Pros And Cons Of Fighting In Hockey

The NHL (National Hockey League) is the only professional sport other than boxing or wrestling where players can drop their gloves and fight. If you are an NBA fan, you might think that players would get ejected if they did this. However, the only punishment for this is sitting in the penalty box for 5 minutes. You might think this is bad for the sport, but fighting in the NHL is good for the game. Fighting has been part of hockey since its existence; however, many critique its nature and say that it causes too much injury. The current NHL rulebook addresses fighting in Rule 46, which defines a fight as at least one player punching or taking a swing at another player repeatedly, or players wrestling in a way that is difficult to break up. This

If the NHL wants to grow, they can’t get rid of fighting, as it is one of the few things that casual sports fans find exciting about the game. Travis Hughes, SB Nation hockey writer, argues, "Fighting exists in hockey because we enjoy watching people fight." If fighting was disallowed, the game would lose a major fan factor. As one of the biggest factors in hockey, fights change the flow of games and even seasons for teams. One case of this is happening right before our eyes. The 2022–23 New York Rangers started the season struggling; by December 3, they were just 11–10–4, which put them outside the playoffs. Their captain, Jacob Trouba, He laid two huge hits and two big fights against the Blackhawks that game, and on the way to the locker room, he threw his helmet in disgust. After this game, the Rangers immediately won 7 straight games, and as of February 14, 2023, they are 20-4-3 since that game. Without these 2 fights, the Rangers' season would be completely different, and they would not be in the playoffs. If players were not allowed to fight, a gigantic momentum factor would be removed from the game, and teams would have trouble making comebacks in games or

However, this isn’t the case; only 9 percent of fights result in an injury, compared to 50 percent of fights resulting in an injury in boxing. Fighting in hockey isn’t as dangerous as you may think, as only a few punches connect with the opponent. Plus, up to 86 percent of all injuries in hockey come from checking, legally or illegally. There were 226 concussions in the 2019 season, and only 26 of them came from fights. Anyhow, it prevents concussions because it stops players from making dangerous hits. After all, they know there will be retaliation. Fighting is too engrained in the game to remove, as players will fight no matter what, even if it results in a suspension and a