Fighting Between Two Different Sides of the Same Sport

By DAN FEINBERG

Dropping the gloves, dancing, fisticuffs, exchanging shots, scrapping, line brawl. Professional hockey fans aren’t short on their nicknames for fighting but some analysts are ready to see the day that it is removed from fans’ vocabulary completely.

While the fight against fighting in hockey is not a new battle, the people arguing on both sides has begun to shift. Now, well known hockey analyst are starting to make the push towards eliminating fighting from the game to make the game safer.

The push against fighting

“When I played hockey in high school the guys that got into the scraps were well respected and that’s kind of a scary thing when you think about it now,” said Marc Concato, 19, of Wayne. “I guess it would be possible to remove it from pro hockey but you would have to start at a pretty young age.”

Former hockey play Mike Milbury told the Los Angeles Daily News  “The fact I can still count and put a sentence together, sure, I feel fortunate. No one was worried about all that when we played. We saw the older players hobble around, but we were chasing the dream, chasing glory and we felt it was worth that price.”

These lines are beginning to blur as more and more people closely associated with the game are moving towards the side that is looking to eradicate fighting from the game. This is due to the fact that player safety has become a huge issue in sports, fighting in hockey has become a hot topic

PunchStatements like these from players and fans close to the game were once rare but are now becoming commonplace in hockey world. Originally, the prevailing stance for most fans, players and commentators was that there is a reason for fighting hockey. Those that were not close to hockey saw it as violent and not belonging in a professional American sport.

Milan Lucic, a forward for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League, had a similar opinion when asked by The Boston Globe about fighting in hockey. He said that he learned at a young age that fighting would get scouts to notice him and that “a big element for myself that got me looks in the junior ranks, and got me looks by scouts was that element of toughness, that element of fighting.”

Some are still in favor of a tougher game

While it may seem like everybody in the hockey community jumping on the bandwagon, some people aren’t ready to give up on fighting. Those fans still think there are reasons for fighting to continue in the National Hockey League. That could be for physical reason such as a player skating into the opposing team’s goaltender or a player taking a shot on goal after the whistle. Or, fighting can be used as a San Jose Sharks v Minnesota Wildway for a losing team to gain momentum and get the crowd back into the game.

“Yeah, I fought a bunch of times when I played in high school and juniors but I didn’t do it because it was fun, I did it because I’m not going to let some goon (a hockey term for a player that is starting fights) pick a fight with one of my teammates,” said Nick Skerlick, 21, of Wayne.

[Listen and watch the developing story behind fighting in hockey]

History and stats of fighting

According to the official NHL rulebook, “A fight shall be deemed to have occurred when at least one player (or goalkeeper) punches or attempts to punch an opponent repeatedly or when two players wrestle in such a manner as to make it difficult for the Linesmen to intervene and separate the combatants.”

Following a fight, each of the players involved is send to the penalty box for at least five minutes. More time can be added onto that penalty if the player commits more infractions such as continuing to punch a downed opponent or if the player is considered an instigator by starting the fight for seemingly no reason.

Throughout the NHL’s history, dating back to 1917, there is a common misconception from those not close to the sport in thinking that fighting is a huge issue that occurs every game and puts players lives in danger. According to ESPN, some teams actually fight very little throughout the average season. Teams such as the Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins cause the numbers to appear higher because those teams fight just over once every two games (57 and 56 percent respectively) while the Carolina Hurricanes and Detroit Red Wings only fight once every 10 games (10 and 9 percent respectively). Last season, the average NHL team only had a fight approximately once every three games (38 percent of games), a number that shows a steady decline in the number of fights.

According to Hockeyfights.com, a website that compiles NHL stats, since the 2000-01 season, every statistical category has decreased when it comes to fighting. For instance, the 2001-02 season saw 803 fights with 172 games having more than one fight and 348 different players were in at least one fight. That is in sharp contrast to the numbers that were reported during the season last year and are consistent with the downward trending of fighting. Last year, there were only 469 fights with 78 games having more than one fight and only 288 different players “dropped gloves” throughout the season. Pierre LeBrun, a writer at ESPN, attributed this to the fact that salary cap rules are preventing teams from signing “enforcers” to contract in favor of players with more evenly distributed skills.

What can be done about fighting?

Another divide between hockey fans related to fighting is how they think the league should handle fighting penalties and the players that seem to fight often. Fans that think fighting should be eliminated or reduced think the league should change their policies.

“I don’t necessarily think fighting has to be completely out of the game but I think it could be limited by having harsher penalties for fighting or for enforcers that are always fighting,” said Concato. “Maybe keep the five minute penalty but make a second offense a 10 minute penalty if they fight again in that game. Or give each player a limit; say everybody gets five fights per year to use as they please.”

Fans that feel fighting is a necessary part of the game think that the NHL is doing just fine in how they police on-ice altercation between players.

“Why should they change? I honestly don’t see the big deal, it’s part of the game,” said Skerlick.

Whether fans think that the National Hockey League isn’t doing enough or they think they’re spot on, it’s clear that there won’t be an answer to this ongoing debate in the near future but those that want it eliminated have the backing of some analysts and fans for the first time in history. Until a decision is made, the players have taken it upon themselves, either purposely or because the game is changing, to limit the number of times they fight.


polls & surveys

While this is a serious issue in sports, some hockey fans are putting a funny twist such a hot topic. Recently, two minor league hockey teams from the East Coast Hockey League played a game while wearing jerseys that replicated a famous superhero rivalry. The Toledo Walleye wore Batman jerseys while the Evansville IceMen wore Riddler jerseys. During the game, two players fought, causing the scuffle to mimic iconic scenes from the Batman comic book.

As the fight finished, the two commentators pointed out the comradery between players, even after punches were thrown,” They tap each other on the head. Hey, you know what, there’s respect right there, even amongst fighters.”

 

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply