Why do hockey players are allowed to fight?

Question

I beleive that all sports are entertainments , but why is fighting allowed and encouraged in ice hockey? In every sport the team trains before they play a match. Do hockey teams train their players to fight before a match?

Answer 1

because many people go to hockey games to SEE a fight!!

many people especially rought sport lovers have an little voice inside that loves bloodlust.. tehehe

Answer 2

I'm not going to re-hash anything as all of the above give a pretty good idea but keep in mind that while the coincidental 5 minute majors given out to each player in a fight are not much of a penalty...there is another penalty called the instigator penalty that is designed to ensure that the fight is mutually agreed upon. There is an unwritten code that you have to "answer the bell" and take someone on if you hit a team's star...but if you don't respond when challenged and the other person starts fighting you forcing you to fight to defend yourself, the other person gets an additional 2 minute penalty. 3 of these in a year and he also gets a suspension. This is controversial in that it does cut down on an enforcer's ability to defend star players but it should give you an idea of the NHL's opinion of fighting. If two consenting adults want to go, let them go...the fans love it. But treat it more severely if the feeling is not mutual between the two combatants. Go to an NHL game and look around at the screaming fans when a fight breaks out. Only then can you ask yourself if you would cut that out of the game if you were an owner or commissioner.

Answer 3

In regards to the origins of regulated fighting in hockey, I'm not sure, but I can certainly explain why it exists today.

Often, emotions run high while the players are out on the ice. Hockey is a very physical, high-contact sport. There are going to be hits, and there's going to be retaliation for those hits, regardless of rules.

Often, when something chippy or a little foul occurs around a teams net, they'll shove or throw a punch at an opposing player, getting the attention of almost everyone on the ice. Broadcasters call this a "scrum" (although it's an improper use of the rugby term), but it's not a fight - although it sometimes can lead to one.

A "fight" in the NHL sense of the word is two men duking it out, gloves off. 5 minute penalties are assessed so that the players can cool off, but the key is that their teams will cool off - a game that gets very scrappy can turn clean with a single fight. This is the main reason why fights are still allowed.

In lower leagues, fighting is strictly forbidden. Unfortunately, hockey players will still fight, and I have seen games end in 5 different one-on-one tussles on the ice. The game has no way to alleviate tension (as controlled fighting does in the NHL), so often you get a scrappier, more penalty-ridden game than you would see in the pros.

Answer 4

Hockey can be one of the most frustrating games to play. People are constantly getting cheap shotted and bullied on the ice and tensions can build very high. One of the main reasons for fighting is policing that cannot be done by refs. If done properly the player that needed the policing may think twice about the actions he did to get in the fight. It can also boost a teams morale and get them excited to score or hit and win.

Perhaps the most important reason is to protect some of the skilled players who don't play very physically... the Gaboriks, the Datsyuks, the Crosbys. If players like these are overly bullied then often the team will go after the other teams skilled players to tell them 'Stop it, or I'll do the same thing.' It helps the game move better.

There's nothing like old-time hockey.

Answer 5

If you've ever played the game you'd understand. As many have stated its simply a form of self policing. Cheap-shots, trash talking, bullying, etc not seen by the refs add up until a boiling point is reached. If you don't release the pressure things can get ugly real quick (been part of that, glad I wasn't on the ice). Fighting relieves this pressure (even if you were mad it seems to calm you down afterwords).

It seemed to me, don't know about others, that when the NHL tried to ban fighting in the 90s that's when the clutching and grabbing and basically a dull game started to emerge. The refs, while they help, just are not enough to police the game, the players and teams also have to be responsible as well. The fighting and enforcers helped with that.

Answer 6

In the 50s and 60s, players were taught how to fight at hockey schools. You had to learn to defend yourself, and you had to learn to balance yourself (anybody can stand in front of somebody and throw punches......try doing it on skates).

Nowadays it's a lost art. As a previous poster stated,Derek Boogaard currently has a fight school, and prior to that Tiger Williams held a fight school as part of another hockey school (which Boogaard attended).

The sad thing is that people look at Boogaard's size and think he's a good fighter, but I've seen him lose twice to Chara, twice to Laraque and once to Brashear. And from what I've seen, he wouldn't have lasted too well against Grimson, Probert, or Dave Schultz either. Size is one thing, technique is another (ask Ray Emery).

One of the best fighters the NHL ever saw was Nick Fotiu (mind you he was a golden gloves boxing champ as a teenager) and Nick wasn't all that big, but his punches carried a cannon, and he used them at lightning speed. He didn't win all his fights, but he won a darn good majority of them.

Answer 7

Well, basketball isn't a contact sport. Not even close. Fighting in the NHL is part of the tradition of the game. Teams will fight in order to protect their star players, to change the momentum of a game, or to police the game when the refs miss a call. The NFL protects their quarterbacks and star players. The NHL doesn't have superstar specific rules. Enforcers/fighters are actually there to help keep the peace.

Answer 8

I would have worded it "Why are (not 'do') hockey players allowed to fight?"

It's a strategic part of the game from the earliest days of hockey.

As someone who was trained in Boxing, I used to wonder why the fighters hug after the bout?

Answer 9

Because it has been a part of the game since the 1800s. No one in the world can change that, nor the traditions of the game. To do so would be blasphemous. And no, they don't "train their players to fight before a match." They do practice (relax, they don't literally fight each other to practice)and talk general techniques and strategies though.

This site might help you out.

Answer 10

Noo they dont train them to fight, ie practise fights. they probably train muscualar wise.
Its all part of hockey fighting and it wouldnt be the same without it.
Many people go to hockey games to watch the fights and not the skill.
A famous fighting league is the LNAH

Answer 11

I don't think the teams themselves train their enforcers, but there are hockey fighting camps out there. And as to why? Well it's a part of the culture. The goons are there to protect the skill players when someone on the other team lays an illegal hit on one of their stars. It's very similar to a pitcher in baseball hitting a batter, especially in the National League where the pitchers have to bat.