let me ask hockey fans why the fighting?

Question

friend says is part of sport. one player to hit other player with stick is sport? why can they do this?

Answer 1

This is an age-old debate that will never be resolved. For every fan that hates fighting, there is a fan that loves it, and also a fan who is totally indifferent.

Fighting originated in hockey more than a century ago when rules were more of guidelines than rules. An easy way to stop an opposing team from scoring was to simply pound the crap out of them until they were too bruised and fatigued to play. They didn't accomplish this through fighting but rather unnecessarily hard and punishing checks, particularly into boards. Other common techniques for rough play are blind hits, cross checking, and high sticking.

Well, nonetheless, to counteract this teams started signing big goons whose sole purpose was to fight anyone who was giving their star players crap. Teams got goons to counteract the goons, and thus there were players whose sole jobs were to fight each other.

This attracted many people who weren't previously fans of hockey because it added new "elements" to the game by increasing the physicality, and honestly, people like to see each other beat the stuffing out of themselves (boxing, UFC, etc. draw tons of income).

Anyway, the argument now is that with rules actually being enforced -- even more so after the lockout -- these enforcers are totally unnecessarily. However, neither fans (or at least not all of them), nor coaches, nor GMs, nor players themselves are willing to see the removal of fights from the game.

Where do I stand on the issue? Personally I'm indifferent, possibly leaning towards pro-fighting. Yes, it's pretty barbaric, and many times stupid. However, sometimes it's the only thing a particular game may have going for it. The very least thing you can say is that is impossible to fight without passion, and sometimes I question how much passion modern NHL-ers with their hefty contracts and benefits really have anymore.

I am however NOT IN FAVOR OF MINDLESS BELLIGERENT VIOLENCE, such as the act commited by Todd Bertuzzi against Steve Moore. While he was acting in defense of his captain, Markus Naslund, who had been cheap-shotted by Moore two times in the previous two games, THAT WAS NOT A HOCKEY FIGHT. Hockey fights do have unwritten laws. Both players acknowledge and agree to fight and drops their gloves, and sometimes helmets as well. By acknowledging each other, it removes the EXTREMELY dangerous blind hits and also a willingness to accept a unnecessary potential injury (broken hand, concussion, etc). A player can choose not to fight another player if he feels outclassed, or is simply more civilized or better at controlling his anger.

PS: I just noticed in your description you talked about stick on player contact. THAT is a VERY serious penalty in hockey. The biggest example is when Marty McSorley, for lack of a grander description, attempted to lobotomize Donald Brashear somewhere around 10 years ago. McSorley was suspended for a calender year and never played again (he was already 36+ yrs old).

Answer 2

So what you're telling me is that Marshawn Lynch, Captain Hit and Run, wouldn't fight fi it were allowed in football? I mean damn son, there were fights during the Super Bowl and nobody hit the skids, they just kept right on playing. Sports played by people who run dog fighting rings and wander into clubs with shotguns down their pant legs are going to play like Mother Theresa even if given the chance to do otherwise? There's no contact in basketball, and its slower than friggin molasses, of course the refs can monitor everything there. Same with baseball. Pretty sure its not a big deal to tell where the player is going weilding a bat and running in any shape other than a square. The jig is up, nipped in the bud. Hockey is too fast for that kind of thing, and if those altercations, usually very minor anyway, occur, its a method of self policing. The fact remains, it ISN'T allowed, there are reprocussions, the fact that you don't understand how they work or their implications doesn't constitute a problem on the behalf of anyone else.

Answer 3

Players are not allowed to hit each other with their sticks. However, fighting is an integral part of hockey that is unfortunately being slowly flushed out by the new style of play. I personally prefer having the players drop the gloves or rough a guy up in front of the net. Fighting started as a way for the players to police the game. If a teamate is hurt by a dirty hit then the tough guy a the team will go out and start a fight with the guy who threw the dirty hit. This is a way for the dirty hitter to learn that what he did is not acceptable and he better watch it. Personally, I prefer this to having the player being thrown in the peanlty box because it adds excitement to the game and does not give a team an advantage or disadvantage.

Answer 4

Your friend is right, it does happen, so therefore it is indeed PART of the sport, but a very small part. Your stereotyping question of "one player to hit other player with stick is sport?" is an over-generalization of my sport, a game in which you clearly don't understand the complexities or athleticism involved.

Aren't you glad that I won't stereotype your name, your sport preference, or your below average use of the English language the same way???
It comes from having a healthy respect for things I don't understand, in this case specifically, your severely misguided opinion of hockey.

It would be nice for you to sit down and watch a few games, which clearly has not happened, before painting the entire sport as one big organized stick fight.

Answer 5

first of all, you don't hit the other player with your stick. there is a code among the players that governs the rules of fighting and just about everything else. fighting is a tactical and preventitive technique to win games and protect your skill players. if detroit is playing anaheim and pronger cheap-shots datsyuk, then detroit's fighter is going to go after anaheim's fighter (he won't go after pronger because he is a skill player). you've got to stand up for yourself and your teammates. fighting is also used to swing the momentum when your team is flat or struggling. however, the most important reason for fighting and the reason that it must stay in the game is that it cleans up the game and keeps players honest. if a game starts to get chippy and guys are throwing cheap shots, then the two team enforcers will fight and settle things so that the game can continue cleanly. if the fight doesn't happen, the dirty play will escalate and someone is going to get hurt. take out fighting and stick work will run wild and injuries will skyrocket, quote me. stick-swinging incidents and cheap shots like the mcsorley and bertuzzi incidents are not the result of fighting, they are the result of the nhl trying to unsuccessfully control fighting with the instigator rule. if there was no instigator, the players in both incidents could have immediately settled whatever set them off - bertuzzi was trying to square for the hit on naslund a few games earlier i don't remember why mcsorley had to go for brashear - and then it would have been over. but bertuzzi couldn't fight without risking an instigator so emotions boiled over and that's what happened. mcsorley had to entice brashear into a fight so he wouldn't get an instigator so after chasing him all over the ice, he tried to hit him on the shoulder to provoke him. as he swung his stick, it came high, glanced off brashear's shoulder pad (watch the video) and hit him in the head. that's what happens when the players can't police themselves. i don't want to see the bench-clearing brawls of the 70s, but i do want to see better hockey and the best way to do that is keep fighting and eliminate the instigator and let the game police itself the way it should.

Answer 6

They CAN'T hit one another with sticks. Hitting with a stick is NOT part of the sport. That'll get you kicked out. But as far as actual fighting is concerned: wrestling, boxing, karate, and other forms of fighting are sports. So what's wrong with it?

Answer 7

For so many years, all the people who are a part of hockey feel that allowing players to fight is a healthy outlet for the players frustration. The other - less admirable - quality is that since fans like to see fighting, the owners are in no hurry to abolish it.

Answer 8

They don't hit each other with their sticks. Not legally, anyway. You don't sound like you speak very good English, so I'll just assume you live in a country where hockey is near non-existent. If you feel like hockey is too violent then go watch basketball or soccer where they call fouls for every little tap or touch.

Answer 9

hockey is played with pure emotion.. and lots of smarts...

a stick incident happens once every like 5 years or so... and its simplely one guy lost his cool.. its not part of the sport but it happens ...

fighting happens to protect your teammates...

there is usually one guy that is designated goon and his job is to beat up people that are pushing around your stars.. or your goalie... similar to pitching up and in , in baseball after the other team does it.

fighting also happens to sway the pace of the game.. if one team can't get a break out started they might choose to have someone pick a fight to sway the pace of the game.

Simon was suspended for the stick swinging as he should have been 'cause that isn't "part of the game" but it does happen...

Answer 10

You can't hit another player with a stick. That is a penalty.