Boston Globe Ban Fighting in NHL - should fighting be a game misconduct?

[Fenian24]

Saw this in the theater in '75. I think I was twelve.

It's *still* one of the most brutally violent flicks I've ever seen.

Also, an early education in corporate citizenship.

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Still one of my favorite movies, Caan ws great and all the proof you need that it is coming true is the horrendous remake where their was no American corporate involvement.

Also if you ask Damien Cox this was hockey in the 70's

 

[Score8]

ok, I get you.
I guess my thing is sometimes you have to save an employee from themselves. As more and more data comes in it’s pretty evident hits to the head, however derived, are having a brutal effect. So I’m for limiting what can be in regard to fighting. We are the only prosport that condones it. For now.
Thats why I like the proposal for escalating game misconducts. It in and of itself will reduce the head injury aspects IMO. But still leave a bit of if you want to do it, youre gonna pay.

I’m not advocating for or against it, my stance is, we as fans should just enjoy the game as it is and let the adult men playing the game at the highest level decide if they want to fight or not, they all know the risks by now and I’m pretty sure all have taken a punch to the head at this point in their careers and now what it feels like. I’m kind of a mind my own business person when it comes to issues like this, I don’t like to apply my interpretation of an issue and then use it to tell someone else what they can and cannot do. Fwiw if fighting is removed, I think the game will turn into a free for all o

Fighting is already illegal in hockey. The OP is about increasing the penalty to phase it out.

Bodychecking isn't illegal.

I don't see the slippery slope that you do.

there is much more data to support the removal of checking than there is for fighting as far head injuries go.

 

[Gonzothe7thDman]

there is much more data to support the removal of checking than there is for fighting as far head injuries go.

This point has been rehashed multiple times earlier in this thread.

 

[EverettMike]

Should we let players choose not to wear helmets?

This point has been rehashed multiple times earlier in this thread.

Doesn't matter how many times it's addressed either.

 

[Gonzothe7thDman]

Should we let players choose not to wear helmets?



Doesn't matter how many times it's addressed either.

It's like the Mitch Miller thread all over again.

Coming in on page 27 to ask why nobody wants to give him a 2nd chance.

 

[LouJersey]

Marcus Pettersson vs. Nicolas Deslauriers, November 25, 2022 - Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Philadelphia Flyers | HockeyFights

HockeyFights - Marcus Pettersson vs. Nicolas Deslauriers, November 25, 2022 - Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Philadelphia Flyers

www.hockeyfights.com

This situation would be one where no fighting allowed would actually help. Deslauriers clean hit, and Pettersson with hockeys culture figures he needs to fight here. He’s pretty lucky he didn’t get knocked out as he clearly is apprehensive and looks to have no idea what he is doing

Should we let players choose not to wear helmets?



Doesn't matter how many times it's addressed either.

That’s a good point about the helmets. The players in reality may need it taken away from them. I think it would have to come from the NHL and then the players can say they hate it and don’t agree with it but they can’t do anything about it

 

[dredeye]

Fights are rare at best at this point and almost completely pushed out on its own. Want no part of it being removed from hockey.

 

[bobbyorr04]

People are right to be concerned about concussions & brain damage. But remember, Patrice Bergeron wasn't nearly killed in a fight, he was nearly killed by a hit from behind into the boards/glass. I think that's more of an issue than fighting- something needs to be done about the boards/glass and players getting crushed into them, dirty hit or not. Fights are rare compared to hits into the boards/glass.

Agree...and if people were REALLY concerned with concussions and brain damage in hockey they'd be lobbying for a severe crackdown or ban on head shots and hits from behind to a defenseless player, because I'm pretty sure they cause more brain damage/concussions overall than the odd fight in today's game, and if fighting was totally banned you'd see an increase in stickwork, back-stabbing and head-shots...and an increase in concussions

So fighting (or the threat of) may actually minimize concussions in the NHL

..and concussions definitely contributed to the Bruins losing the 2019 Stanley Cup Finals after two valuable players were lost to concussions (both from dirty head shots)
Neither one of them returned to that series and the Bruins lost both games where the head-shots occurred

 

[Donnie Shulzhoffer]

Says a lot that this thread gets so much attention with the team being so successful

 

[BruinsFanSince94]

Kids where I live aren't even allowed hitting. Then they go south to play in tournaments and they all get slaughtered because those kids are allowed hitting.

That’s more dangerous than letting them fight.

Says a lot that this thread gets so much attention with the team being so successful

It’s a hot button topic that has nothing to do with the team success.

 

[BruinsFanSince94]

A clear example of the NHL failing to protect the players. Perhaps one day Parros/his replacement will be consistent but that is many years away.

Parros wears the ball gag and leash nicely. No way Bettman fires that incompetent bobo.

 

[bobbyorr04]

When did the poll question change from should fighting be banned to a misconduct??

Shouldn't we start a new poll when the question changes?

I would still vote no but others may feel different about it.

 

[Forester65]

I can get behind that - but the worst conky I ever suffered was from a clean, open ice hit - what now? We're okay with that because....what, because it's less frequent? What about the poor sap who has severe PCS because of that hit - doesn't he matter just as much?

I struggle with the laser focus on one single form of the threat - and it often seems incredibly hypocritical and politicized.

NOT suggesting anyone here are those things, for the record.

A hard blindside open ice hit will scramble the brains more than punches you can see and prepare for. When I see guys get blindsided I worry for them. That being said, body checking is still an impressive art.

 

[The Andrew Peeke Fan]

The people will get what they want so long as it is profitable. And does not expose the craven owners of the NHL to financial liability.

They want their profits, and they don't want to shell out $$$ due to what would surely be a significant number of lawsuits seeking damages per concussions/CTE.

Absolutely.

 

[Bodit9]

85% to 15% so probably a lock the NHL will ban fighting then.

 

[Over the volcano]

Tough to legislate against actions taken by consenting adults #nopolitics

 

[Fenian24]

85% to 15% but that 15% is making the most noise.

 

[ON3M4N]

Fighting is at a point where guys are not allowed to remove their helmets and 99.9% of them have visors. This means the unexposed area of the head/face is very limited. A fist hitting a helmet isn't nearly as damaging as an elbow or shoulder from a player moving at a high rate of speed hitting a player in the head.

 

[rfournier103]

Does anyone remember this game?



I remember watching at home and it was my favorite regular season game of 2011. The future Mrs. 103 and myself were both on our feet in my living room just like everyone at the Garden were on their feet.

I’m sure most of us watched that game as it happened. Is there ANYONE HERE that can honestly say that they thought “oh my goodness gracious! This is AWFUL! Those poor boys are going to get themselves hurt!”

Anyone?

It’s part of the game and that brawl was one of the catalysts for a Stanley Cup championship. The Bruins’ ONLY championship in 50 years if any of you need reminding.

The players are grown ass men who are more than capable of making informed decisions. Almost all of them are old enough to drink. They are old enough to vote, enlist (or be conscripted) into the armed forces, and make every major life altering decision for themselves.

Don’t want to fight? Then don’t.

Has anyone here heard of “The Punch-Up in Piestany?” It was a bench-clearing brawl between Team Canada and the USSR in the 1987 WJC that lasted about 20 minutes. Pierre Turgeon of Canada refused to leave the bench and fight. Many of his teammates to this day (and myself) have a very strong opinion of his refusal to fight, but he didn’t want to, and therefore didn’t fight. Sometimes in the Real World fighting is absolutely necessary and cannot be avoided. But there’s always a choice in hockey.

The rules the NHL has at present are fine as they are.

 

[Over the volcano]

Fighting is at a point where guys are not allowed to remove their helmets and 99.9% of them have visors. This means the unexposed area of the head/face is very limited. A fist hitting a helmet isn't nearly as damaging as an elbow or shoulder from a player moving at a high rate of speed hitting a player in the head.

Thought removing your helmet before a fight is just a 2 min minor - and would be offsetting if there's mutual consent.

 

[ON3M4N]

Thought removing your helmet before a fight is just a 2 min minor - and would be offsetting if there's mutual consent.

The first part you're correct on, but the second part I don't think is correct (I maybe wrong).

Helmets - No player may remove his helmet prior to engaging in a fight. If he should do so, he shall be assessed a two minute minor penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct. Helmets that come off in the course of and resulting from the altercation will not result in a penalty to either player.

IDK if this is the most current rule because shortly after implemented a few guys took each other helmet off before a fight to expose the loop hole. Later I believe Kevan Miller and another player tried it and both got an extra 2 minutes

 

[GoBs]

85% to 15% but that 15% is making the most noise.

Sounds like society in general these days but the numbers are more like 97% to 3% making the most noise.
The days of just having the fighter on your roster are all but gone.

 

[rfournier103]

Sounds like society in general these days but the numbers are more like 97% to 3% making the most noise.
The days of just having the fighter on your roster are all but gone.

There is a real difference between “policeman/enforcer/heavy” and “goon.”

Goons are extinct in the NHL and have been for some time. A fourth-line tough-guy who can play a little bit (remember Shawn Thornton’s penalty shot goal?) definitely has a place in today’s NHL.

 

[CamFan81]

It'll definitely be gone within 20 years. So I don't entirely get why we'll wait.

Well, climate change will end us eventually, might as well nuke the planet and get on with it

 

[CamFan81]

I'm a fan of fighting in the NHL. For me, its a part of the sports Identity and I don't want it gone.

I believe one of the areas that separates the NHL from the other big 3 is the ability for the players to self police the game to a degree. I also believe that there is a relationship between this self policing respect, AND the lack of whiney, entitled, cry baby personalities we see in sports like the NFL and NBA.

The NHL is 4th in Revenue (by alot) and I'm perfectly fine with it staying right there. I believe the day the NHL competes with the MLB (commercially) the sport will no longer be recognizable to the type of folks that have enjoyed it from the beginning.

I appreciate players that decide fighting is part of their "value add" regarding the type of hockey they want to play, and while the role of fighting has been reduced considerably, the fact that its still a possibility helps keeps players honest.

I like that part of the game.