Fighting in the NHL

[Guest]

Is it time to abolish fighting? What would you recommend?

http://www.tsn.ca/mcgrattan-tweets-health-update-after-fight-video-goes-viral-1.425909

[Guest habs1952]

Suspensions for staged fights.

Penalties for players who take exception to a clean hit to one of their team mates.

I'm actually getting tired of the scrums around the crease after the whistle. Start penalizing (especially defensemen) for unwarranted physicality around the crease after the whistle.

[kinot-1]

The problem is that there is a grey area surround fighting. If a player makes a clean hit on another player,,,, there shouldn't be any retribution for for the hit, regardless of who the player hit, is (think Cros, Kane, Stamkos, or the like). Conversely, if it was a dirty hit (boarding,, hits to the head etc.), that may have gone undetected by the refs, then go for it. I hate staged fights and those are no longer wanted, and solve nothing.

Sometimes a ref only hands out a minimum penalty for a dangerous hit. In that case, numbers should be taken.

Basically,,, it all depends on the circumstances.

[kinot-1]

Suspensions for staged fights.

Penalties for players who take exception to a clean hit to one of their team mates.

I'm actually getting tired of the scrums around the crease after the whistle. Start penalizing (especially defensemen) for unwarranted physicality around the crease after the whistle.

IMO, if there's a scrum around the crease, the refs should skate in and say "I'm taking one of you". The NHL should impose a rule that explains what will happen if there is a scrum around the crease.

Like you said, 52,,, it's usually a D-man that starts it.

[Guest habs1952]

IMO, if there's a scrum around the crease, the refs should skate in and say "I'm taking one of you". The NHL should impose a rule that explains what will happen if there is a scrum around the crease.

Like you said, 52,,, it's usually a D-man that starts it.

I have no issue with a D-man ushering a player away from the net after the whistle but when he starts face washing or using his stick/force that kinda garbage needs to stop. And to be fair, too many players still make a beeline to the front of the net well after the whistle or when they could just veer away triggering the D-men to 'protect the goalie'.

[Guest]

Staged fights should be an automatic ejection with future infractions resulting in suspension. The League punishes head shots with suspensions, yet punching somebody in the head gets them both 5 minutes at best. Doesn't make sense to me.

I also agree with 52 about all the after whistle garbage. The obvious way to end this, would be to penalize players that continue to battle after a whistle. Again it boils down to refs actually enforcing the rules. We won't see the League get proactive until somebody is permanently crippled or killed IMO.

[southernhabfan]

The problem is that there is a grey area surround fighting. If a player makes a clean hit on another player,,,, there shouldn't be any retribution for for the hit, regardless of who the player hit, is (think Cros, Kane, Stamkos, or the like). Conversely, if it was a dirty hit (boarding,, hits to the head etc.), that may have gone undetected by the refs, then go for it. I hate staged fights and those are no longer wanted, and solve nothing.

Sometimes a ref only hands out a minimum penalty for a dangerous hit. In that case, numbers should be taken.

Basically,,, it all depends on the circumstances.

You mean..like wrestling? Yeah the"time out ..let's fight" mentality is what has to go.

[BigTed3]

I love a good fight, but not so much the actual fight as the intensity of the games in which fighting becomes a thing. So at the end of the day, I can live without the actual fighting. There are a couple of potential bonuses that might come about if fighting were abolished:

1. Non-skill players would have less of a role, thus there is a higher chance they get weeded out and replaced by smaller, faster skill players... this could improve the speed and flow of the game.

2. Less star players getting hurt if the goons aren't playing. Proponents of fighting argue that these goons protect stars, but to me, it's like guns in the U.S. People claim they need guns to protect themselves from other people who have guns. But if you abolish fighting and get rid of the fighters, there will be less need for the protecting goons.

3. It might finally force refs to call penalties on dirty hits. A lot of times they let them off, and then it's on the team that took the bad hit to avenge it, which puts that team in the hole. But if there's no more fighting, officials might be more inclined to make the dirty teams pay on the scoreboard. Maybe.