ESPN
While speaking about the 4 Nations hockey tournament on the Wednesday, February 19 episode of First Take, host Molly Qerim implied a connection between the acceptance of fighting in the sport and the race of the majority of the players. Three fights broke out in the first nine seconds of USA vs. Canada on Saturday.
According to Molly Qerim, the reason that fighting is allowed in hockey but not other sports is due to “optics.” While Qerim did not explicitly state it, the implication was that race are the optics she’s talking about.
Qerim, 40 years old, has been the host of ESPN’s popular First Take debate show since 2015, with her 10-year anniversary as host coming this September.
“It’s just interesting to me that certain sports, you’re allowed to fight. And other sports, it could never happen. Optics!” Qerim said while hosting alongside Chris ‘Mad Dog’ Russo and Monica McNutt.
Molly Qerim on the fights in the USA vs. Canada 4 Nations Face-Off matchup: “It’s just interesting to me that certain sports, you’re allowed to fight. And other sports, it could never happen. Optics!” pic.twitter.com/JILF6IscpG
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 19, 2025
During the first nine seconds of the 4 Nations game between the United States and Canada on Saturday, Matthew Tkachuck (USA) squared off against Brandon Hagel (CAN), Brady Tkachuk (USA) fought Sam Bennett (CAN), and J.T. Miller (USA) got into a scrap with Colton Parayko (CAN).
Team USA and Team Canada will face off in the final of the 4 Nations tournament on Thursday, February 20.