Documentary Brings Understanding, Humanity to Hockey Enforcers

Humanity can complicate righteousness.

I was righteous in my indignation about fighting in hockey. It was a brutal, Neanderthal, antiquated component of the game and the sooner fighting disappeared from the ice, the better.

Then I saw the 2016 sports documentary “Ice Guardians.” I saw the humanity of those players whose National Hockey League careers were defined by dropping the gloves. And by the end of this brilliant piece of filmmaking, I was confused.

“Ice Guardians” tells the story of those players — players like Kelly Chase and Kevin Westgarth and so many others — and the layers of humanity beyond their fists and the evolution and purpose of enforcers in the game.