In Defense of Fighting in Hockey

By Chris Faircloth

“I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out.” As an employee at an ice rink, and a hockey player myself, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard that joke.  It’s no secret that a fair amount of fighting takes place in ice hockey at its professional levels.  As a result, fighting is often the first thing that comes to mind when one mentions the sport.  This has long been a topic of controversy and debate, yet the rules on fighting have remained fairly consistent throughout the sport’s history.  Though like any issue, there is gray area – I argue on behalf of fighting’s place in the sport.

First off, a common misconception is the belief that fighting is allowed in hockey.  Fights are not allowed, in fact, fisticuffs is expressly outlawed in the rulebook.  The difference is, rather than subject our offenders the the authority of the police and file assault charges, we make them sit in a box for five minutes while their team suffers – or if you’re playing in the same beer league as myself, you’d be suspended for the next two games – and your team suffers for five minutes.

The main response from hockey fighting’s advocates to those who call for the elimination of fights from the sport is that without the possibility of having to fight as a deterrent, the number of “cheap shots” will rise, leading to a rise in injuries.  Basically, that means when a player is not allowed to fight the opposing player he has taken exception with, he is more likely to take out his frustrations during the play – in the form of: elbows, slashes, cross-checks and hits from behind.  To put it even more bluntly – when you run the risk of getting beat up by a player or his teammates, you tend to play a cleaner game.

At it’s professional levels, there are players known as enforcers.  Enforcers are paid to protect the team’s star players.  Everyone has heard of Wayne Gretzky, but what about Dave Semenko?  He was the Edmonton Oilers’ enforcer, and Gretzky’s bodyguard back in the 80s.  Players knew that if they messed with “The Great One” there would be hell to pay.  Semenko’s play had a large role in creating the space for Gretzky to score all those goals.

While some critics would argue that hockey and its players are more barbaric than other sports and their athletes, I’d argue that they are more honorable.  Hockey players settle differences with their fist, on the ice – not with Twitter insults over the internet.  Held in higher regard than the rulebook, hockey players play by “the code” – an unwritten, yet widely known set of conventions that govern violence in hockey.  This code is hockey’s own unique system of policing itself.  The rules are mutually agreed upon by the players, and enforced by, well, the enforcers.  To break the code is to lose respect in the eyes of your fellow athletes, a fate far worse than a two game suspension.

By now, anyone who is not intimately involved with hockey is surely confused.  Even though books have been written on all the intricacies of hockey’s code, I’ll see if I can outline some of the more common conventions, as they pertain to fighting.

The most common, and recognizable, convention of hockey fighting is the removal of the protective gloves worn by players because the hard leather or plastic padding on the glove would increase the damage inflicted the blow.  Wait a minute, doesn’t common sense tell us that the best way to win a fight is to inflict the most damage possible?  Sure, but would you want to get hit it the face with that same gauntlet?  Of course not, I guess the driving moral behind the code is a rule we all already know – treat others the way you’d like to be treated.

That’s all well and good, but what does all this code talk have to do with whether or not fighting should be banned from hockey?  I guess the point is to show that next time you see replays of a hockey fight on television, know that there is much more going on than the rock em’ soc em’ commentary coming from the talking heads on screen.  Those two athletes, those warriors, are putting it all on the line for their team, they are sticking up for their teammates, they are honoring tradition, but at the end of the day – they are just doing their job.

Chris Faircloth is a student at the University of North Carolina – Wilmington.