Should the NHL ban fighting?

Question

Colin Campbell, the NHL's director of hockey operations, says it's time to look at the issue of fighting: http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news?slug=cp-nhl_violent_times&prov=cp&type=lgns . What do you think?

Answer 1

It seems like the fans go crazy every time a fight breaks out, almost like the hockey is secondary. And if that's why the fans come to the game, the league won't do anything about it. And the referees just watch them and let them go at it. I've even seen fights break out at youth hockey games, almost like they've been taught it's part of the game. Yes, the fighting should be looked at, maybe not eliminated, but restrained a bit.

Answer 2

Sure, when you ban war, boxing, football, violence in movies, some reality shows that purposely show violence, all news, and the list goes on! This topic is getting so sick. Really, I mean, what is the percentage of people that watch a hockey game compared to other types of violent shows? It's probably not that high and if you compare it to many of the video games that are out what's worse? The game has been changed and continues to be changed from what it once was and that was an interesting sport to something that just barely resembles what it used to be. The other thing is how do you ban emotions because that is what a lot of it is based on as well. The only people that really get hurt are the two players involved and that should be their choice as part of the game. What about this new boxing that is the fad that allows just about anything and everything? That's entertainment? That's okay for kids to view along with some adults that don't understand that it is supposed to be entertainment? Get real! Enough changing and talk has been done about the game of hockey so just leave it alone for a while and let people adjust to what has happened and seriously, if someone does not like fighting in hockey there are plenty other sports to watch or other shows so don't go trying to be some kind of saviour of the universe and changing something you have no idea of what it is about.

Answer 3

Yes they should ban fighting. I hear the argument "its part of the game" all the time. What crap. Its NOT part of the game. Hockey is hockey and fighting is fighting. The sad joke "I went to a fight and hockey game broke out." has been around for 25 years. Its a sad statement about the loss of focus on the game. Even more pathetic because its been so bad for so long! Real hockey fans want to see the puck in the net, not the fist in the face.

Why don't we see fighting in baseball? Basketball? Soccer? Theres contact in all those sports, and its all the worse because they aren't wearing pads. Football? they won't fight because the whole team could take a penalty.

Fighting is strictly forbidden in the Olympics, and there we see some of the best hockey because the players have to focus on winning.

Enforcement of the other rules needs to come with it. Ensure that every slash, high stick or cross check gets seen and called. A guy delivers a dirty hit? Make him look like an idiot by getting a penalty and losing a goal on the man advantage. Enforce those rules and the goons will spend more time on the bench than the ice. When the team is losing because of all the penalties, we'll see how long they stay in the game.

Who do we remember in the sport? Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemiuex, Mike Bossy, and now Sidney Crosby. Were they fighters? No, they were players, and the game was better when they were playing it their way.

I used to love the game, but I last went to a hockey game 5 years ago. There were 8 fights. Even the hardcore fight fans were disgusted. No, I spend my ticket money to see hockey, and if thats not delivered I don't pay again.

Answer 4

I think it's high time it was completely eradicated. It gives the NHL the appearance of a minor league when a fight breaks out. I use the phrase 'breaks out' loosely, since many of these things are orchestrated from the bench. The five-minute major penalties in place now are ineffective. So your goon doesn't play for five minutes, so what? The opponent's goon won't be on the ice either. Neither side plays short-handed. Football has admittedly been getting chippier with pushing and shoving after the whistle lately, but fighting isn't in the game because any player fighting is automatically ejected.

I've seen two incidents lately where blood was drawn by a player's stick and no penalty was called, not even a two-minute minor. Poor officiating often leads to problems.

Some people say that if fighting is completely banned, the NHL will lose fans. They don't consider the fact that a lot of people don't watch hockey because they don't enjoy the fights.

Answer 5

The revisiting of this issue is far overdue. I understand that people appreciate the rough play in hockey, the checking, the aggressivenes. That is the stuff that's part of the game. That is why young and older players alike do strength-training and keep their levels of fitness up. That is the true part of the sport, not the throwing down of the gloves, bashing other players' heads in, hauling the shirts over the head, the cheap shots, etc etc. It cheapens the sport. People who will miss that and say that they will no longer watch or support hockey if changes are made to discourage or ban fighting, are not real true fans of the game. It is high time the game be brought back to the way it was when real legends were made and when true talent was recognized. The players that are recognized as being the best at what they do and the ones that young players look up to are not the ones who are drafted to beat the heck out of someone on the ice. The best of the best are the ones who can play the game and do it with class. Why encourage young players to show how tough they are by fighting? It has never been and never will be a real part of the game. It's a waste of time and money. I want to see a game of hockey. If I wanted boxing, I'd go see that.

Answer 6

Fighting is an integral part of the fabric of the game. Due to the overtly physical play coupled with the players carrying a weapon, fighting is the only way to truly police the game. If you took out the fighting there would probably be many more slashing, spearing, elbow and buttends handed out to opposing players. Knowing you have a guy on your team that will get your back when an opposing player takes a cheap hit or runs your team's top man helps keep things in balance. This notion that the game is too violent or too fight happy ought breakout some of the classics, like early 70's Flyers or Bruins games. Just ask Terry O'Reilly, Dave "The Hammer" Schulz how they feel about dropping the gloves. They probably would smack you up side your head for asking such a stupid question. It seems rather like Colin Campbell had taken a few too many shots to the head in his day that his judgment is now clouded. This issue just a media hyped event. Kick a sport when its down. The other nice thing about fighting on the ice is that it rarely spills over to outside the rink. You never ever hear of a hockey player beating up a stripper or getting arrested for carrying concealed weapons, like those other less violent sports.

Answer 7

I think that a hard look at the issue of fighting in hockey is long overdue. I know there are a lot of people out there who think it is a big part of the game but what it really does is detract from the quality of the game. I have no problem with boxing or sports where fighting is the sport but it has no place in hockey. This does not mean that hockey cannot be a physical game, which it should be, but a physical hard hitting game is very different than a bunch of goons dropping their gloves. It would be like players fighting in other physical sports, such as basketball, lacrosse, rugby or even soccer. If two basketball players started a fist fight, they would be appropriately looking at more than just a 5 minute penalty. Outside of hockey, an individual would go to jail for the assaults that takes place on the rink. It is completely unacceptable. As well, I would expect that the viewer base would increase significantly if fighting were banned in hockey and not decrease as proponents have argued.

Answer 8

If Colin Campbell believes he can eliminate fighting from hockey, he'd best start in the little kids league...they start there. Perhaps instead of eliminating fighting, maybe the Director should officially make it a "Full Contact Sport". Like all players won't fight, but maybe the contact would lessen the fighting...to keep the teams "well enough" to play and off the injured list. Ban fighting, and you may as well have another season with no NHL...some people wait for the fight...it sells seats, and those seats pay the players. If you had Hockey as a "Full Contact Sport", you might end up making more money. Ban Fighting...it simply won't be possible.

Answer 9

No I do not think they should ban fighting in the NHL. There will probably be alot more of the more serious problems happening (chris simon, todd bertuzzi etc.) Part of the problem seems to be the fact that the referees are not keeping control of the game. Hits from behind go unpunished, while minor stick work gets penalized. Tempers start to flare and things can get out of control. Chris Simon reacted to hit from behind. Not that he was justified in what he did but had a penalty been called the whistle would have blown and the incident probably wouldn't have happened. When I go to work each day I am held accountable if I don't do my job right, so should the referees in the NHL. There is no way they can catch everything but there have been so many times when I'm watching a game and the ref is looking right at the play and no call is made. Let's address the real problems first!!

Answer 10

I've always found fighting in hockey to be ridiculous. I go to watch a hockey game and see my team (hopefully) win. First of all if I had wanted to see a fight I'd go to a boxing match. Second, I tend to get a little ticked off when my team looses by one point ... the one point that was scored on the power play when my team was one down because some idiot was in the box for fighting. We don't get points for winning the fight. Nobody says "I don't care that we lost the Cup, we had some great fights." People celbrate won games. Yopu win games by having all your player on the ice when they're supposed to be, playing to win.

Stop wasting time and man-power. Keep the gloves on, be proffessional, keep your heads about you and PLAY THE GAME! I know this may put certain player out of a job (as it appears some players are only there TO fight) but I'm sure they can find new careers in the boxing world. Heck, let's creat a whole new sport for them, Ice Boxing.

And don't use the excuse that "guys will be more rough with the star players", if the hits are legall then the stars should be able to take them or find a new sport. If the hits, jabs, slashes etc are ILLEGAL then the REFs need to be taking steps, not the other players. Taking the "law" into your own hands doesn't work. If the rules aren't being enforced and rule-breakers punished adequetely then THAT'S what needs to be fixed.

Answer 11

Absoloutely Not.
If the NHL takes fighting out of the game nobody will want to watch. People might as well watch cricket if that happens. There's just something about a good fight that revs fans up and it can't be taken out of the game. I don't care what people say, fighting has to stay in the NHL if they want to have a successful league and viewership.
The NHL should look at the real things that matter like cheap shots during a race for an icing call, or boarding. Those are important issues, that, IMO, can hurt a player more or potentially end careers faster and more frequently than fights.
Everybody's making a big deal out of an issue that isn't really an issue in the NHL. Just because Fedoruk all of sudden got nailed in a fight doesn't mean that that should be the part of the game taken out. How come nothing was done with the issue of boarding after Kaberle got hit from behind?