Fighting has to go

[KCbus]

I don't think fighting is really bringing in many new fans at this point. I also don't really think it's a good thing if fighting is the thing bringing people in. Would be nice if the game itself did.

I don't care one way or the other. Whatever the players want in this case. I love the game of hockey no matter if they fight or not.

You show me a guy who still says "I only go to games for the fights" and I'll show you a guy who hasn't been to a game in two decades.

The number of games that wind up having fights in them has so drastically decreased over the years that a fight is actually kind of a special event now. The rules/enforcements are so geared to skill play now that, in my humble opinion, has completely diminished the impact of physical play. And I'm not one of those whiners who's always complaining about how bad the game is while watching 100+ games of it a year, but it's almost like one element of the sport that makes it so great has been completely removed. I think that leads to the decrease in fighting (among other reasons -- visors, better knowledge of concussions, the instigator rule) because there are fewer players on the ice there for muscle alone, and the more open game reduces the sheer amount of frustration for guys who are getting poked, prodded, held and tackled all night.

Eliminating fighting doesn't solve that problem. In fact, it might increase the chance of cheap-shottery because guys know they don't have to fight. Also, I think the complaint about "staged fights" is a little overblown, because those really don't happen that often anymore, either. The complaint I DO agree with is the complaint that there have been times over the years where a guy will throw a hard, completely clean check and then be expected to fight over it like he did something wrong.

Ultimately, I think the NHL is going to get to a point where fighting isn't outright banned with severe consequences for those who partake, but it may become an automatic game misconduct. Not my wish, but that's what my gut tells me.

 

[Coach Reggie Dunlop]

I don’t care what people think, I’m a young fan and I love the fights. I think it prevents even more dirty hits. In The games I’ve seen where the refs don’t let them go, teams throw just massive dirty hits at each other but when they fight steam starts to cool off and they aren’t taking runs at each other. Either way, guys like Kassian like to fight, I can certainly tell you he wouldn’t think fighting needs to be removed because he fell on his head.

 

[Three On Zero]

Fighting needs to stay, its an integral part of the sport we all love to watch

 

[Surrounded By Ahos]

Not to mention, it hurts stars players a lot more, because guys can take runs at them, with little fear of proportional justice. Marc Savard missed how many games(did that end his career, can't recall), while Matt Cooke got suspended for far fewer.

I'm a bit confused here. Potentially having to fight somebody later absolutely did not prevent Cooke from scrambling Savard's brain. So how exactly is the NHL tolerating fighting protecting star players?

 

[J T Money]

Only thing I’d like to see changed is having helmets that actually stay on the player (to prevent what happened Kassian).

 

[El Travo]

I'm pretty neutral towards the whole fighting debate. I enjoy a fight driven by passion in defense of a teammate, but I find orchestrated fights to be boring and a pointless waste of time. I like that it allows players to self-regulate, but I hate that "self-regulation" mainly means there's a scrum after every hit that generates a sound (whether clean or dirty). Fighting does have a place in the sport, and I do admit that in my mind it's mainly about upholding tradition. Players know the risks. They're much more informed on the long lasting effects of head injuries that their predecessors had. If they choose to fight then that's on them.

In the context of OP's argument against fighting, my counter argument is that players can and will become injured by far more things in game than fighting ever has. You're not going to eliminate injuries by removing fights.

Only thing I’d like to see changed is having helmets that actually stay on the player (to prevent what happened Kassian).

They already exist. It's the players who don't have the strap properly fitted.

 

[ovythegiraffe]

I'd like the moronic fights after every hard hit and the staged fights to go away. Like when Perry had to fight that Columbus bum after accidentally kneeing Tavares in the head at the playoffs. That was just an embarrassment.

Also those boneheads that mostly just fight need to go and mostly they have.

I do think there's place for fighting still. Very high energy and big emotion game and a lot of times letting out steam by fighting is the better option over nailing a head hunter hit when the opportunity comes. And in a fast paced game like hockey, those opportunities will come and a lot of times you don't have much time to think so you go by instinct and by how you feel at that moment.

Also when fighting on skates, you barely get any power into those strikes, so it's mostly just gonna be scratches. If they fought as much in let's say basketball, there'd be a couple bodies every year

 

[vandymeer13]

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.

Jump off. Pills being taken like Flintstone vitamins is a way bigger issue then fighting. Players back in the day would get ko'd and fight the next day. Nowadays players are given more time to recover and not forced to go our injured like mike peluso was. A lot of players have committed suicide or od'd not all fought. Less then 5 percent of concussions come from fighting. Stop being a ❄. Watch your crap european hockey. Hockey pre lockout was great. To much interference sometimes but the rivalries and battles were great. Hockey in 2009 weren't as physical but still great. Ho key since 2016 has been trending down and you guys still complain and act like it's slapshot out there.

 

[vandymeer13]

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

You don't like mma boxing football then? Contact sports are great and hockey use to be the top one

 

[vandymeer13]

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.

Do other sports have blades on there feet and clubs in there hands. It is what makes hockey unique. Not all sports are the same. So sick anytime a injury happens all these people come out of the woodwork

 

[MK9]

Fighting is dumb. Should be removed from the game. It’s barbaric and tbh kind of embarrassing to watch. Grow up.

Change the channel or go find another sport to make boring. You're not above it. You just can't handle it. You yourself should probably grow up if it's not something you can deal with .

 

[Maple Leaf]

Fighting will be banned soon. Hitting will also be banned.

 

[Il Stugotz]

I'm a bit confused here. Potentially having to fight somebody later absolutely did not prevent Cooke from scrambling Savard's brain. So how exactly is the NHL tolerating fighting protecting star players?

Wasn't Lucic on the ice when that happened?

What did deter Cooke? Progressive punishment, suspension lengths that began to grow exponentially. Those also fixed Raffi Torres.

 

[vandymeer13]

I used to get « excited » when fight happens. But now I just find it stupid.


Fans do stand up when there’s fight. But on the other hand, most of them wouldn’t really care if there was no fights anymore.

Fights in hockey will go. When? I don’t know. 5, 10 or even 50 years? It’s just a matter of time.

So just make it go ASAP before a player die on the ice after a everyone I know who is casual fan get realitevly bored at games if there are no fights or scrums. That's all they ask about. That's why games when you know fights will happen are the most exciting. And the quality of fights are way down. Bring back enforcers and with social media hockey would gain in popularity.

 

[Beville]

No.

These players know the risks they take. Shit happens.

Do you want all players to wear bubble wrap and cages too? Players get knocked out from fights, take pucks to the face, take sticks to the eyes, take skates to the neck.

 

[vandymeer13]

"Fighting is part of the game" is such a stupid cop out.

No, it is not. Fighting is part of the stupid North American hockey culture, yes. But not inherently part of the game. Best game I have ever seen was the womens gold medal game at Sochi... and it had no fighting nor big hits. It was entertaining and thrilling. VERY fun to watch.

Fighting might be entertaining to many people, but it is also one of the reasons why hockey is not taken seriously in the US. It is a side show and too many people market the sport around that side show. The Slapshot culture has to go.

The other stupid justification for fighting is that it prevents cheap shots. It does not. It is merely an eye for an eye response. If you REALLY want to stop cheap shots, you enforce the rules the way they are written. You suspend guys HEAVILY for acting like clowns. They do not because they think that shit sells. It does, to a certain audience. It does limit the growth of the sport and, to me, the way they use violence to market the sport is cheer stupidity. It will work with a certain crowd, but it limits your growth. I'd be fine with it if the NHL was conscious of this and were fine being a niche product... but every other business decision they take show that they are not.

People defending fighting do it because they like it, the rest is window dressing.

That game was good but it was the Olympics and country pride was part of it. For awhile the US Canada women's had the best meanest rivalry in the sport which was sad. They had hits scrums. But everyone that shows the Olympics as a example of anti fighting look at curling. Huge in the Olympics no one cares after. Fighting less then 5 percent of concussions. First ever game ended in a brawl. Fighting is integral to hockey period. Stop destroying the game more

 

[Machinehead]

I'm always surprised at the vitriol with which fighting is defended.

I wouldn't care if it went or it didn't. If you've seen one NHL fight, you've seen every NHL fight.

 

[93LEAFS]

Fighting used to be commonplace in the NBA pre-Kermit Washington breaking Rudy Tomjanovich's skull. Fighting is not essential to the game. Football is the most physical of the North American sports, and fighting is looked down at by players if it happens. It's the job of the league/refs to stop cheap shots, it shouldn't be the role of the 4th liner. Not a single player in the NHL is more valuable to his teams fortunes than any of the top 10 QB's in the NFL are to there teams. When is the last time you saw a brawl break out for a late hit on Mahomes, Rodgers or Brady?

 

[Random Comment]

Change the channel or go find another sport to make boring. You're not above it. You just can't handle it. You yourself should probably grow up if it's not something you can deal with .

Good luck living in the past.

 

[K Fleur]

Debate the ethics of fighting and it's place in the sport all you want but you're a f***ing idiot if you are fighting in a preseason game.

 

[VivaLasVegas]

Fighting happens in pretty much all contact sports, recalling pacifist Kareem Abdul-Jabbar flooring Tommy Burleson, there is usually at least one good punch thrown in any football game, and even baseball has had its share of brawls. So to suggest that the NHL even could end fighting is not particularly realistic.

What is realistic is breaking up fights more quickly, and then post-game reviewing the playback and leveling progressively harsh suspensions and fines against players, coaches, and ultimately teams that goon it up, i.e., pretty much what the league is doing already but just a little more forcefully. This review should also be kicked into hyperdrive during the playoffs, where some teams seem to bless strategic fouls and instigation of fights by discardable players to try to get the other team's star player some combination of flustered, injured or suspended -- if a team gets caught doing that, then in addition to fines and whatever else, let them start their next game with a 6-minute major.

However, I can't see that it is a bad idea to totally run off the goons: If there is a player who instigates a fight every other game, spends most of his time taunting, etc., then perhaps his career would best be completed off the ice and in the octagon.

 

[Surrounded By Ahos]

Wasn't Lucic on the ice when that happened?

What did deter Cooke? Progressive punishment, suspension lengths that began to grow exponentially. Those also fixed Raffi Torres.

Lucic was indeed on the ice. He actually passed the puck to Savard right as Cooke was lining him up. And nothing really came of it on the ice. Some hugging and facewashes, bu that was more or less it.

 

[TheDawnOfANewTage]

Not a fight fan anymore. It’s never prevented dirty hits, there were plenty of those in the days of enforcers. If helmets stay on you’re asking for a broken hand, if they come off you better hope you don’t hit your head on the ice. Dudes die from that. I respect the instinct/culture behind it all, but it’s just a remnant from a bygone era at this point.

 

[BenchBrawl]

I fully support maintaining fighting in hockey.

 

[LeapOnOver]

A shitload of players talk glowingly about enforcers all the time.

Talking heads praise players for getting into fights ALL THE f***ING TIME!

Coaches talk about momentum swing after fights or guys stepping up for the team ALL THE TIME!

And, yet, the culture is not celebrated. Jesus f***ing Christ.

Either you never watch any hockey media or you are lying. Third possibility is that this culture is so engrained in your brain that you perceive it as totally normal and just "what it is".

Unreal hyperbole... maybe you are watching the wrong broadcast or you have crappy announcers for your home team. None of those things are happening on a regular basis, and considering how few fights there are these days, it's more a novelty than anything. Instead announcers are talking about how few fights there are these days.

I've been in conversations where the person using absolutes in all caps calls the other person a liar. It's entertaining, but also a waste of time.