Fists have always flown in the sport of ice hockey, at least at the NHL level, as fighting has always been tolerated to a certain degree as a way for players to let off steam.
It’s not encouraged or exactly legal as fighting is a breach of the rules, and players are penalized for engaging in fisticuffs.
In this article, I will take a closer look at fighting in hockey and what the punishment for it is.
Why Are Hockey Players Allowed to Fight?
Some people believe hockey players are allowed to fight as a way of policing themselves while on the ice.
This basically means that anybody who gets out of hand or crosses the line of fair and dirty play may have to deal with the opposing team’s enforcer. On the other hand, some experts believe it’s a lot safer to allow players to fight than to let out their frustrations with their sticks.
Hockey is a very fast and physical game, and players often build up a certain amount of aggression and frustration. If they’re allowed to throw punches as a way to get it out of their system it means they will usually do so rather than losing their cool and start swinging their sticks.
Of course this isn’t always the case, though as the NHL has witnessed a fair share of ugly stick-swinging incidents over the years.
Why is Fighting More Accepted in Hockey Culture than Other Sports?
The main reason fighting is still accepted in hockey culture is because it’s always been a part of the game for well over a century now.
Supporters of fighting in hockey believe that it often helps to deter other types of rough/illegal play and enables teams to protect their best players during a game. A fight can be used as a momentum-builder, an act of intimidation, retaliation deterrence, or an attempt to draw the opposing team into a penalty.
There could also be a personal reason for fighting, such as retribution for a past incident or just bad blood between certain players. Most spontaneous fights begin in response to rough or dirty play by an opponent, though. Players typically fight to stick up for themselves or a teammate and to show they can’t be intimidated.
The NHL doesn’t have any immediate plans to eliminate fighting from the league and many players accept that it’s a part of the game and is sometimes essential.
In 1997, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman stated
“Fighting has always had a role in the game … from a player safety standpoint, what happens in fighting is something we need to look at just as we need to look at hits to the head. But we’re not looking to have a debate on whether fighting is good or bad or should be part of the game.”
However, not everybody agrees with this outlook and some groups and organizations would like to see fighting banned.
For instance, in 1988, The Canadian Academy of Sports Medicine announced that
“Fighting does cause injuries, which range from fractures of the hands and face to lacerations and eye injuries. At present, it is an endemic and ritualized blot on the reputation of the North American game.”
Why Can’t You Fight in Other Team Sports?
Other team sports typically don’t tolerate players throwing punches at each other as they believe fighting simply is dangerous, isn’t necessary, and is unsportsmanlike.
Just about every other team sport in the world will eject players who have engaged in a fight or have even thrown a punch at an opponent. This includes teammates who may throw a punch at each other.
That being said, the National Lacrosse League (NLL) is much like the NHL when it comes to fighting as players are sent to the penalty box after a fight for five minutes but aren’t ejected from the game.
What are the Rules for Fighting in Hockey?
In general, players who fight during an NHL game receive a five-minute major penalty and any player who engages in three fights in the same game will be ejected.
There are other specific penalties and possible fines and suspensions for instances of fighting off of the ice surface and before or after a game etc.
In addition, an instigator penalty can be handed out to anybody who is ruled to have deliberately started a fight. For instance, a player may drop the gloves and go after an opponent if he believes the opponent has hit a teammate with an illegal check. A player who is deemed to be the instigator will receive a two-minute minor for instigating as well as five minutes for fighting and a 10-minute misconduct for a total of 17 minutes in the penalty box.
If a player is ruled to be the aggressor, which means he tries to continue to fight after the officials have tried to break the altercation up or hits a defenceless or unwilling opponent, he can also be assessed a game misconduct along with any other penalty he receives.
The league also has a third-man in rule which states that any player who enters an altercation that is in progress shall be ejected with a game misconduct, but it’s very rarely called these days.
All NHL rules regarding fighting are covered in the league’s rule book under rule number 46.
What Hockey Leagues Allow Fighting & Which Don’t?
| Allow Fighting (Penalized) | Do Not Allow Fighting (Ejected) |
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Has Fighting Always Been Part of the Game?
Spontaneous fighting has always been a part of the game of hockey since professional leagues began and this could have been due to a lack of rules when the sport first took off as well as the aggressive nature of the game.
While enforcers of previous eras may have picked fights with unwilling opponents as a way of retribution and/or intimidation, that typically isn’t the case today. In the modern era, fighting is usually a mutual agreement or understanding between the two players involved as they typically agree to fight each other before dropping their gloves.
Read our related post “Why Do Hockey Players Tap Their Sticks After A Fight?” here.
Is Fighting on the Decline in Hockey?
The NHL brought in rule 56 in 1922 to officially regulate fighting and these days it’s covered by rule 46 of the league’s rule book. Referees have the power to decide what exactly constitutes a fight on the ice and what penalties are appropriate for the combatants.
Most players fought for themselves until the late 1960’s but once the NHL began to expand the number of teams in the league it opened up many more roster spots. The era of enforcers arrived in the 1970’s as a way to fight for and protect a team’s smaller and more skilled players. Fighting then became more common, especially between 1975 and 1983 and bench-clearing brawls often took place for the next few decades.
It wasn’t until about 2009/10 that fighting started to noticeably decline in the NHL. Most teams now place a greater emphasis on skill, speed and skating ability and the introduction of the salary cap means most clubs can’t afford a roster spot and/or a contract for an enforcer. Overall, fighting in hockey is on the decline as some leagues have banned it altogether by issuing game ejections.
Still, there are some instances of premeditated fights which typically see an enforcer from two opposing teams go at it after a faceoff. In addition, there’s a disturbing trend of player’s starting fights as a way to retaliate for a jarring, but clean hit on a teammate.
Studies showed that NHL fights per game decreased from a 0.64 in 2002 to 0.18 in 2020. The studies also stared that while fighting has steadily decreased over the past 20 years the league’s average attendance increased as did goals per game.
Is Fighting in Hockey Safe?
While most players may just receive cuts, bruises and sore knuckles due to fighting, the first known death which was directly related to an on-ice fight occurred in January, 2009. Don Sanderson of the senior amateur Whitby Dunlops team of Ontario’s Major League Hockey, passed away a month after suffering a serious head injury during a fight. The player’s helmet came off during the altercation and he hit his head on the ice when falling.
In addition, well-known former NHL fighters such as such as Bob Probert, Steve Montador, Wade Belak, Todd Ewen, and Derek Boogaard were diagnosed after their deaths and were found to have had chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which is a degenerative brain disease caused by repeated brain trauma such as blows to the head.
The NHL has since attempted to cut down on head trauma caused by blind side hits, but hasn’t really done anything to eliminate fighting.
Ian is an experienced ice hockey writer with a passion for the game. He has been covering hockey for over 25 years and has contributed to various publications. He covers all aspects of the sport, from NHL rules to in-depth analysis of the game as well as previews. Ian is also an avid fan who attends numerous games and has played hockey regularly since moving to Canada at the age of 10.