lightning got eliminated from the first round of the playoffs on Monday with a 6-1 loss to the Florida Panthers. In his postgame press conference, Cooper let loose with a long rant about two goals that were waved off because of goaltender interference.

During that diatribe, Cooper said that “we might as well put skirts on them,” referring to goalies.

Yikes. Ugh. Eye roll.

Here’s the full comment:

We know what he was saying. He thinks the NHL is coddling the goalies and calling interference and nullifying goals way too easily. He was frustrated after the loss. He was confounded by a penalty and rule that has caused widespread consternation around the league for everyone from coaches – just ask the Penguins’ Mike Sullivan – to goalies themselves.

They are right. No one seems to know exactly what constitutes goalie interference. It’s a valid criticism.

The problem is that Cooper could have expressed that in many ways, but he fell back on a trite and insulting phrase, one that insinuates that women are weak and need protecting, and therefore the NHL in that game called goalie interference in a way that treats goalies like fragile little girls.

Those type of generalizations and slurs are too commonly used in our society, and it bleeds over into how those in and around sports express themselves in the heat of competition or over the frustration of some play calls.

It shouldn’t be that way. And it is hurtful. Take it from a female sports writer who over a long career has at times been the…