Another Hockey Fight Death Knell?

There’s been a couple of recent developments, in a couple of different leagues, which both impact fighting in hockey in a negative way.

1. The first news comes from the NHL. Gary Bettman reported that there was discussion at the winter meetings around banning the type of fighting that is most prevalent these days. That being: the guy just laid out a player on your team, so now he must fight, kinda fight.
2. The second comes from the QMJHL (Quebec Major Junior Hockey League – Heretofore known as the “Q”). They have taken a stance to outright ban fighting starting with the 2023-2024 season.

They both suck. And are connected in ways which may not be beneficial to incoming players (or future popularity of the sport), so let’s break it down.

NHL Fighting Rules
In the NHL the rules have changed quite a bit. Gone are the staged fights. On a serious decline are the fights that happen organically. What has replaced them, is the you just hit my guy, now we gotta go fight. And it is not my favorite variety.

I don’t believe one should have to fight because a guy put a good bodycheck on an opponent in the course of game play. I’d like to see two guys that are mad at each other, or trying to change momentum, drop the mitts and go at it. Unfortunately, NHL linesmen are being more and more directed to jump in and stop a fight before its conclusion. See Freddy and Dylan Cozens below.

In the NHL there is an instigator rule. Nine out of ten times, it doesn’t get called. Attractive women talk to me more than the instigator gets called – it’s that rare. I don’t get it. A guy gets jumped for a hit a on the other team, and is basically forced into a fight. How is that NOT an instigator penalty? Call it. It was the spirit of why it was introduced in the first place.

I know there’s a ton of you out there thinking I’ve lost my mind, but if they start calling the instigator as it should be, I hazard to guess we’ll see a return of two tough guys looking to settle scores at center ice as well as fight happening more organically. Hockey, despite what people say, needs fighting. It really does. No one goes to get a beer during a fight. It is also what makes hockey so unique in a saturated pro sports landscape. It is the only league where it’s allowed….

QMJHL Fighting Rules
…which makes the banning of fighting in the QMJHL sound insane. I get their point. A lot of the kids in the Q are as young as 16 years old. There is a lot more known about concussions now than ever before. I hear you. It doesn’t change the fact that hockey is an emotional and very fast game.

You want to see concussions spike? Well, what do you think will happen now that there’s no repercussion for boarding someone, or hitting someone with their head down on the Q? That’s right. Head injuries. Do I go pound on someone and get myself kicked out of said game and the next, or do I let that slide? Most times they’ll let it slide.

I foresee lot of guys coming from the Q and making it to the show entering a whole new world of pain. It’s a lot like how millennials were told everything needs to be fair, but when they got to the real world it was a new awakening.

“Oh, Ryan Reaves is after me because I just boarded one of his guys?! Well, this wasn’t allowed in the Q! Somebody call my Mom.”

Over time, I think we’ll see other leagues follow suit, sadly. Then the NHL should just expand the ice and play on an international sheet. It’s uniqueness will be gone.