Fighting The Most Controversial Topic In Hockey

A game that was marked on fans calendars for months. On January 10th 2013 the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens laced up for a crucial game at the Bell Center. The Leafs were up three to two with seventeen minutes to go. It had been a bone crushing game up until this point and a scrum started in front of Montreal's net and Colton Orr and Parros got into a scrape. It was a normal tilt until Orr lost his balance and brought Parros down with him and crushed his face off the ice. Parros became unconscious and was stretched off the ice and rushed to the hospital. This single event is one of the most controversial parts in the game of hockey. With both sides of the argument having very strong and valade opinions.

Some people in the hockey hockey world are pro fighting and believe it belongs in the game. Fighting is a key part of the game. The National Hockey league was founded in 1917 and fighting has been a part of the game ever since. The undeniable truth of why fighting has continued to be such a big part of the game is because the fans love it so much. In fact when players from opposing teams go toe to toe the fans cheer louder than they do when someone scores. If for some reason fighting was taken out of the game it would be financially bad for the owners because they would lose some of the fan base and therefore revenue. It just does not make sense. Besides fighting being something most fans enjoy its also serves a purpose in the game. This purpose is protection. When you have a superstar on your team that you are paying north of seven-eight million a year you have to be able to protect your investment. The other team will try to shut him down and may cross the line. The only way to protect these key players is with fighting. Opposing players think twice about leveling a superstar or taking a cheap shot when they know the consequences will be that they have to fight. Fighting in hockey reinforces that actions have consequences.It is a way to keep everyone in line and keep players safe by having that protection. A key advocate for fighting in hockey is the host of “Coach's Corner” Don Cherry who said on coaches corner “ If you do not like fighting in hockey go watch tenni”. (1)

A common argument of pro fighting advocates is that fighting actually is not the main way players get hurt while playing the game. Hockey is a dangerous game but fighting is not where you are most likely to get hit. Advocates claim the main way players get injured in hockey is actually by getting hit and there is no conversation about that. Some claim that if player safety is actually the goal and not to “pussify” the game like some have implied they have alternative solutions. The most popular solution is changing the rules around icing so that the defencemen does not have to skate back by the boards and therefore putting himself in a dangerous position to get hit.Getting hit in that position has ended so many careers. Other solutions include lifting the rule on making players wear visors so their hands do not get hurt when a fist hits a visor. They also want to eliminate the instigator rule which gives a player who starts the fight an extra penalty. It made players hack and slash moore and hurt more players than it helped because they were scared to get that extra penalty.

On the other side of the argument critics say fighting is not what hockey is about. They say fighting is a Barbaric practice that is no longer needed. Hockey should be all about speed and players skills not fighting. They point to how in the playoffs where games mean so much more there is no fighting because it is not as important as scoring goals is. It is argued that it is not what fans really like to see. It is the skills these players have. The example it sets for kids watching it also worries people. It is not boxing if kids grow up watching players they idolize then they too will think fighting is acceptable on and off the ice.

Fighting in hockey can get violent at times and this is where critics say it is just too dangerous and hope to stop it before anybody seriously gets hurt. When you have two grown men throwing haymakers at one another with most of the punches landing on the head that is just not safe. Players who make a career out of fighting are referred to as enforcers. While this may excite people at the time the consequences later on can be life threatening everything from concussions to death. This is not a joke many enforcers suffer from depression and PTSD because of fighting. This leads to many ex fighters getting addicted to drugs because they are in so much pain all the time. Over the last number of years the National Hockey League has seen a rise in the number of ex players committing suicide. One thing they all have in common is they were fighters. It literally killed them.There has also been documentaries about the lasting effects of fighting. In fact Chris Nilan an ex player who made his career by fighting says “ Fighting is just too dangerous and needs to be put to an end” (2) He said this because he fought and it lead him to health issues and put him down the path of substance abuse. Now if a guy like that admits there should not be fighting it says something about how dangerous it really is. Fighting is in fact the most controversial topic in the NHL and will continue to be be going forward.

(1) Don Cherry, Coach's Corner

(2) Chris Nilan, Documentary, Enforcers