Why Does Ice Hockey Tolerate Fighting?

[PrivateTim]

I can't think of any other sport that at its highest levels tolerates fighting. Guys hit just as had in the NFL yet fights are rare. Baseball is famous for its brawls but you only have a few of those every season and lots of players get suspended and fined when they do.

 

So why does the NHL tolerate it? I can't imagine they allow fighting in high school hockey. Throwing a punch in high school water polo or wrestling would get you banned for the season in CA. Two red cards in water polo and you are done for the season.

 

p.s. and when a ref steps in, if you didn't back off in baseball, football, etc, if you touched the ref, you'd be done for the season with huge fines.

Edited June 2, 2011 by PrivateTim

[TetRefine]

Because hockey was a blue collar sport played by blue collar people in the beginnings. And why this isn't politically correct (not like I give a shit anyways), poorer people tend to solve a lot more problems/frustrations through fighting. That tradition has just stuck through the years, and in my opinion, adds to the excitement of the game of hockey.

[Benji]

Because hockey was a blue collar sport played by blue collar people in the beginnings. And why this isn't politically correct (not like I give a shit anyways), poorer people tend to solve a lot more problems/frustrations through fighting. That tradition has just stuck through the years, and in my opinion, adds to the excitement of the game of hockey.

 

................ I tend to agree, it is the nature of that particular sport that allows brawls to open up. They take cheap shots at their opponents often during the match, sooner or later leads to a fight. Funny how it is usually a one on one and not a bench clearing as in the MLB. It is like it is expected for the crowd, well Rome had it's coliseums, just saying...

[Krista]

Eh, I don't think the fighting adds to the sport of Hockey, I think the skill with the stick, puck, skates.. and the like would add to the sport more than throwing a cheap shot.. or a punch. I've never been a fan of Hockey because of the fighting that goes on and how it seems to be accepted.

[Rilbur]

Terminal Testosterone Poisoning. (I just wish I could figure out a 'T' word to replace Poisoning... )

[Fishwings]

Haha, it is entertaining, but I liked it better when there was none of that back in the Olympics.

[Tomas]

Terminal Testosterone Poisoning. (I just wish I could figure out a 'T' word to replace Poisoning... )

 

How about "Toxin".

[Bumblebee]

Because fighting is something everyone understands.... where as hockey, I've got no clue what goes on, but when a fight happens, it makes the game more exciting

[Rilbur]

How about "Toxin".

 

Terminal Testosterone Toxicity. Thanks!

 

TTT

[Cailen]

they allow fighting because it is better than the alternative, bashing each other with sticks.

[Tiger]

Who cares? I like fighting. I wish there were some sports based on real fighting... black eyes, punched out teeth, etc. Hockey has always been a hardcore sport. If anything, it should be encouraged. Yeah, I know some might think that violence is bad. However, I see it as entertainment.

[KYE]

I always considered the fighting as part of the sport unlike the other Sports mentioned. Boxing is a sport and to me the fights are just a part of the sport of Hockey.

 

 

[PrivateTim]

I always considered the fighting as part of the sport unlike the other Sports mentioned. Boxing is a sport and to me the fights are just a part of the sport of Hockey.

 

If that were true, they would allow fighting at all levels and it seems to me it really only proliferates at the NHL level.

[KYE]

If that were true, they would allow fighting at all levels and it seems to me it really only proliferates at the NHL level.

 

 

Excuse me, I should have said the "Sport of NHL Hockey".

[methodwriter85]

I don't think hockey would be nearly as fun without the fighting. Football is so structured; I like that hockey is still so rogue.

 

 

[scotchirish87]

Why does NASCAR tolerate wrecks?

[Matthew k]

Why does NASCAR tolerate wrecks?

 

Wrecks happen, fights are started.

[methodwriter85]

Still, the point is that the fights are a huge part of the sport, just as much as wrecks are a part of Nascar.

[JamesSavik]

what else can you do in armor, on ice skates with a stick? Dance?

[Conner]

"Now, Johnny, your teacher tells me you've been bullying kids in the school yard again. What have I told you about that?

 

"Save it for the hockey game. I know."

 

"That's right, son. Good boy!"

 

"Thanks, dad."

[Freddyness]

i shall say this

 

ONLY IN AMERICA

 

oh and Canadia

 

is it accepted <3

 

ice hocky over here is brutal but no more risks than nessisarry are taken...

[wildone]

As Rodney Dangerfield once said,

 

" The other night a I went to a boxing match and a hockey game broke out"

 

 

 

Okay, from a hockey players perspective I think I will try to explain it

 

I personally can not think of any other sport that involves the skill, the speed, the pace, the equipment, and the talent in a small enclosed space.

 

Generally hockey strategy involves matching up player versus player. This happens at a high pace and can lead to emotions rising higher and higher. Sometimes these emotions rise up to a level that a cheap shot is taken and then the other side retaliates. Usually in a fight.

 

Fighting in the last 10-15 years has been banned from 'minor hockey' It is still part of all professional and semi professional, junior and in a lot of cases major minor hockey. It has always been part of the game to fans, coaches, players and me

 

Cheap shots have been addressed for a while now, that is why there is less fighting than a while ago. When I grew up playing hockey, there was fighting, but obviously with the different level of skill and size of kids growing up, I am generally in agreement of the evolution of no fighting in minor hockey.

 

Also, in any level, a errant punch to an official at any level would result in major suspensions up to a year and fines against the player, the coach and the team.

 

To focus in on the fighting aspect alone in hockey is like focusing on tripping in soccer, clipping in football (I don't play water polo, but from what I read your nuts are fair game for what the ref doesn't see). It is part of the game and hopefully always will be. The example of tripping and clipping are two examples of serious penalties that can cause serious injury but I don't hear you calling for the total elimination of them from their sports. Fighting is part of the game and there are consequences for doing so. It is not condoned and there is a series of progressive discipline that is used.

 

Every sport has it's nasty side, just in hockey it is fighting.

[W_L]

As Rodney Dangerfield once said,

 

" The other night a I went to a boxing match and a hockey game broke out"

 

 

 

Okay, from a hockey players perspective I think I will try to explain it

 

I personally can not think of any other sport that involves the skill, the speed, the pace, the equipment, and the talent in a small enclosed space.

 

Generally hockey strategy involves matching up player versus player. This happens at a high pace and can lead to emotions rising higher and higher. Sometimes these emotions rise up to a level that a cheap shot is taken and then the other side retaliates. Usually in a fight.

 

Fighting in the last 10-15 years has been banned from 'minor hockey' It is still part of all professional and semi professional, junior and in a lot of cases major minor hockey. It has always been part of the game to fans, coaches, players and me

 

Cheap shots have been addressed for a while now, that is why there is less fighting than a while ago. When I grew up playing hockey, there was fighting, but obviously with the different level of skill and size of kids growing up, I am generally in agreement of the evolution of no fighting in minor hockey.

 

Also, in any level, a errant punch to an official at any level would result in major suspensions up to a year and fines against the player, the coach and the team.

 

To focus in on the fighting aspect alone in hockey is like focusing on tripping in soccer, clipping in football (I don't play water polo, but from what I read your nuts are fair game for what the ref doesn't see). It is part of the game and hopefully always will be. The example of tripping and clipping are two examples of serious penalties that can cause serious injury but I don't hear you calling for the total elimination of them from their sports. Fighting is part of the game and there are consequences for doing so. It is not condoned and there is a series of progressive discipline that is used.

 

Every sport has it's nasty side, just in hockey it is fighting.

 

Well said

 

It's raw human emotions and it makes perfect sense in the context of the game, just like the wild European football riots.

 

Out of the sports listed, I find baseball to be the most tamed and kind of boring in general. Even as an avid Red Sox fan, I don't really follow any other team in the league, because there's nothing to watch.

 

Besides, brawling and man-on-man contact is fun to watch; probably subconsciously erotic in an narcissistic way. :D

[skyler1]

Because it sells tickets and fills seats. Professional sports is not about sports, its about making money.

[Conner]

Because it sells tickets and fills seats. Professional sports is not about sports, its about making money.

 

Right on. Wasn't it Bettman, that weasley-faced NHL commissioner, who was first quoted as saying, "The buck stops here!"