Fighting in the NHL

The NHL is like no other sport out there in the sense that the players can literally police themselves on the ice. In basketball, if you get fouled hard and take exception to it, there is nothing you can do. In baseball if you get hit by a pitch, you can charge the mound and get kicked out of the game and suspended. But in the NHL if you fight you get 5 minutes in the box. That’s it. The people who don’t like fighting in hockey are usually the ones who don’t understand it. They probably think it’s just a bunch of macho guys trying to show who is tougher, but that’s not it. Fights in hockey are caused by two main reasons. 1) To shift momentum of the game. If you team is looking sluggish and or losing in the game, the team “enforcer” sometimes can pick a fight with the other team “enforcer” to try and get the guys on the bench going. And 2) to protect fellow teammates. If someone on the other team hits (legally or illegally) your teams star player, the enforcer will usually step up and say “were not going to have any of that” and thus “standing up” for his fellow teammate. This can get guys on the bench pumped up and bring the team closer together. I for one love fighting in hockey and there is nothing better than seeing Mike Rupp (of the Devils) square off with Colton Orr (of the rangers) in a battle of heavyweights.

There is debate on if they should take fighting out of the game or at least put some rules in to help prevent major injury. The usual injury you’d see in a fight is a bloody face or a busted up hand (most of the punches landed are on the helmet and that has to hurt), but you could also fall and smash your head on the ice. Some people think you should have to keep your helmet on during a fight to prevent a serious head injury from falling. Overall I think fighting is a good thing and fans eat it up. Aside from scoring a goal, the fans are never louder then when a fight breaks out. Allowing guys to fight and settle their “beef” with each other right away, not letting it linger, is a good thing. After the fight is over both buys go to the box and that’s that. If you didn’t let guys fight you would see more cheap shots, like Todd Bertuzzi’s attack on Steve Moore (in which Bertuzzi sucker punched Moore from behind and drove his head into the ice, which broke Moore’s neck. Let the guys fight and sit in the box for five minutes. I can say for sure that more people enjoy the fights then not and I can’t see anyone not watching a hockey game because of fighting. Fighting has been a part of hockey forever and taking it away would be like making the NFL a touch football league.

-Matt