Fighting has to go

[The Gr8 Dane]

The day fighting leaves the game (its coming) will be a sad and dark day in hockey history...a very dark day indeed...

 

[sr edler]

When did the NHL become a "ball" game?

NHL is a league not a game, but if you mean hockey then yes, it's considered a ball sport.

 

[D4ngleSZN]

Only goalie fights should be allowed

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

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.

Fighting is part of hockey

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

The day fighting leaves the game (its coming) will be a sad and dark day in hockey history...a very dark day indeed...

No it's not, not in our lifetime anyway

 

[Qward]

Stage fighting, yes get rid of it. I feel players need to be able to police the games.

 

[Laus723]

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.

lmao, I wasn’t justifying anything, I was addressing his calling me and the millions like me Neanderthals. I literally said I enjoy watching fights through that whole post.

As for the “benchmark,” fighting has its place and it always has. From Touch my guy and I’ll bust you up to two grown men competing hard losing their tempers. Fighting is literally in every sport, hockey just hands out 5 minute penalties and instigators instead of ejections…but those ejections don’t curb the fights. Ever.

 

[RSPens]

You can usually tell who hasn't actually played hockey before. Sure I was always one of the most sportsmanlike players on the ice and I never had an on ice fight and basically only played where fighting would get you kicked out of the game. But in the heat of the game at the right moment, in the right situation, fighting is required. Should there be staged fighting? No. Should prospects have to feel like they need to fight to get noticed in the preseason? No. If someone takes liberties with McJeebus, should Kassian be aloud to jump in and teach the opposing player some respect? Oh hell yes. The problem is that since Bettman took over the league, he has implemented rules that encourage staged fights and discourages players from defending their teammates. Should we ever get back to the stick swinging, bench clearing brawls of the 70's? Of course not, but if the rules and the expectations change to a more defensive mindset, there would be less fighting in general, but more meaningful and necessary fights. But that's just my opinion.

 

[Bluto]

Ive got a solution. Give everybody on the ice a glock. That'll make them think twice about playing dirty or throwing a punch.

God damn im so f***ing smart

 

[GreatSaveEssensa]

So do we ban skates because Clint Malarchuk and Richard Zednik got their throat slashed by skates? and Mikyehev got his wrist slashed Do we ban sticks because Marian Hossa nearly ended Bryan Berard's career? Do we ban the entire sport because Jay Boumester and Jiri Fishcer had heart attacks on the bench? Do we ban hitting because Scott Stevens existed?

Shit happens we can't ban something every time it does

What a stupid response.

Your correct in saying that some things we have no control over and shit happens. Fighting in a hockey game is not one of those things. It is 100% preventable

 

[PatriceBergeronFan]

Absolutely not. Ice is slippery.

But yes, let us continue deteriorating our sport for the outspoken minority of fans as they resurface at every opportunity.

The new crosschecking threshold is more than enough for one season of entertainment decline. Let us leave fighting for a bit longer.

 

[blundluntman]

I get the concern but the traditionalist in me would hate to see fighting go. It’s been such a staple of hockey culture for so long, it’d feel like part of the sport died. I don’t make the rules or play the sport but as a fan, I don’t want it to go.

 

[Eisen]

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.

You could do something against boarding as well, or charging or... The rules are rihht there in the book. The crackdown would be easy.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

What a stupid response.

Your correct in saying that some things we have no control over and shit happens. Fighting in a hockey game is not one of those things. It is 100% preventable

It's just as stupid as saying fighting has to go because Zack Kassian hit his head.

Shit happens and it will continue to happen case in point John Tavares got kneed in the face.

Shit happens it just does

 

[Eisen]

"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.

Completely agreed.

 

[CSKA1974]

"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.

Yeah, because hockey originated in Europe

 

[EazyE1]

Keep fighting in the game, but when they want to fight, both players have to go lace up their boxing gloves while we go to commercial break to watch more Geico commercials.

 

[Pink Mist]

Fighting is part of hockey

Did you miss the part of my post where I pointed out that most leagues in the world don't have fighting and it isn't part of the game? So how can you say it's part of hockey?

 

[max21]

I uSeD tO LiKe fIgHtInG bUT I GrEw uP

 

[Svencouver]

I think there's more to the physicality of hockey than these 1 on 1 staged fights. You can still have big hits, scrums after the whistle, pushing and shoving, etc. without two guys asking one another if they wanna go on the faceoff dot. Which tbh is hardly ever good, most of the time it's just a jersey grab into falling over each other

I'm not really that big of a fan of these sorts of fights (I much prefer when players just get pissed and get physical without the script) so Id be totally fine with them going away, or at least being disincentivized due to their risk relative to their value. Besides, adding a 1-3 game suspension for a fight wouldn't really change much about the altercations that are actually entertaining to begin with - a lot of that stuff begets suspensions anyway, and sometimes it'll be seen as worth it or won't even be considered when tensions get high enough to boil over.

 

[Beau Knows]

The main problem with fighting in hockey is that it's boring.

 

[Esko6]

Is this an ancient post? Both of these things don't happen anymore and are against the rules...

It happened in this fight

 

[LeapOnOver]

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.

Zero proof it's celebrated. This is all in your head.

 

[Howboutthempanthers]

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...

Same here. I just stopped watching. Easy peasy.

 

[LeapOnOver]

It happened in this fight

What are you talking about? Nobody tried to take theirs or anybody else's helmet off. Kassian's got knocked off on a missed punch. You couldn't be further off...