Fighting has to go

[urho]

With most of the sports-people worrying about the increasing amount of head injuries in the game it's quite baffling that bare-knuckle fighting on ice in a ball game is still supported by the conservative hockey fan base. It's just stupid macho shit and it does not have a place in modern hockey. Taking them out of the game reduces head-injuries without changing the game in any meaningful way. Just watched the Oilers-game and what a pointless and dangerous looking injury Kassian suffered as a result of that fight.



And you can do it step-by-step. In Finland for a long time there's an automatic 1 game suspension if you fight and that only makes fight very rare. Make it 3 games and fighting virtually stops.

And yeah yeah, world's gone soft and all that but this is hockey with enough toughness and injuries even as it is. I used to think that fights were okay (never was a fan of that aspect of the game TBH) but with all the evidence about the brain damages and even lost lives of NHL-fighters I've come to think otherwise. Would it really be that bad if fighting was banned?

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[MikeyMike01]

no

 

[trick9]

I'm sure the NHL hope to be as exciting as the Finnish league some day.

 

[bacon25]

Fighting and hard hits are a large draw for people. I am okay with removing the staged fights and fights over every hard hit. However, it may be better to get out the bad blood in a fight than have someone running around the ice trying to kill someone against the boards.

 

[Kuhta]

I'm sure the NHL hope to be as exciting as the Finnish league some day.

Finnish league is the nr. 1 sports league in their national market though.

NHL is barely top 10.

A lot to catch!

 

[urho]

I'm sure the NHL hope to be as exciting as the Finnish league some day.

Fighting makes NHL exciting you think? I watch the NHL over FEL because NHL-players are better hockey players, the game is faster and more entertaining. And before "tHeN bAn HiTTinG alSO"-argument, hitting is allowed in rules and it serves a purpose in this game. Fighting isn't allowed and getting injured in a fight is such a waste.

 

[DonM]

God willing you never get your wish. Hockey is stupid, macho shit at its core, so fighting very much has a place in the game.

 

[Zirakzigil]

Kassian isnt in the league if fighting was banned. Personally I dont mind a good fight from bad blood. Staged fights or fights from clean hits I can do without. Hockey is a physical sport, lets not turn it into figure skating.

 

[CharasLazyWrister]

Over the last handful of years, I’ve drifted into the “I wouldn’t mind if it goes away” crowd, but I still don’t have any sort of strong wish to see it go.

At the end of the day, if both guys are willing, I can’t have that big of an issue with it despite the fact it sometimes does feel like an unnecessary health risk (I do see it as different than risks in the midst of actual gameplay). I don’t really get the “get rid of staged fighting” argument as fighting is way, way down from its heyday and fights of any sort are far less frequent. I almost like when it’s staged because then you at least have two people that are totally willing.

 

[urho]

God willing you never get your wish. Hockey is stupid, macho shit at its core, so fighting very much has a place in the game.

It can stay stupid. Just take out the fighting, there's no slippery slope here. People have died because of this, Boogaard, Rypien, Belak, Probert... You can't take all the risk or violence from the sport but taking out fighting wouldn't change ice hockey all that much but would reduce the possibility of brain injuries. There are young players like Svechnicov whose only concussion came from a fight. There's no need for that.

 

[Laus723]

Fighting makes NHL exciting you think? I watch the NHL over FEL because NHL-players are better hockey players, the game is faster and more entertaining. And before "tHeN bAn HiTTinG alSO"-argument, hitting is allowed in rules and it serves a purpose in this game. Fighting isn't allowed and getting injured in a fight is such a waste.

players very rarely get badly injured in a fight. And sorry, it’s literally in every sport. Hell NASCAR has fights sometimes, and they’re mostly in race cars the whole time.

not going anywhere. Nor should it. Period.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

It can stay stupid. Just take out the fighting, there's no slippery slope here. People have died because of this, Boogaard, Rypien, Belak, Probert... You can't take all the risk or violence from the sport but taking out fighting wouldn't change ice hockey all that much but would reduce the possibility of brain injuries. There are young players like Svechnicov whose only concussion came from a fight. There's no need for that.

These players died because that was the only thing they did. They would rack up more than 20 or 25 fighting majors per season. One-dimensional enforcers don’t exist anymore.

Guys like Kassian, Reaves or Wilson do much more than fighting. They contribute in the game with hitting, defense, goals, assists etc. These guys don’t fight nearly as much, and fighting has become a hugging contest for a lot of players.

As for Svechnikov, no one forced him to fight. He willingly challenged a much bigger and stronger guy and paid the price for it. I’m pretty sure that fight was likely his first and last.

 

[Bood12]

I don't understand the neanderthals who jump up and start cheering when a fight is about to happen, other than that I don't care if they ban it or not, I watch to see my team hopefully score more goals than the opposing team by the end if the game, big hits and fights I couldn't care less about

 

[Bounces R Way]

Oh look it's this thread again

 

[DonM]

It can stay stupid. Just take out the fighting, there's no slippery slope here. People have died because of this, Boogaard, Rypien, Belak, Probert... You can't take all the risk or violence from the sport but taking out fighting wouldn't change ice hockey all that much but would reduce the possibility of brain injuries. There are young players like Svechnicov whose only concussion came from a fight. There's no need for that.

It's not about need. Hockey is simply more entertaining with fighting than without it. Guys are aware of the risks and aren't forced to fight generally. Simple as that. Figure skating will proceed unimpeded for those who don't want to watch one of the very few outlets for violence in our bubble wrapped, safety-obsessed culture.

 

[Laus723]

I don't understand the neanderthals who jump up and start cheering when a fight is about to happen, other than that I don't care if they ban it or not, I watch to see my team hopefully score more goals than the opposing team by the end if the game, big hits and fights I couldn't care less about

well, nearly 100% of game attendees don’t understand you. The whole arena in 32 different locations stands up for fights and drops their jaws to big hits. It’s part of the game, which is why the players all do the same.

Neanderthals, lol.

 

[ThreeOfAPerfectPair]

Compromise, let them fight with their hockey gloves on.

 

[Zenos]

Kassian isnt in the league if fighting was banned. Personally I dont mind a good fight from bad blood. Staged fights or fights from clean hits I can do without. Hockey is a physical sport, lets not turn it into figure skating.

I'm no big Kassian supporter (see the "favourite and least favourite player on your team" thread), but I'm not sure that's even true. He can chuck 'em if he has to, but Kassian really isn't a fighter.
Don't get me wrong, it's definitely part of his game - but he's still an NHLer even if you remove that aspect of the game.

 

[shtorm2005]

Fighting might prevent horrifying acts of violence.

 

[Bizz]

No. In fact the NHL needs MORE fighting.

 

[urho]

Fighting might protect from horrifying acts of violence to happen.

No it doesn't. Penalize dirty shit with lengthier suspensions, it'll be much more effective.

No. In fact the NHL needs MORE fighting.

Care to elaborate?

 

[TheBeastCoast]

Ah must be the start of a new season.

 

[Esko6]

Are there any other sports other than martial arts and hockey where it is considered normal to have fist fights during a game? This is not a rhetorical question, I am trying to think of one.

 

[Bizz]

Care to elaborate?

No. Fortunately the NHL couldn't give less than a shit about what likeminded people think about it's sports rules. Making these threads every 3 months is never going to change that.

 

[JackSlater]

Nah it doesn't. It's probably best that designated fighters are by and large gone, but that's as far as I'll go. It's unique and good that hockey has a mechanism like fighting for when thing are boiling over. These are adults willingly engaging in a legal activity.