Fighting in the NHL - Should it be encouraged as much as it is?

Fighting in the NHL - Should it be encouraged as much as it is?

February 11th 2009

Times are changing and pretty soon the NHL is going to have to as well. Coaches currently send out their fighters when they want to try to change momentum in a game. No other reason. I'm not going to lie, I like to see the odd fight in a game, and it makes it exciting to watch. That's a very primitive instinct. The same reason we like to watch boxing, but this is hockey. Players are starting to take boxing lessons in order to protect themselves, and their teammates. I can't recall a game lately that hasn't had a fight in it. I think when it gets to the point where the coaches are using it as a tactic to swing momentum, things have to change. It's almost to the point where you can accurately guess when a tactical fight is going to happen by the score of the game.

Some possible solutions would be to increase the penalties for fighting and actually enforce the instigator rule. Require the referee to assign one of the fighters as the instigator. If it occurs in the first or second period, make the instigator get an automatic game misconduct. If it occurs in the third period make it a game misconduct plus an automatic one game suspension. This will still allow fighting to occur if it’s absolutely necessary, say if some tough guy takes an obvious run at one of your star players or goalie. It will however discourage the gratuitous fighting you see in today’s game. Either of these two rules won't eliminate fighting, but will really discourage it.

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Of course the NHL wants to be careful that any decision it makes doesn't cause less people to watch the games. That's probably the primary reason why it hasn't done something about it sooner. I think the fighters could adapt their game to still be a physical force, but they could use checking instead of throwing punches to help their team. I understand that hockey is a very physical and emotional game, and I'm not suggesting getting rid of it completely, just the strategic fighting.

Too many players are getting seriously injured in fights, and they feel forced to participate in them by their teammates and their coaches. Introducing a misconduct or game suspension will alleviate the necessity of fighting.

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