Hockey Fighting Research Paper

NHL Fighting Research Essay Since 1922, fighting has been in the NHL rulebook as an official part of the game. Fighting brings in thousands of people that are not necessarily big hockey fans, because of its intense, exhilarating, and fun aspect in the sport of hockey. People come to watch the big team enforcers go out on the ice to send a message or change momentum in the game, and the crowd loves it. Movies have been made about just fighting in hockey, where actual hockey skill was irrelevant, and fisticuffs was the reason they were playing. There is a division in the hockey fan base on fighting, because of the risk of injury and the brutality of it that some fans and NHL executives fear may be costly to the league. In recent years, CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy) has been found in many athletes brains who have played contact sports, where they developed the

The commissioner of the NHL believes there are many variables behind this, including the focus of teams being on skill players and depth rather than three skilled lines and line with goons on it to protect the skill players. He believes teams are building themselves for success in the competitive league where talent is the predominant need on teams. Steven Stamkos, the franchise player for the Tampa Bay Lightning, and many other staple NHL players say that fighting is necessary as a way for players to police the game and change momentum in games, but that the big goon fights are going away because there is no need for staged fights. Staged fights used to occur to bring in more fans to watch hockey, but it backfired when true hockey fans and players began complaining about how unnecessarily frequent the fights occurred. They also believe that fighting keeps all the players in check, making the game safer overall because it prevents people from making a dirty play and getting off