Please help settle a work debate
I was chatting with a friend at work today about hockey (I don't know anything about it) and the topic came out about how fighting at the pro levels is very much a part of the game, but at lower levels it is not. What was interesting to me was that the reasons why fighting is encouraged at the pro level don't necessarily disappear at lower levels, bar one.
My friend and I realised that there were four main reason why fighting is part of hockey:
- It can change momentum
- It gives the players a chance to catch a breath if they're gassed
- It makes the game safer, by preventing poor behaviour from the other team
- It protects your star players from bad treatment
- It gets the crowd going which can provide additional support.
At lower level hockey, only the final point is irrelevant. The first four all apply whether you are playing in the NHL or at your local centre, and you could argue that in leagues where players aren't necessarily super fit, having two players scrap can give your team some time to heave some big ones in and get the oxygen back in your lungs.
The argument my friend made was that hockey is so violent already that any increase in this would be catastrophic, but I played rugby in Australia and the UK at the amateur level, and that was full contact with only a mouth guard as protection. I finished up at 29, and I certainly wasn't the oldest. Bruises and being sore on the sunday after was expected, but such is the nature of playing a contact sport.
So, hockey players, what am I missing?
Posted Oct 31, 2023, 7:54 PM UTC
It you're wondering why there isn't fighting in beer league, it's because you get suspended for it. Why do players get suspended for it? Because if beer league allowed fighting like in the pros, their insurance premiums would go through the roof. This would discourage people from joining leagues because of not wanting to have their heads caved and the fees would be prohibitively high. The leagues want to make money, so fighting is a no-no.
At the beer league levels. It's not violent at all. Yes, there will always be idiots that run around thinking they're tough, but they're beer league tough. Most incidents are two fat guys shoving each other. Their jaw muscles jabbering get more work than their fists. Because they know as soon as the gloves come off, they're suspended. If it's bad enough, it might be for the season or for life.
As for the reasons you came up with, yeah... When I was born Bobby Orr was in his prime. I'm not anti-fighting in the least. But I've also been alive long enough to hear, smell, and realize the excuses don't really hold much water.
Changing momentum? I'm very skeptical. So two 4th line guys pummel each other. Whoopie. The guys who have the greatest impact on the game are the stars. They're still playing. If a star ends up fighting a 4th line guy, it's not a momentum change. It's a poor strategic choice. I've heard NHL players say, from their perspective on the ice, there's no such thing as momentum.
In terms of giving guys a chance to breath. Yeah, no. At the pro levels, they're in such good shape, they do workouts after the games to wind down. Also, there's a reason there are shifts. Players are on the ice 45 seconds. They don't need 3-4 minute delay to catch their breaths.
In terms of protecting star players, maybe in the past, but now, nah. There's a reason the goon is all but extinct in the NHL. In the 80's you had guys with 400+ penalty minutes in a season as a league leaders. Last year the leader had 150. The all time leader in penalty minutes has nearly 4000. They played in the 80's. The current active penalty minute leaders have around 1300, and they're nearing the end of their careers.
Also with all the cameras now, players can't get away with things like they used to. And a big suspension can mean hundreds of thousands of dollars lost to the player.
What about at the amateur level. If you’re totally gassed and two guys go for it, doesn’t that give you a chance to suck it in and get back out there?
No, because people get enough rest from simply line changing.
And like I said, people get suspended for fighting at the beer league level, and if you get suspended for the season that's like flushing $800+ down the toilet. That's an expensive way to catch your breath. It'd be easier to trip someone and spend 2 minutes in the box or simply skip your next shift.