Fighting In Hockey

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This past March, hockey fans witnessed the latest display of bloody brawls in the National Hockey League in a game between the New York Rangers and the New Jersey Devils. This was a game where fights literally broke out from the opening faceoff. The NHL and fans quickly reacted to the fights with positive as well as negative feedback, and the debate had suddenly resumed on whether fighting should be banned or not from the game of hockey. To the average fan, hockey seems like the last refuge for brawls and fist fights that have been condemned in nearly all other sports. In basketball, there are sometimes altercations between players that lead to trash talk but punches are rarely thrown. In baseball, there is no fighting whatsoever, except in…show more content…
There are staged fights between players that have nothing better to do but fight other fighting specialists, and then there are fights that begin as a result of events that occurred earlier in the game such as a “cheap shot”. That distinction is very important because it is the difference between a meaningless fight and a fight that can benefit the game. Point is, as strange as it may sound, the majority of fights that occur are absolutely necessary in order to ensure that the game is played fairly because most fights are a result of cheap play and over-aggressive play. For example, when Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins is given a cheap shot, instantly you will see other Pittsburgh players out to defend him by trying to start a fight; and then when the fight is all done, all is well because Crosby appreciates it, the teams appreciate it, the fans appreciate it, and the teams are ready to resume playing hockey the way it’s supposed to be played. Players like Sidney Crosby and Pavel Datsyuk are able to play this game because they have so-called “tough guys” on their team that protect them from excessively rough play. Fighting belongs in hockey because it is used for settling conflicts before they escalate into actions more dangerous than punches. Agree that it is better to fight and be done with all hard feelings rather than have men…show more content…
If somebody is going to play overly-aggressive and borderline dirty, they will most-likely have to deal with fighting somebody on the opposing team, who is simply protecting his star players. Technically gifted players such as Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux were able to accomplish so many things in the National Hockey League because they were protected by their teammates that were ready to fight anybody that touched Wayne or Mario. Eliminating fighting is not a solution to useless violence either because, without fighting, if there were a conflict, players would try and get revenge on their opponents with head shots and checking from behind rather than simply resolving all conflicts with a 30-second fight. Furthermore, if you think that the banishment of fighting will minimize violence, then you should probably consider watching a real hockey game before making such a ridiculous statement. A man by the name of Jim McKenny said it best: “Half the game is mental; the other half is being mental.” Hockey is violent so if you don’t like violence, then don’t watch hockey; and definitely don’t try to change the

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