“You’ve been touched by the fist of God,” a Canadian minor league hockey coach tells Doug Glatt, an aspiring minor league player portrayed by actor Seann William Scott in the 2011 comedy movie Goon. Glatt can’t skate — at all — but what he can do is literally punch out the competition and deliver some especially effective body checking. Glatt is what’s known as an enforcer, a player whose role is “to deter and respond to dirty or violent play by the opposition. When such play occurs, the enforcer is expected to respond aggressively, by fighting or [body] checking the offender. Enforcers are expected to react particularly harshly to violence against star players or goalies.”[1]
Female American hockey star Hilary Knight, who news outlets such as NBC Sports have said “has been seemingly unstoppable” as part of Team U.S.A. since arriving in Beijing for the 2022 Olympic Games,[2] faced an unexpected foe on February 12, when she tweeted about being “bodied (body checked) simultaneously by both elevator doors.” She provided no further details, prompting news outlets to wonder whether the elevator doors closed on Knight or if she was trying to hold the doors for teammates entering or exciting. In any case, she said she was “humbled” by the experience. She and Team U.S.A. were set to face Finland on February 14.
References
[1] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enforcer_(ice_hockey)
[2] Reardon, Logan. “Beijing Elevator Doors Crunch ‘Humility’ Out of Team USA’s Hilary Knight,” NBC Sports Philadelphia, February 12, 2022.
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