Fighting in Hockey

[Cookies_naughtyboy]

there has been a rule change in one league (cant remember which but its the league that had that player die from a fight) that if you want to fight and you take your own helmet off then you get a Game Misconduct with a 1 Match ban aswell.

What are peoples thoughts on this?

 

[TheStub]

I know the NHL are looking into this. Most people are coming down on "you can fight, but you have to leave your helmet on".

To me this seems sensible. Fighting is part of hockey, and it seems to work out a lot of the niggly off the play digs you see in other sports. Those are more likely to cause a major injury than two guys choosing to go toe to toe (in my opinion).

Making them keep their helmets on will remove the big risk they face - the risk of a nasty fall and a head injury. It would also temper where they place their punches. So, again this seems sensible.

Although, you will end up with a season or two of hand injuries from guys catching helmets. Also, what about guys who wear visors? Visors have no place in a fight IMHO.

 

[Cookies_naughtyboy]

I know the NHL are looking into this. Most people are coming down on "you can fight, but you have to leave your helmet on".

To me this seems sensible. Fighting is part of hockey, and it seems to work out a lot of the niggly off the play digs you see in other sports. Those are more likely to cause a major injury than two guys choosing to go toe to toe (in my opinion).

Making them keep their helmets on will remove the big risk they face - the risk of a nasty fall and a head injury. It would also temper where they place their punches. So, again this seems sensible.

Although, you will end up with a season or two of hand injuries from guys catching helmets. Also, what about guys who wear visors? Visors have no place in a fight IMHO.

if 2 players wanted to fight and one has a visor and the other doesnt then the guy who is punching the visor breaks his hand?? then what? to make the rule where you cant remove your own helment would mean no half visor for fighters which leads back to half visors protect players.

i dont see a way round it other than i think fighting will be totally banned soon, even though it was a real tragidy its the first incident ive heard of where a player has died from a fight.

 

[MikeRichards18]

if your gonna go into a fight you have to expect pain.
if a player takes his helmet off so be it, you live by the sword and die by the sword. (not ment to be offensive)
Richie (90%) of the time takes his helmet off and i think its a sign of bravery and fairness. If 1 guy takes his helmet off and the other doesnt i think its a bit cowardly.
Fighting someone with a helmet and visor will more than likely cut your hands, yes it was extremely tragic that the kid died but this is hockey.
I think i remember his father saying fighting should not be baned as its a part of the sport, and a huge debate is (as strange as it sounds) if you take fighting out of the game, the game will become more dangerous as players will have to find another way to "get back" at an oposing players for example kneeing etc.

 

[Cookies_naughtyboy]

if your gonna go into a fight you have to expect pain.
if a player takes his helmet off so be it, you live by the sword and die by the sword. (not ment to be offensive)
Richie (90%) of the time takes his helmet off and i think its a sign of bravery and fairness. If 1 guy takes his helmet off and the other doesnt i think its a bit cowardly.
Fighting someone with a helmet and visor will more than likely cut your hands, yes it was extremely tragic that the kid died but this is hockey.
I think i remember his father saying fighting should not be baned as its a part of the sport, and a huge debate is (as strange as it sounds) if you take fighting out of the game, the game will become more dangerous as players will have to find another way to "get back" at an oposing players for example kneeing etc.

exactly, it has been one death in hockey, yes it was a tragidy but it happens in sport, i remember a guy on ESPN saying that about 200 people die in cycling last year as a result of falls, but they dont go looking to switch the courses to places where u can fall or lay down bubble wrap.

it is good to see when player both drop their helmets as it is more dangerous to punch a helment and visor, yes there is a slight chance they might hit there head on the way down but 99% of the time the fight isnt one which will result in a heavey fall.

 

[TheStub]

I think if we see the helmet rule come in, a new sort of honer - if you fight you don't wear a visor. Most the 'hard men' don't already.

We can't loose fighting - it really is a part of the sport that makes the rest of the play cleaner. To an extent, I think it keeps the fans more restrained too, as the violence is on the ice.

We loose fighting, we are going to see a lot more injuries on the ice.

 

[James]

I think if we see the helmet rule come in, a new sort of honer - if you fight you don't wear a visor. Most the 'hard men' don't already.

It's not down to choice. It's down to your age.

 

[TheStub]

Full face yes, but the half face ones are optional. In most leagues anyway.

 

[Cookies_naughtyboy]

Full face yes, but the half face ones are optional. In most leagues anyway.

i believe half visors you have to be 22 or older to have it removed. so its up to 18 for full face mask 18-21 for half visor.

if they do take fighting out of hockey they will lose a hell of a lot of fans for sure. It is part of the game and does help to keep tempers low around the rest of the team, you see a good fight from a team mate and it gets you going to score and win not to make cheap plays etc.

 

[Iceraider]

The NHL GM's have agreed on some changes to the fighting rule. They want any fight that results from a clean check to be given the 2+10 instigator penalty on top of the fighting major, they have also decided that any staged fight (i.e straight off the face-off) should result in an automatic 10minute misconduct. This second rule will be assessed at the discretion of the referee.

 

[MikeRichards18]

i dont really see a problem with "staged fights", sometimes in a game against bitter rivals its the best way to start a game to get the crowd going.

 

[Cookies_naughtyboy]

if you get a one match ban for removing your own helmets what the 2 fighters should do is stop before the fight and take each ohters helmets off then step back and prepare for the fight, that way they have not removed it themselves

 

[TheStub]

if you get a one match ban for removing your own helmets what the 2 fighters should do is stop before the fight and take each ohters helmets off then step back and prepare for the fight, that way they have not removed it themselves

Down that route lays anarchy!

I was watching Greg Button on "On the fly" discussing the changes, and he was talking about players stepping up too often. Look at matches these days, and it is impossible to make a big,clean hit without someone stepping up to challenge you.

In the Devils, Voth seems to be a victim of this a lot. He makes big hits, and there always seems to be someone stepping up to show it isn't on.

If we can reduce the number of fights for that, we may see a more physical game. But, keep the fights for bad hits.

 

[MikeRichards18]

Look at matches these days, and it is impossible to make a big,clean hit without someone stepping up to challenge you

exactly what happened in our match against the rangers, awesome clean hit by richie and girardi steps in....or that also could be because he is a flyers player

 

[Cookies_naughtyboy]

Look at matches these days, and it is impossible to make a big,clean hit without someone stepping up to challenge you

exactly what happened in our match against the rangers, awesome clean hit by richie and girardi steps in....or that also could be because he is a flyers player

why dont the league then ban players for a match if they jump in a clean hit aswell??
this will stop players just jumping in when ever a big hit is thrown??

that way less fights, more physical plays and maybe the league might be happier with fighting then?