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Regardless of your own personal opinion, it’s clear that fighting and hockey will always be linked in the history books. Some believe that fighting will eventually phase its way out of the game naturally, while others believe that it will always have a place in the sport. The enforcers or goons of the past have all but disappeared in the league and fighting penalties have been on the decline for decades now. Size and toughness are still prized, but not above all else.Īll you have to do for proof of this is simply check out an NHL roster. See also What Is Hockey Glass Made Of? Not What You Think As the sport has continued to evolve, there’s been an increased emphasis on speed and skill.

While NHL players and millions of fans recognize the value in fighting and, quite frankly, appreciate the entertainment value that it provides, there is a growing sentiment in hockey culture that it no longer belongs. To reduce the changes of a players jersey from coming off along with the rest of their padding – NHL makes players wear a fight strap to tie down their gear. Again… barbaric but hockey players answer with their fists, not their sticks. While injuries can occur during the course of a hockey fight, the potential for injury is far greater when sticks are brought into the equation. Fighting provides players in this situation with an option to get out their frustrations while also exacting some revenge or retribution to their opponent. Tempers can run hot and some players simply lose their cool. Obviously a stick can inflict more damage than a punch and that’s exact the defense that some hockey purists use in defending the role of fighting in the sport.īarbaric or not, hockey is a fast, physical sport. Think of it this way, what’s going to hurt more: a punch to the face or a stick to the face? Which is going to cause more catastrophic and potentially life threatening damage? There’s guys that take that approach.”Īs barbaric as it may sound, some defenders of fighting in hockey argue that were it not for fighting, the amount of stick infractions and unsafe “stick work” in the game would increase exponentially. “If he’s playing physical and the game’s going well then, if he’s hurting your guys then you’ve got to probably stand up for them. “If you’re right there and you’re the first guy and you feel like that’s what you should do, then you’ve got to do it,” Smith-Pelly said. “Probably all my fights are with a hit that I don’t agree with at the time,” says Wilson’s teammate Devante Smith-Pelly. In effect though, players like Wilson act as on-ice policemen who either ensure that their team receives justice when an opponent cross the line or, whose mere presence negates any chance of an opponent crossing the line in the first place. How does a fight start? Why does a fight start? You just kind of have to be out there, feel it out and make a decision.” “There’s a million different ways that it can happen,” says Washington Capitals enforcer Tom Wilson to NBC Sports Washington. Policing The Gameĭefendants of fighting in hockey often talk about “The Code.” That is, an unwritten rule that’s understood by all players where if you cross a line and overstep a boundary, say by taking physical liberties with a skilled player, you’ll be expected to back it up with your fists. The fact is, fighting has been in hockey since the sport’s earliest days.Įven goalies fight sometimes. Still today though, they remain a part of the sport and recent polls show that today’s modern day NHLer is still in favor of keeping fighting in the sport.

Since the NHL implemented drastic rule changes and harsher penalties to curb on-ice brawls late in the 1970s, fighting penalties have been on the decline. See also Why do Hockey Players Spit So Much? Teams like the Philadelphia Flyers and Boston Bruins of the NHL employed their size, physicality and fighting prowess to multiple Stanley Cup championships in the decade. Most teams employed multiple enforcers or “goons” on their team whose responsibility it was to beat the living pulp out of the opposition. Rodney Dangerfieldįighting in the sport of hockey was at its absolute peak in the 1970s. I went to a fight the other night, and a hockey game broke out. In fact, fighting became so pervasive in the sport that it spawned a classic quip from legendary one-liner comedian Rodney Dangerfield:

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During this particular decade it was not uncommon to see full on bench clearing brawls at a professional hockey game.

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But when the fisticuffs really took off was during the rough and tumble, free wheeling 1970s. Fighting has been a part of hockey since its earliest days.