Fighting In Hockey, What’s The Point?

The season hasn’t started yet, and there hasn’t been a major injury suffered at the result of a fight in training camp or pre-season play but we know those news stories are going to break soon. Yesterday I saw a report on TSN about the Calgary Flames learning about fighting at practice. My first thought was WHAT THE HELL, ARE YOU FREAKING SERIOUS? Then I got to thinking and speaking about it with various people on twitter, maybe learning how to defend yourself when involved in a fight isn’t such a bad thing, if a player isn’t a regular fighter or hasn’t engaged in the fisticuffs before why not teach them how to square up, learn how to lessen the blows thrown by an opponent, learn how to stay on their feet. Maybe learning about this kind of thing could go a long way to injury protection.

Last year, on opening night of the 2013/2104 NHL Schedule, most of you remember George Parros and Colton Orr going toe to toe not once but twice with the latter tilt ending in Parros being stretchered off the ice and spending time in the hospital with a concussion. That wasn’t the only case like that last season or seasons prior. We all remember Oilers enforcer Steve MacIntyre running roughshot with Calgary’s Raitis Ivanans, a fight that subsequently ended the Flames player’s career.

So what exactly the reward for fighting? Does having a heavyweight enforcer sitting on the bench for 57 minutes of a hockey game really deter the agitators from running around trying to stir things up with other teams players? In the Oilers case can you really say that Luke Gazdic prevented any one single opponent from taking a run at or giving one of Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins or Jordan Eberle extra stick treatment, elbows or after the whistle physical play?

The answer to that question is a simple one, no Gazdic, or any other NHL heavyweight enforcer prevented any of that on the ice. Why would a player be scared of someone that is only going to be on the ice for such a miniscule time during the game? Now, on the other hand NHL’rs like to have these types on their team, they’re often talked about as the best teammates, willing to do whatever it takes to help the team win. But most often these players are doing the opposite, when they are on the ice they have trouble moving the puck in the right direction, they can’t be relied upon to keep pucks away from their goalie, that’s why they’re only on the ice for 3 minutes a nights. In an article from the Canadian Press last November former Oilers Captain had this to say about not having enforcers in the game;

I think there would be a lot more guys running around, a lot more high-sticks, a lot more hits from behind

Jerod Boll from Columbus said this;

I think you’d see more just by people being dumb on the ice and running around and knowing that they don’t have to face anyone or answer the bell if they do something stupid.

Now don’t get me wrong I think there is a place for fighting in the NHL. But I don’t like the staged fights when two “tough guys” line up at the faceoff circle say there how do you do’s then spend the next 45 seconds trying to knock the snot out of each other. I also can’t stand when a player lays out another with a clean hit then has someone on the other team jumping him to prove a point, that’s not policing, that’s not internally enforcing the rules. What I don’t mind seeing is a couple of players battling it out over multiple shifts, getting sick of each other and dropping the mitts, proving their points and going to the box for five to cool down, that to me is more of a momentum changer than any other reason for fighting in the game.

I proposed the following question on twitter this morning

Ok folks, Fighting in hockey, yay/Nay and why?

— Dave Gordon (@RustyKnuckler) September 26, 2014

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Below are some of the replies I received, it shows what a hot topic fighting in hockey can be;


@RustyKnuckler fights will happen. 4th-line kuckledraggers need to go.

— Bryce Pugh (@brycepugh) September 26, 2014

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@RustyKnuckler Hockey is a fast, aggressive contact sport. Tempers will flare. Fights are inevitable given competitive nature of athletes

— Rascal Gas (@rascalgas) September 26, 2014

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@RustyKnuckler I turn channel when a fight starts, so I’m a “No” vote. Concussions, CTE and they don’t matter in context of winning games.

— Alan Hull (@alanhull) September 26, 2014

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@RustyKnuckler @TheOilersRig Firm believer, if you take it out, much dirtier plays will be the ultimate result ie.gagner’s jaw from kassian

— The Price of Oil (@price_of_oil) September 26, 2014

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@RustyKnuckler yay, all kinda of yay, people will argue that players don’t need to police themselves but that is false, refs only do so much

— Wade Keyte III (@WadeKeyte) September 26, 2014

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@RustyKnuckler Yay. It’s a way to keep players honest, especially when the refs are blind.

— Andrew E Thompson (@Godwentwhoops) September 26, 2014

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And my personal favorite response;


@RustyKnuckler fighting yay or I’m gonna kick your ass lol

— chuck Robertson (@musclehead4000) September 26, 2014

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There were many more great responses, this debate will probably rage on for ages. My take, fighting in hockey is going nowhere, but the game is changing and I think sooner than later we are going to see the end of the proto typical hockey enforcer role, less knuckle draggers more skilled players with toughness. Like Kings coach Daryl Sutter says;

The game’s changed. They think there’s defending in today’s game. Nah, it’s how much you have the puck. Teams that play around in their own zone they they’re defending but they’re generally getting scored on or taking face-offs and they need a goalie to stand on his head if that’s the way they play.

Writing this today has turned itself into a bit of a monster for me, over the weekend I’m going to have a look at fighting and the perceived momentum swings it brings to a game, does it actually help teams win? Anyway that’s a blog for another day.

Thanks for Reading