Should fighting be banned?

[Schwartz]

It is a hot debate brewing in today's changing game of hockey where speed, agility, and finess are becoming larger parts of the game than ever before. Many people (mostly with little understanding of Hockey) believe fighting is barbaric and should be banned from the NHL. However, many others including me think that fighting is an important tradition in hockey and should be left in.

It is widely unknown outside of the hockey community that fighting actually does serve a purpose of self policing between players and teams. For example, if one player makes a dirty hit on an opposing player, he can expect to possibly be picked by another player to fight later in that game, or maybe even the next game. Once that fight is over, the score is settled and there are no bad feelings. However, if fighting were banned, players could retaliate with dirtier hits and plays and there could be many injuries if it escalates. Wayne Gretzky once said, “If any of this was fixed, I’d have been in more of them.”

Of course there are many other reasons for and against the banishment of hockey fights, but I'll leave that for you guys to discuss.



I highly encourage you to read The Code: The Unwritten Rules of Fighting and Retaliation in the NHL by Ross Bernstein. It gives great insight on the "behind the scenes" of hockey than many spectators don't understand (note: I don't mean this as an advertisement).

 

[Grayfox]

The only time it will be banned is when someone is killed by getting their throat slit by those sharp ice hockey blades.

Just how it is.

People complain about a potholes in a road, the council ignores it, they only fill it when someone is killed.

And I think the only reason people watch it is because they want to see fighting.\

Ice hockey is no longer about hockey that is played on ice it is now just a school yard fight club on ice.

 

[Schwartz]

Ice hockey is no longer about hockey that is played on ice it is now just a school yard fight club on ice.

No. That is what you see in highlights. There are normally only 1-2 fights a game. Hockey used to be much dirtier, but it is in no way like that now. You should watch a game or two and see for yourself.

 

[CMvan46]

Ice hockey is no longer about hockey that is played on ice it is now just a school yard fight club on ice.

Schwartz is right that's what you see in highlights, it doesn't even happen every game.

Should fighting be banned? Absolutely.

Will hockey be banned? Not until somebody dies fighting.

Fighting had a place absolutely, any true hockey fan will tell you that. It keeps players from making cheap shots by making them be accountable and it provides an outlet for anger towards another player that you felt has done you wrong.

Where the error in that theory comes in is when players who are doing the cheap shots don't back it up with a fight. The other problem is staged fights as we say in New York a couple nights ago now.

I truly believe if they were to take out fighting you'd see a more skilled, faster, and offensive game. There would not longer be the need for guys who can't really play but are there to "protect." However that all comes with a HUGE but... That only works if the NHL is harder on the guys who are performing the cheap shots. 3 games isn't enough for a flying elbow, a game isn't enough for running a guy from behind.

I like fights, I'm entertained by them and I think it adds something to the game. I do feel as though it should be taken out though. The game can be poiliced in different ways and letting the players do it themselves clearly isn't working. Fighting isn't allowed until junior right now and college hockey does ban it as far as I know. Why not continue on that trend and just keep players from doing it all the way up.

 

[Omnis]

Hockey fighting shouldn't be banned.

Grabbing jersey while fighting should be banned.

 

[MarinaDiamandis]

I like the fighting but wouldn't be fussed if it was banned. It is probably safer to let two 200lbs+ players duke it out than risk having officials intervene and possibly get hurt themselves though.

I agree with CMvan46 that the players policing themselves by fighting only seems to raise the tension, and that a fighting ban would need harder, more consistant action against the cheapshotters.

For now, i'll enjoy seeing a member of the opposing team pick a fight with any Bruin and still get whooped. Even 5'9" Brad Marchand has dropped a few guys over 6'0".

EDIT: Totally agree with Omnis too, no jersey grabbing, seeing two players spin around in circles on the ice like dancers for 3 minutes isn't a fight.

 

[Beeblebrox237]

I say yes.

 

[Joel]

I just don't care. I like seeing a good fight, Iginla vs. Lecavalier comes to mind, but those fights are few and far between. It's no longer about defending your guys from dirty hits, every time somebody makes a clean hit there's a big scrum and sometimes a fight, it's really stupid.

The biggest issue for me is the staged fights. It's just dumb, watching two goons fight sucks when you know they're both making at least $525k. It's no longer about fighting the guy who ran your star player, but having your goon fight their goon to "send a message". I've played in leagues with no fighting my whole life, and even now when it's a bunch of hormonal 16 and 17 year old players, we don't need fighting for policing. The only kids who fight on any team I've been on all come from broken homes and are aggressive in daily life. Just fighting for the sake of fighting.

If they banned fighting tomorrow, I'd still watch hockey the same as before. If they leave it in, I'm still going to watch. I think it's pretty stupid, and way past its time personally, but it doesn't turn me off hockey enough to stop watching. Also @Grayfox, there aren't many if any people at all who watch hockey for the fighting. There's less than a fight per game on average, people go for the physicality and speed, not fighting. Just look at the people posting in this thread who have played hockey, myself, CMvan, and Schwartz. We all play hockey, and are passionate fans, eh. While Schwartz and I may disagree on fighting's place in hockey, there's no way he watches hockey solely for the fighting, and I'd wager that if fighting was removed from hockey he'd still watch.

 

[Tex]

I have to fight to defend myself from bullying (I will do the same in hockey). school rules say that that if there's a fight you are in you will go to court and you have to pay a $500 fine. I believe that rule is so lame so I avoid it by hitting the bully once in a while. this will take a long time to complete my revenge, but worth not getting in trouble.

So I believe that fighting should not be ban in hockey .