QMJHL To ban fighting

[Otto]

https://thehockeynews.com/news/qmjhl-plans-to-ban-fighting

Click to read more...

 

[Generalsupdates]

As I said on twitter, I can see why a league of teenagers wouldn't want fighting, but with one of the main goals of the CHL being getting these players ready for pro hockey, I think that's extremely irresponsible and dangerous to send them to pro hockey having never been in a fight before and going against guys who are not only older but also potentially have been fighting their whole career

 

[OMG67]

As I said on twitter, I can see why a league of teenagers wouldn't want fighting, but with one of the main goals of the CHL being getting these players ready for pro hockey, I think that's extremely irresponsible and dangerous to send them to pro hockey having never been in a fight before and going against guys who are not only older but also potentially have been fighting their whole career

Although I lean toward your sentiment, the NHL is no longer requiring players to answer the bell anymore. They are looking hard at the clean hit fights and will likely award the instigator to anyone that starts a fight after a clean hit. The only players that fight now are players that are willing participants. If the players coming up no longer ever fight through age 20, they will be players that don’t fight at age 21 and on as pro’s. I think that is what the league wants and it is probably what it needs.

For the NHL to grow, a lot of the culture needs to change. It is starting to become a bit of archaic for a sport like hockey to even have fighting….as much as it is entertaining.

 

[Generalsupdates]

Although I lean toward your sentiment, the NHL is no longer requiring players to answer the bell anymore. They are looking hard at the clean hit fights and will likely award the instigator to anyone that starts a fight after a clean hit. The only players that fight now are players that are willing participants. If the players coming up no longer ever fight through age 20, they will be players that don’t fight at age 21 and on as pro’s. I think that is what the league wants and it is probably what it needs.

For the NHL to grow, a lot of the culture needs to change. It is starting to become a bit of archaic for a sport like hockey to even have fighting….as much as it is entertaining.

I personally don't care if there's fighting or not, especially in junior. If you do ban it, you need to be a lot more strict with calling penalties/suspensions on bad hits, as there's nothing a player can do to police themselves.

They only thing I would say is it seems to be more and more common now where one guy is a good fighter and one isn't and it's really dangerous. Been a handful of scary knockouts in the OHL this year. I guess a person who agrees with the QMJHL decision would argue that the NCAA hasn't allowed fighting for years but you wouldn't say NCAA players go into pro hockey at a disadvantage because of that

 

[AttackSound]

I've always been conflicted with the fighting rules in junior hockey.


On one side I believe in that fighting is something that could be avoided in certain situations however, on the other hand I believe that it creates a whole different issue of what else could be tighten down or let go.

For example the Ben Fanelli injury in the early 2000's. So yes they have cracked down on penalties especiallythose involvingthe head region and yes it was a tragic thing that injuries and kids careers were ended by selfish acts in the past to get the league to what it is today but we also have to look at this from the other side. Has the OHL suspended players for head-checks on the odd occasion yes but most games its become a minor penalty.

There are times when you have to ask yourself if you take one type of infraction out then what do you let go next. The league always seems to have a rulebook that is very flexible in a lot of areas and when you look at it from a simple point of view if they enforced every single rule it would take days for games to finish.

So how to you fix it? Enforce tighter penalties? Enforce longer suspensions? At the end of the day if you were to ban one act then it how far does it go from there?

Hockey is in some degree will always be physical sport but you can't always enforce every single rule in the book to a T. I believe if you take out one infraction that will just leave the junior leagues to slip on other calls that could be considered just as dangerous. The only way you will ever see a fair rule book is to look at how the league looks at how they consider the rules.

Nowadays we see more and more video reviews that take the flow out of the game and just this year alone I've seen at least 2-3 instances where the officiating crew make a call go to review they have the call stand and then it gets reversed after the fact.

If you wanted to to make the game more of an even keeled game for each team a solution would be adapt the NHL ruling that has been in place for many years now.

If you use a coaches challenge and the call is overturned on your team because your team doesn't use the technology to the full capability then enforce a delay of game call on teams who use the coaches challenge for delay of game and we would see a big change in the league.

 

[vandymeer13]

Pathetic. 10 fight rule should be the max limit just for junior levels. You need the practice if your going to play pro. Hockey is getting even more irrevelant with less fighting. I hope the q goes into more financial trouble. At the pros there shouldn't be any limit. They are adults and it's up to them.

 

[OHLTG]

I've been a fight supporter (if you will) for years and years. Not because I like the idea but because I know how and why things go on outside of the situation. Rarely, if ever, do you see two guys going JUST for the sake of going. Almost every fight now is because of something else that's happened; a big hit, past situation, or maybe something else. They all have a reason behind them.

When the OHL went down to 10 fights, I was surprised but accepting over time. Going down to three fights has been weird because you see it limiting how a player can respond. In theory, officials should call the proper penalty every time, everyone accepts it as such, and the players move on. That's not reality, though. You're going to react in different ways and the officials are going to screw things up. Do players just accept that, too? I don't know that it's possible.

With that said... I could see the OHL doing something such as "if you fight, you get an automatic 5 + 10" OR "automatic 5 and thrown out of the game." No suspension, just gone from the game, like they do in pre-season. Maybe even remove the limit or increase it to 10. After that, then the 2+ game suspensions come into effect.

 

[Kingpin794]

I personally don't care if there's fighting or not, especially in junior. If you do ban it, you need to be a lot more strict with calling penalties/suspensions on bad hits, as there's nothing a player can do to police themselves.

They only thing I would say is it seems to be more and more common now where one guy is a good fighter and one isn't and it's really dangerous. Been a handful of scary knockouts in the OHL this year. I guess a person who agrees with the QMJHL decision would argue that the NCAA hasn't allowed fighting for years but you wouldn't say NCAA players go into pro hockey at a disadvantage because of that

And that’s the main argument. NCAA is churning out high end players as of late. It works just fine.

The CHL/NCAA are still in essence development leagues. And NHL teams don’t need to develop enforcers anymore.

 

[DWI Dale]

i know this isn't a popular opinion... BUT...

fighting is dumb at any level. how many NHL enforcers have we lost to suicide and substance abuse? its a bush league part of the game and when it's inevitably snuffed out I think the game of hockey will be better for it.

 

[swoopster]

Be kind of tough to fight with a full cage on, as the NCAA mandates. In my view the fully caged game has become rougher and more reckless because of it. Stick discipline is lost.

 

[bobber]

Lets face it the essence of the hockey game has been slowly taken away from the fans in the seats over the last couple of decades. Fans use to scream and yell because OHL players all took their sweet time jockeying for position at face offs. They brought in the fast face off rule. Now they spend 2 or 3 minutes either redropping pucks or throwing players out of the face off circle. Every team now has iPads behind the bench where the coaches and players are scrutinizing infractions for five minutes waiting to prove the refs screwed up again. Refs are down at ice level looking at iPads plus they can go " upstairs" or to Toronto to get the goods on the play. One would think they were watching a replay of the OJ murder trial. Next they will have to have a lawyer on the bench. Players are rubbing themselves raw trying like hell to draw blood. They use to call it war wounds. They changed the fighting rules which did cut down on the number of fights and pretty much eliminated the so called "goon" out of hockey. Our granddaughter played for years. These girls got into scraps when they hit the teenage years. It was just part of the passion. The Canadian game has been Americanized with draft lotteries and NHL wild cards. Recently I saw a DeAngelo spear a player in the nuts with not much of a response. Guess they should take up fencing because the stick work will increase for sure. If they take fighting right out of the game fans will have to deal with it. Yellow cards will be giving out by the refs. In saying this we all watch the World Juniors. No fighting and great hockey.

 

[HockeyPops]

I support the change. Fighting used to be a way to keep the game under control if the refs weren't containing it, but that really hasn't been true any more in today's game. Now players mostly fight because they feel obligated to step up for a teammate that put themselves in a bad position. It's not the same as it used to be.

No fighting in minor hockey or ncaa. With all the attention on brain injuries it has to go from the chl game. NHL is also trying to make it go away as much as possible without outright banning it.

This is the right move. Hopefully the OHL follows.

 

[yessir29292]

I do support the change because there is no reason for a 16 year old to be fighting a 20 year old, in the real world you could get 10 years in prison for that.

I do like seeing a good fight but hate seeing kids falling to the ice without helmets or getting knocked out. It would be one thing if the players were getting paid… But most of them are getting brain damage and make no money from hockey.

 

[ohloutsider]

The science supports this move. Time for us "old guys/gals" to move on and adapt.

 

[bcspragu]

Recently I saw a DeAngelo spear a player in the nuts with not much of a response.

Maybe im getting incidents where DeAngelo was a shithead confused because frankly theres a few but didnt like everyone on the opposing team try to jump Tony when that happened a week or so ago? I dont think its fair to call not much of a response

 

[bcspragu]

P.s this is my take on fighting. Doesnt completely eliminate it if something happens that needs to be dealt with but will eliminate 2 guys just goinf for the hell of it.

 

[OMG67]

Pathetic. 10 fight rule should be the max limit just for junior levels. You need the practice if your going to play pro. Hockey is getting even more irrevelant with less fighting. I hope the q goes into more financial trouble. At the pros there shouldn't be any limit. They are adults and it's up to them.

One could easily argue it is getting more relevant with less fighting. The growth in the NHL over the past 15-20 years is staggering. Most of the commentary would suggest that fighting in hockey delegitimizes the sport.

 

[Canadian Game]

Pathetic. 10 fight rule should be the max limit just for junior levels. You need the practice if your going to play pro. Hockey is getting even more irrevelant with less fighting. I hope the q goes into more financial trouble. At the pros there shouldn't be any limit. They are adults and it's up to them.

Based on the article, it sounds like the Q is mainly making the change because they are being forced by the Quebec gov, and the gov will step in if nothing is done.

Wishing the Q to go into more financial trouble while their hands are tied is pretty ridiculous.

 

[BigHitter67]

Pathetic. 10 fight rule should be the max limit just for junior levels. You need the practice if your going to play pro. Hockey is getting even more irrevelant with less fighting. I hope the q goes into more financial trouble. At the pros there shouldn't be any limit. They are adults and it's up to them.

lol

 

[HUSH10]

I personally have the old school mentality of "it's part of the game" so in that aspect, I do not want to see it removed from the sport. I also think it should remain in major junior as it is part of the development to prep for pro hockey.

Having said that, to appease the other side of the aisle and to make fighting more situational and not just 2 tough guys fighting for the sake of it....

Here is how I would propose a NEWER 3 fight rule that the OHL currently holds.

1st fight: 5 min Major, 10 min misconduct
2nd fight: 5 Min Major, game misconduct
3rd fight: 5 min Major, Game Misconduct, 2 game suspension.

Every additional fight is the same as 3rd fight rule but add 1 additional suspensed game (IE. 4th fight, 5 min, game, 3 games. 5th fight, 5 min, game, 4 games, etc etc)

Keeping intact the obvious instigator rule. If a player is instigated to fight, it does not count against their record.

Now having said all that, that is just a way to appeal to both sides of the aisle.

My issue with removing fighting period is it doesn't allow players to police themselves when refs let a game get out of hand and it can entice players to get away with more dirty plays. IE. Checks to the head are still only 2 min minors in most cases. So this would require a strictor penalty for checks to the head. You could solution it with 5 min majors automatically or all checks to the head are subject to review but we could fall down a slippery slope of enforcement rules if the players can no longer police the game.


There is no easy or right answer, this is just my two cents.

 

[vandymeer13]

The science supports this move. Time for us "old guys/gals" to move on and adapt.

Less then 5 percent of concussions are caused from fighting. And that was from a report back like 7 years ago. It's even less prevalent now.

 

[vandymeer13]

i know this isn't a popular opinion... BUT...

fighting is dumb at any level. how many NHL enforcers have we lost to suicide and substance abuse? its a bush league part of the game and when it's inevitably snuffed out I think the game of hockey will be better for it.

There have been other ex nhlers who have committed suicide that never fought. There could be multiple other factors not just because they had a fight in hockey.

I do support the change because there is no reason for a 16 year old to be fighting a 20 year old, in the real world you could get 10 years in prison for that.

I do like seeing a good fight but hate seeing kids falling to the ice without helmets or getting knocked out. It would be one thing if the players were getting paid… But most of them are getting brain damage and make no money from hockey.

If a team really cares about that player he shouldn't have to fight a 20 year old. They should have someone to protect them. Like a enforcer.

 

[ohloutsider]

Less then 5 percent of concussions are caused from fighting. And that was from a report back like 7 years ago. It's even less prevalent now.

I'm ok with making it 0 percent.

 

[vandymeer13]

You can't eliminate all risk. It's a physical sport. Put the red line back in. The only reason the q is doing this is because the speed skater chick head of the commission in qubuec is holding 20 mil hostage because the league is in financial ruin.

 

[bobber]

Maybe im getting incidents where DeAngelo was a shithead confused because frankly theres a few but didnt like everyone on the opposing team try to jump Tony when that happened a week or so ago? I dont think its fair to call not much of a response

DeAngelo acts like a clown and gets what he asks for most of the time. Seems to enjoy being a tool.