Fighting in ice hockey
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Fighting in ice hockey is a controversial aspect of the sport. The practice of fighting in hockey is condoned in the National Hockey League, the junior leagues, and other professional minor leagues, but is punishable by ejection in the Peewee, College and European leagues. It is also not allowed in women's hockey at any level. Although it results in a major penality, players who engage in fighting (except for instigating) do not get ejected from the game. Hockey, along with lacrosse, remains the only major professional sport in North America to not eject players for fighting. Fights often are spontaneous, as a knee-jerk reaction to an on-ice incident during a game.
Consequences of fighting
In the National Hockey League, American Hockey League, ECHL, and other notable minor leagues, officials punish combatants with five-minute major penalties for fighting (hence the phrase "five for fighting") and sometimes more if a combatant is injured during the fight. A player is automatically ejected and suspended if the player tries to leave the bench to join a fight, and is also automatically ejected for using weapons of any kind (such as using a skate to kick an opponent, using a stick to hit an opponent, or wrapping tape around one's hands), as they can cause serious injury. A player who receives two instigator penalties in one game is also ejected automatically. Furthermore, his coach can be suspended up to ten games for allowing players to leave the bench to join a fight.Also, a player who commits three major penalties, including fighting, during a game is automatically ejected, suspended, and fined on the third major penalty during a game. A player ejected for three major penalties in a game, or for use of weapons, cannot be replaced for five minutes.
In 2003, the ECHL added an ejection, fine, and suspension of an additional game for any player charged as an instigator of a fight during the final five minutes of the third period or any overtime. The NHL and AHL adopted the rule in 2005-06, and add a fine for the coach in the NHL.
In Division I & III NCAA hockey, the fighters are given a Game Disqualification, which is an ejection from the game and a suspension for as many games as the player has accrued Game Disqualifications during the course of a season. For example, if a player engages in a fight having already received a Game Disqualification earlier in the season, he is ejected from the game and then suspended for his team's next two games. This automatic suspension has tended to make fighting in college hockey relatively rare.
Although these measures help prevent the escalation of a single fight from becoming a bench-clearing brawl occasionally seen in baseball, bench-clearing brawls can and do occur in hockey, and it is sometimes the case that enough players are ejected so that a team may not have enough players to continue playing. One of the most infamous bench-clearing brawls was in the 1987 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship between Canada and the Soviet Union. This resulted in both teams' disqualification; a Canadian in the fight was future NHL star Theoren Fleury. Furthermore, the violent nature of fights mean that a player joining in a fight can risk serious injury or even death (although no one has died from a fight on the ice). In some cases, players have been criminally charged for their on-ice actions.
It has been frequently argued that fighting is not necessary in hockey; however, it remains in the game to this day. Proponents argue that it remains vital as it sets a "tone" to the game to keep opposing players "in check" in an already controlled environment and it will also draw spectators to become even more involved in the game's intensity and allow for the players to become more motivated themselves. Proponents also argue that when fighting is suppressed, players are more likely to engage "dirty" plays, like "stick work" (i.e., the use of the stick as a weapon), which is arguably far more dangerous to players than fighting. Fighting is also claimed to be an important means of protecting a star player who is being brutalized by an opponent. Opponents of fighting retort that international and college hockey, which both harshly penalize fighting with suspensions, lack the incidents or "stick work" violence proponents claim to fear, and question what it is about North American professional ice hockey players -- unique to major professional team sport -- that supposedly renders them incapable of controlling themselves on the ice without fighting.
The unique condoning of fighting in ice hockey led to Rodney Dangerfield's joke "I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out".
In the top hockey leagues, the imposition of more severe penalties for fighting has eliminated mass brawls, and fighting has become highly ritualized. The two players are allowed to fight until one gains an advantage, after which they are separated.
Despite its potentially negative consequences, some consider fighting skill as a measure of all-around hockey talent. Often times a player who has made a Gordie Howe hat trick is praised for the rare combination of physical intensity and hockey talent.
The enforcer in hockey
In hockey, some player's job is to take down the opposition, by any means necessary (mainly by big hits or fighting). This person is sometimes referred to as an enforcer, among less flattering epithets. These enforcers -- especially in recent decades -- are typically marginal players who generally see limited time on the ice, often on the fourth line. They are often sent out after a "scrum" or after a star player has been checked particularly hard. Oftentimes both teams will put out an enforcer or tough guy at the same time.The enforcer's role is generally to engage the offending opponent in (or provoke one into) a fight. Essentially a tactic of intimidation, it keeps particularly dirty teams in check by enacting direct consequences on an offending player. Another common application is to goad a star into a fight, so as to take a skilled player off the ice at the cost of a marginal one.
Possibly the most famous of all enforcers are [The Hanson Brothers], the semi-fictional hockey pop-icons (based on the Carlson brothers of the Jonestown Jets and Minnesota Fighting Saints) from the movie Slap Shot starring Paul Newman. Notorious ones in NHL history include Sprague Cleghorn, Red Horner, Lou Fontinato, Reggie Fleming, Dave Schultz, Chris Nilan, Joey Kocur, Rob Ray, Bob Probert, Tiger Williams, Marty McSorley and Tie Domi.
With new rules changes for the 2004-05 AHL season (adopted by the NHL upon resumption of play following the lockout) placing a premium on power plays and fast action, the use of one-dimensional enforcers is going out of vogue, as teams feel they can neither risk unnecessary power plays nor afford a roster slot filled by an otherwise-unproductive player. Whether this leads to a permanent decrease in fighting, or simply the evolution of more versatile enforcers, as in previous eras, remains to be seen.
Some enforcers, especially in the minor leagues, become popular players and are typically the easiest fan favourite among spectators, creating a sense of a player's bonding with that city.
External links
- [Fried Chicken's Hockey Fights website]
- [Fight cards from the NHL]
- [Hockey Fights] and humorous commentary.
- [Hockey Fights] on Squidoo.
- [Fight Ratings and Stats] includes Junior leagues.
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