Circa 1978 — The Stanley Cup playoffs have begun as has the Memorial Cup tournament for the junior hockey championship of Canada. As usual there has been some rough and dirty play and with it, controversy. During a recent discussion about discrimination in sports I was struck by how naive people are about the path taken to be a professional hockey player. The NHL has a deserved reputation for fighting and aggression but it’s nothing compared to what I witnessed covering junior hockey in Edmonton and New Westminster. Seventeen year old hockey players had to have the highest testosterone levels in the world and coaches did little to hold them back. The Portland Winterhawks player being taken off the ice on a stretcher by his team mates, if I remember correctly, was knocked out from a check by a New Westminster Bruins player during a game at Queens Park Arena. No big deal, no doctors, just get him off the ice and continue the game.