What place does fighting have in hockey?

Have you ever wondered why hockey has so much fighting? Apart from actual combat sports, it’s really the only sport where players don’t receive major punishments for repetitively punching opponents in the face. Let’s explore the role fighting has in hockey.

Why do hockey players fight?

Fighting in hockey happens for three main reasons: to change momentum, to protect oneself or a teammate, and to prove one’s worth within an organization.

Changing the momentum

If a team seems lethargic or unmotivated — especially if it has allowed multiple goals in a short period of time — the coach might try to change the momentum by instructing a player to drop the gloves and spark his teammates. Of the three reasons for a player to fight, this is the least common in today’s game.

Changing the momentum can also happen from game to game. For example, former Vancouver Canucks defenseman Kevin Bieksa challenged former Flyers tough guy Wayne Simmonds to a fight minutes into a game in January 2015. The Canucks were on a three-game losing streak at the time. They scored a goal two minutes later, propelling them to a 4-0 win to start a three-game winning streak.

Why does the momentum change? Most of it has to do with the crowd. A good fight can get the home crowd on its feet, or in Bieksa’s case, silence the away crowd. It can also serve as a wake-up call to the team, which also happened when Bieksa fought Simmonds.

Protecting oneself or a teammate

Hockey players are less likely to take extra liberties when they know they’ll have to answer for their actions. This is exactly why Wayne Gretzky, one of the all-time greats, enjoyed the company of players like Marty McSorley and Dave Semenko. Neither player was particularly gifted skill-wise, but both were willing to beat up anyone who touched Gretzky.

Protection today looks a bit different now than it did in the 1980s. Players typically only have to answer for illegal hits. Let’s look to both the Canucks and Wayne Simmonds as an example again.

Former Canucks defenseman received one fighting penalty in his 17-year NHL career, and it was against Simmonds, whom we’ve already introduced as a notorious fighter. As you can imagine, Edler received all the damage in that scrap — he didn’t even try to throw a punch, and instead tried to put his helmet, rather than his face, in the way of Simmonds’ seven blows.

Why would Edler oblige to a challenge from Simmonds when he already knew what the outcome would be? It was because of the code.

A week and a half earlier, Edler had delivered a dangerous, illegal knee-on-knee hit to Maple Leafs forward Zach Hyman . Edler received a major penalty in the moment and a two-game suspension afterwards, but in the Maple Leafs’ books, he hadn’t paid for his transgression until he took a beating.

Had Edler not obliged, he may have risked a Todd Bertuzzi on Steve Moore type of incident . This is not to say Bertuzzi was in any way justified for punching Moore the way he did, but hockey is arguably safer with fighting because players don’t feel the need to take matters into their own hands in other ways.

Proving one’s worth

Pat Maroon wouldn’t have lasted long in the NHL if he hadn’t been able to chuck knuckles the way he does.

Contrary to the assumption of most non-hockey fans, Maroon and other big, strong fighters have enough skill to get them to the NHL — Maroon Scored much more than a point per game in the NAHL and the OHL. When he got to the NHL, though, he was far from the only player with an impressive scoring touch.

Maroon and many others like him were forced to decide how badly they wanted to play in the NHL. Teams value bodyguard-type players who can keep the puck out of their own net and chip in a goal here and there, so that’s the role Maroon chose to take.

That path isn’t for everyone, but with three Stanley Cup rings and more than $17 million in career earnings, Maroon probably isn’t complaining.

Cleaning up misconceptions of fighting in hockey

If you’re still unsure about fighting in hockey, let’s answer a few more questions.

Question: If I sign my kids up for hockey, will they be expected to fight?

Answer: No. Fighting is strictly prohibited in all youth, women’s, high school and college hockey. Even some major junior leagues are phasing out of it . Players who fight at these levels receive heavy penalties and suspensions.

Question: How often do hockey fights happen in the NHL?

Answer: Hockey fights do not happen every game. Hockeyfights.com recorded 311 fights in the regular season last year. There were 1,312 NHL games in total.

People sometimes put too much truth into actor and comedian Rodney Dangerfield’s famous quote about hockey fights: “I went to a fight the other night and a hockey game broke out,” he said.

Though fights were much more common in Dangerfield’s day, it’s not quite the case anymore.

That said, little scrums happen many times a game. In these scrums, a punch or two may be thrown and a minor penalty or two may be handed out, but these are different from actual fights.

Question: Does every player fight?

Answer: No. Many players go their entire careers without ever fighting. Star players in particular are usually instructed not to fight because if they were to get injured, their teams could suffer greatly.

Question: Why do the officials let the players fight?

Answer: There are many facets to this question, but it comes down to a few main things: letting the players do their jobs, staying safe and promoting the sport.

Some players wouldn’t have NHL jobs if they couldn’t fight. Officials understand that and they’ll often allow players to do what they’re paid to do.

It can often be dangerous for an official to break up a fight. If you watch a fight, you might notice that an official never does it alone; there are always two people breaking up the fight. This is because the players often try to keep going even after the officials get in there, and the official can sometimes catch a stray blow.

There’s an old saying that goes like this: “If we don’t do something about the fighting in hockey, we’re going to have to build bigger arenas.”

Whether you agree with it or not, some people love the fighting aspect of hockey. Officials understand that fighting is part of the game and while they might not admit it, fighting draws in fans and fans pay their checks.

Question: Can NHL fighters skate?

Answer: Yes. As explained in one of the above sections, players do not reach the NHL unless they have the base skill required to play. Teams do not waste their limited roster spots on one-trick ponies. Guys who fight are much more than boxers on skates.

Question: Do NHL players get penalties for fighting?

Answer: Yes. Each player involved in a fight gets a five-minute major penalty for fighting. Because both teams get these penalties at the same time, it doesn’t affect the number of players on the ice — They still play five-on-five, but the involved players sit in the penalty box for five minutes.

Additional penalties are sometimes assessed after fights. The most common is an instigator penalty, which is a two-minute minor penalty for the player who is deemed to have started the fight. When the two players mutually agree to fight, though, no instigator penalty is given.

An additional penalty can be awarded to a player who is deemed to be the aggressor, meaning that he continues to throw punches even when his opponent is not in a position to defend himself. The punishment for being an aggressor is a game misconduct, and such players are also subject to supplemental discipline from the Department of Player Safety.

Plenty of other penalties can be given due to specific situations surrounding fights. For a full list, consult Section Six of the NHL Rulebook .

Question: Are hockey fights staged, similar to WWE fights?

Answer: No. Players might mutually agree to fight to benefit both themselves and their respective teams, but there’s no acting involved. These are real punches and they actually hurt.