Ice Guardians

This film is a must watch for any hockey fan and indeed great viewing for any sports fan in general An amazing insight into the life of a professional hockey player, specifically looking at the role of the enforcer. It is cut together very well, it grips you to the point of not being able to look away in fear of missing something. The players them selves are captivating and the various experts add levels of depth. This includes Dr Victoria Silverwood, who adds her views following her PhD study entitled "Five for Fighting: The Culture and Practice of Violence in Professional Ice Hockey".

I cannot wait to watch it again, as I have a firm feeling that I will "see" other things that I missed the first time around.

A documentary telling the fascinating story of the ice hockey enforcers who protected their teammates and handed out well deserved justice to anyone who dared inflict harm on their team. This really interesting documentary is fantastically put together by exploring all sides of the arguments to whether enforcers are needed and wanted. A great group of ex pro's and enforcers tell their story along with famous fans. It's must watch for any sports fans and I fell on the side that Ice Hockey was much better with these wonderfully protective enforcers in it.

This seemed to be propelled along with the adrenaline of the fights featured in the documentary. It gave a really great overview of the enforcer role and the place of hockey fights in the sport; right from their origins to their present day decline.

I'm someone who only recently developed a love for the sport during my time living in Canada. One of the first things I found appealing and unique to hockey were the fights. How the entire game would stop as the fighters took center stage was something I found incredibly fascinating and entertaining!

'Ice Guardians' definitely gave me the hockey-fight-fix I'd been craving lately. As a documentary, I preferred "The Last Gladiators" though, which also features the role of hockey enforcer, perhaps from a more classic era. This one seemed to have a big focus on "modern day" enforcers/fighters, with not every 'segment' being as appealing as the other. The different segments seemed a little disjointed at times, interrupting the flow the film. It was also a bit overlong.

Parts of the documentary I found the most interesting were the unspoken "etiquette" of the fights ("Hey, if I don't fight you, I might get dropped for the next game." "Sure, okay, I'll help you out.") and the players' emotions when seriously hurting opponents. The concussion element was also intriguing, with 95% of hockey concussions coming from play and not fights themselves. It's that statistic that will stay with me and hopefully prove that hockey fights are here to stay!

Brett Harvey's documentary Ice Guardians (released in 2016) is about very interesting subject. I am an ice hockey fan and enforcers are one interesting part of the NHL matches. I have noticed that fights have decreased in recent years. This documentary told some reasons for that.

Many former NHL players who were enforcers told about being enforcer and the evolution of the role in the history of the NHL. Former players and most fans who were interviewed hoped that the role of enforcer wouldn't disappear completely. Couple of interviewed said that the health of enforcers is a priority.

The documentary isn't completely objective and could be little shorter. On the other hand some interviews are emotional for example Dave Semenko's thoughts about winning the Stanley Cup when he played in Edmonton. Better than average documentary. 7/10

Great hearing and seeing actual players in the video clips and interviews speaking for themselves instead of some biased, deceptive media talking head. Excellent depiction of an enforcer in hockey and the NHL. The hot issues, enforcers, fighting, concussions..., were discussed fairly by all sides. Well done!