Fighting has to go

[Le Grec]

Fighting is not a problem. It's been there since day one.
And the players want it in the game.

So the solution is simple; if you can't bare watching a hockey fight, don't bitch, change the channel.
It's that simple.

I used to love the NFL and NBA, but they made changes that I don't like, so I no longer watch them.
Beats complaining...

 

[EazyE1]

Sorry just a pet peeve of mine when people call something different like this or when people call a hockey game a match.

But it is a match, a round would be between a whistle or intermission.

 

[sufferer]

Might as well get rid of hitting then too? Yeah no thanks.

That's next. Give them an inch and they always take a mile. How about for every time someone whines about the game/culture/whatever, a guy like Matt Cooke or Patrick Kaleta is allowed back in the league.

 

[kingpest19]

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.

Probert didn't die because of fighting in the NHL. He died because of a mixture of genetics and years of alcohol and substance abuse. He was an alcoholic for the majority of his life as well as dealing with a cocaine addiction.

 

[FMichael]

It exists because it's an emotional release valve for when plays get heated or when a player runs around doing cheap crap and the refs aren't calling it.

I'd much rather the players blow some steam in the odd fight rather than cheap shotting eachother in the corner or throwing a violent cross check or slash. Injuries are far more common from cheap stick work and dirty plays than they are in a fight. It's just more noticeable when a player is injured in a fight because everyones focus and attention is on them and we get over reactions like what we're seeing in this thread.

I've seen many games get settled down because of a fight versus the alternative of players taking liberties on each other when they're emotions are running high.

Well said!

 

[Bluto]

And make playing pond hockey a federal crime up north because its unfair to the folks living in atlanta and houston

f*** it. it's time to ban keeping score. When one team scores more goals than another it makes the other team and their fan base feel sad. Everybody wins every game from now on.

 

[EazyE1]

f*** it. it's time to ban keeping score. When one team scores more goals than another it makes the other team and their fan base feel sad. Everybody wins every game from now on.

and a participation trophy for the stanley cup loser

 

[urho]

Probert didn't die because of fighting in the NHL. He died because of a mixture of genetics and years of alcohol and substance abuse. He was an alcoholic for the majority of his life as well as dealing with a cocaine addiction.

Obviously it's hard to say with 100% certainty that he died because of hockey fights but they did find evidence of CTE in his brain. Its symptoms include social instability, impulsive behavior and poor judgment.

 

[CSKA1974]

Hockey is too dangerous. Hits should be removed from the game, players should no longer wear skates because they are sharp, and they should be required to bubble wrap their entire bodies before the game, and reapply it between periods in case any of the little bubbles pop. No more rushing the other teams net, it puts the goalie at risk. Pool noodles need applied to the goal posts. Also, scrums after the whistle need to go. We don't need players getting upset on the ice.

Stanislaw Lem had predicted this style of hockey in his 1961 book "Return from the Stars", where an astronaut returned to "risk eliminated" society.

 

[Bluto]

and a participation trophy for the stanley cup loser

No. Everyone wins the Stanley Cup every year.
And when a BIPOC scores, they have to play the goal song twice even if its the visiting team

 

[FMichael]

"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.

People here in the States don't follow hockey because of the fighting - it's because it's been a regional sport for many years (cold weather sport - that is until the 90s and relocations).

People here love the violence of ice hockey - be it a hard check, or a fight...Just that the NFL/MLB/NBA are usually on the minds of many sports fans instead of the NHL...Add to that the cost/time of getting involved in the great sport of hockey puts it on the back burner as well.

Leave fighting as it is, or let the NHLPA vote on it.

 

[DannyGallivan]

This is the millionth debate on fighting that I've seen (give or take one). The fact is, fighting is going away naturally. This is likely the lowest we've ever seen fighting in the approximately 130 years of organized hockey (little foggy on the earlier years, but this is an estimation). But every time a player steps onto the ice, they are risking injury.

You can't make a full contact sport involving full grown world-class athletes safe. In the last 40 years helmets have become mandatory, eventually visors became mandatory, hitting from behind and head shots became verboten, then no-touch icing and finally the enforcer is pretty much extinct. You know what scares me the most about the safety of hockey when I watch my kid play? The boards. You can't get rid of those.

Taking fighting out of the game will make the sport .001 per cent safer (it cost me a lot in the research and actuary department to come up with that number). As a fan, I won't lie... I love a good fight now and then. At it's worst, it slowed down the game and took away from the game's credibility. There was just too much of it. Now it's so rare, it's like adding just a little hot sauce to a burger. Too much would ruin the taste, but a little adds a dimension to it.

 

[Sweetpotato]

For a number of reasons fighting is necessary.

Excitement (oil vs cgy)
Deterrent (cheap, greasy players answering)

 

[FMichael]

Baseball players get suspended for fights all the time. Football players get EJECTED on the spot for fighting. Just like hype videos containing fighting exist and are used frequently. The culture around fighting is VERY different in hockey than it is in other sports. Other sports do not claim it is "part of the game" and do not consider being a good fighter as a skill. And, no, fights do not happen more often in baseball than they do in hockey.

Slashing, hooking and "playing with too many players" is not celebrated. Fighting is. So, yeah, semantics. You are using my (bad) wording to defend fighting, that's all it is.

NFL players are allowed to assault/maul each other with every play thus resulting in more injuries/concussions than you would ever see in the NHL.

You don't have to throw a punch at the guy lined up across from you - just ram into him as hard as you wish.

 

[M88K]

How about no. Fighting should absolutely stay.

 

[CupofOil]

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.

Well, that's just not true at all.

The days of paid enforcers who can't play a shift are all but gone in hockey and most of the players that passed away from brain injuries fit that mold.
Fighting will always be a part of hockey. Take out fighting and you take out a sizeable emotional aspect of the game. Staged fighting is stupid but fighting in the heat of the moment will, and should, always be a part of the game.

Also, Kassian got hurt mainly because his helmet came off which rarely occurs in fights anymore.
It's a violent sport, players are going to get hurt. I find headshots, slewfoots, severe boarding penalties etc. to be more dangerous than fighting.

 

[Tarmore]

This thread comes up almost every time someone gets actually hurt in a fight.

I have no sympathy for what happens when two grown men mutually decide to fight, no one got jumped here, bad luck someone got hurt.

You run the risk of getting hurt all over the ice.

Didn't read this thread. I read all the ones for years. I don't expect this one was any different.

 

[urho]

NFL players are allowed to assault/maul each other with every play thus resulting in more injuries/concussions than you would ever see in the NHL.

That just further proves that other physicality of the sport doesn't have to suffer from eliminating fighting from it. Nobody's banning hitting (or skates, sticks or whatever).

 

[Devilsfan118]

Fans like OP need to go.

 

[Cursed Lemon]

In 2021 If you feel any entertainment watching two men throw punches at an artful sport like Hockey, you need help in more ways than one and you should go seek it.

American society promotes violence and hatred a lot through their culture so it's easy to see how brainwashed people can be with violence. Talking about hating teams, players, getting back at him etc. But at a certain point one has to question themselves about the deeper meaning and what they want from a game of Hockey at the professional level.

There has to be a time where a rule is implemented. If you fight 25 game suspension. It's enough at this point in time. Hockey has evolved from the caveman era.

Problem is the NHL is followed by a lot of shallow people as evidenced by this thread. People who don't really have an understanding of the game and sport in general.

America's problem with brutality and violence is entirely its own thing. The NHL plays games in Canada too, if you didn't realize.

 

[Mandar]

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.

I dont really care if fighting is in or out, but what you say (bolded) isnt at all any justification for anything. If two guys had a stick fight at center ice, people would stand and yell....if you gave them each a bat and they went at it, the they would all stand and yell.....give them bows and arrows to launch at each other, they would stand up and yell. The point is....violence sells. Same reason why people root for car wrecks in NASCAR.

Just say you think its cool to watch people fight....thats more honest. Who cares if everyone stand up....thats not the benchmark.

 

[Richard]

Fighting is great f*** off

 

[FMichael]

That just further proves that other physicality of the sport doesn't have to suffer from eliminating fighting from it. Nobody's banning hitting (or skates, sticks or whatever).

Football does not take place on an enclosed playing surface with what may be deemed a weapon in hand.

As others have mentioned - tempers flare up - I'd rather see 2 willing combatants fight rather than see a cheap shot from behind with a player crashing head 1st into the boards or a stick swinging contest.

Keep things the way they are, or better yet let the NHLPA vote on it.

 

[kingpest19]

Obviously it's hard to say with 100% certainty that he died because of hockey fights but they did find evidence of CTE in his brain. It's symptoms include social instability, impulsive behavior and poor judgment.

It's pretty easy to say that fighting really didn't have anything to do with his death. Yeah they found evidence of it but his addiction issues started long before he was a fighter. He started drinking at age 14 and was in rehab multiple times by the time he was 22. He also had a pretty big coke problem that started in his early 20s as well. Those issues began long before CTE symptoms would have even began to manifest. The guy had addiction issues that had nothing to do with CTE with the end result being heart problems which led to his death.

 

[Pink Mist]

People that argue that fighting is part of hockey clearly only watch North American hockey because it's not part of the game in Europe or in international competitions and they do just fine without it.

Just give an automatic one game suspension for fighting and you'll weed it out. People will still fight when it's actually something that deserves to fight about but you won't have these stupid staged fights