For the league isn't it all about ticket sales?

The fights do sell, but to me that means they need to figure out ways to improve the sport. The other major 3 don't need fights to sell tickets.

I am not a pro hockey fan although I used to play a lot of ice hockey as a kid I enjoy the sport.

As a parent its interesting to want to take your son or daughter to see a game, but what do you say when at some point the sticks and gloves drop and you have two grown men pounding the crap out of each other bare knuckle? Its just part of the "game"?

I think hockey popularity is not tied to the fights. Maybe I am wrong and some pro fans can chime in on whether as they drive to a game they have anticipation about getting to see actual fights between rivals.

[Edited on 1/21/2016 by OriginalGoober]

This is a difficult topic to answer with a short post... 😛

This is a difficult topic to answer with a short post... 😛

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To understand doesn't one need to be a hockey fan?
There is the business side but the sport, to it's fans, is the ultimate draw.

I have no idea what "the blue line" means but I have friends that are adamant hockey fans and I know not to mess with them.

Kinda like wearing a Cowboys jersey to a Redskins home game. That take a big brass set.

The fights do sell, but to me that means they need to figure out ways to improve the sport. The other major 3 don't need fights to sell tickets.

Here is a question, what is worse a hockey fight with two willing participants going toe to toe, a football defender going after a receiver in the air and knocking him unconscious or worse (Burfict hit on a defenseless Brown comes to mind) or a baseball pitcher intentionally head hunting a player???

There is the business side but the sport, to it's fans, is the ultimate draw.

Fighting is a part of the game, but it is not the only part. I've been watching my whole life and I've never watched just for fights.

Are there people that only follow/watch hockey for fights? Probably not very many.

Point of clarification, this article is about an AHL game, not the NHL.

However, at the NHL level, fighting has been declining at a steady pace over the last 15 years. In the 2001-2002 season, 42% of regular season games played had a fight in them. In the 2014-2015 season, that number was 27%. For the 2015-2016 season, the number is on pace to end up at 25%.

So far this year, in 1,230 games, there have been 355 fights. That's 0.29 fights per game...so those bloodthirsty fight fans are going away quite disappointed. There's 30 teams in the league, 23 of them are pulling in home attendance at 93% or higher, with 13 teams at 100%.

There seems to be this long-held notion that every hockey game ends up like the Hanson Brothers in Slap Shot. That's just not the case and hasn't been for quite some time.

[Edited on 1/21/2016 by Bhawk]

I think hockey popularity is not tied to the fights. Maybe I am wrong and some pro fans can chime in on whether as they drive to a game they have anticipation about getting to see actual fights between rivals.

I agree with this
-- also that it can't be answered in a short post -- Bobby Orr discusses at length fighting in hockey in his book -- it's always been a part of the game, perhaps owing to the high-speed nature of the physical contact -- of course there's that in other sports too
IMO it would be tough to legislate fighting out of hockey -- it's too ingrained a part of the sport, and not necessarily in a negative way -- it's worse in the AHL & some of the fringe leagues
Don't follow college hockey too much -- seems like fighting isn't a big part of it

I watch NASCAR just for the crashes. Is that wrong?

I watch NASCAR just for the crashes. Is that wrong?

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It depends on how much 'twang you have in your 'thang.

NASCAR has more fans than any other sport in the U.S.

i'm tellin' ya folks, don't mess with a hockey fan. It will not turn out well for you.
A good option: buy 'em a beer.

[Edited on 1/21/2016 by Muleman1994]

I watch NASCAR just for the crashes. Is that wrong?

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It depends on how much 'twang you have in your 'thang.

NASCAR has more fans than any other sport in the U.S.

i'm tellin' ya folks, don't mess with a hockey fan. It will not turn out well for you.
A good option: buy 'em a beer.

[Edited on 1/21/2016 by Muleman1994]

Smartest thing you've ever posted here.

There may be hope for you yet.

ESPN did a feature on NHL fights maybe five years ago.

Every team has a designated fighter. It's always a guy who has marginal talent and would not be able to hang on and make the pro athlete salary that he does without becoming the fighter on the team.

That said, these guys HATE their jobs. Can you imagine what their brains must look like on a CT scan? A couple of them have committed suicide.

ESPN did a feature on NHL fights maybe five years ago.

Every team has a designated fighter. It's always a guy who has marginal talent and would not be able to hang on and make the pro athlete salary that he does without becoming the fighter on the team.

That said, these guys HATE their jobs. Can you imagine what their brains must look like on a CT scan? A couple of them have committed suicide.

You always have a choice. You can walk away.....

I don't watch Hockey for this reason.....

ESPN did a feature on NHL fights maybe five years ago.

Every team has a designated fighter. It's always a guy who has marginal talent and would not be able to hang on and make the pro athlete salary that he does without becoming the fighter on the team.

That said, these guys HATE their jobs. Can you imagine what their brains must look like on a CT scan? A couple of them have committed suicide.

You always have a choice. You can walk away.....

I don't watch Hockey for this reason.....

me either...until the finals. You've got to go a long way to find anything as exciting or right on the edge as the NHL finals.

except maybe last year's super bowl... 😉

quote:
ESPN did a feature on NHL fights maybe five years ago.

Every team has a designated fighter. It's always a guy who has marginal talent and would not be able to hang on and make the pro athlete salary that he does without becoming the fighter on the team.

That said, these guys HATE their jobs. Can you imagine what their brains must look like on a CT scan? A couple of them have committed suicide.

You always have a choice. You can walk away.....

I don't watch Hockey for this reason.....

Well I think you should check back in, the skill and fitness level of today's player is amazing. Number of fights is way down as bhawk noted.

Just to add a stat from Stephen Cole's book Hockey Night Fever (great read) 5 of the 6 most watched NHL games in the US we're from the Big Bad Bruins/Broadway Bullies era in the early 70's. The most violent era in NHL history.

SPN did a feature on NHL fights maybe five years ago.

Every team has a designated fighter. It's always a guy who has marginal talent and would not be able to hang on and make the pro athlete salary that he does without becoming the fighter on the team.

That said, these guys HATE their jobs. Can you imagine what their brains must look like on a CT scan? A couple of them have committed suicide.

Who cares, ESPN hates the NHL. None of their talking heads appreciate the skill it takes to play the game at such a high level.

ESPN did a feature on NHL fights maybe five years ago.

Every team has a designated fighter. It's always a guy who has marginal talent and would not be able to hang on and make the pro athlete salary that he does without becoming the fighter on the team.

That said, these guys HATE their jobs. Can you imagine what their brains must look like on a CT scan? A couple of them have committed suicide.

Enforcers are a rapidly dying breed. Yes, some of the most infamous of them, their story ended badly.

I'm not so sure you could name an enforcer on all 30 teams at this point.

The only way to eliminate fighting from North American style hockey is to make the penalty for doing it so severe that teams would stop doing it. There's a long held axiom, when the fists go down, the sticks come up. It becomes this...would you rather have guys fight ever so often to clear the tension or have more guys cut each other to ribbons with their sticks? It's an extremely physical, frustrating game. To change that you'd have to change what the game is at the most basic level. Changing rules in the NHL is one thing. Changing rules at youth rinks in all the towns across Canada is another.

Who cares, ESPN hates the NHL. None of their talking heads appreciate the skill it takes to play the game at such a high level.

With one notable exception.

ESPN did a feature on NHL fights maybe five years ago.

Every team has a designated fighter. It's always a guy who has marginal talent and would not be able to hang on and make the pro athlete salary that he does without becoming the fighter on the team.

That said, these guys HATE their jobs. Can you imagine what their brains must look like on a CT scan? A couple of them have committed suicide.

Enforcers are a rapidly dying breed. Yes, some of the most infamous of them, their story ended badly.

I'm not so sure you could name an enforcer on all 30 teams at this point.

The only way to eliminate fighting from North American style hockey is to make the penalty for doing it so severe that teams would stop doing it. There's a long held axiom, when the fists go down, the sticks come up. It becomes this...would you rather have guys fight ever so often to clear the tension or have more guys cut each other to ribbons with their sticks? It's an extremely physical, frustrating game. .

True.
Physical intimidation is part of hockey (and football). Fighting can help keep the intimidators honest, and IMO is less physically harmful than a high stick, butt end, or elbow to the head. Personally, I don't like the fighting but I like the cheap stuff less.

Also notice that when things are really on the line, like in the later rounds of the Stanley Cup, there are very few fights.

Here's a solution....how about, when a fight breaks out, the REFS TRY TO STOP IT!!!!! I'm no so much opposed to the players breaking out into a fight - it's the effing officials who stand there and let it happen. Completely unacceptable.

Who cares, ESPN hates the NHL. None of their talking heads appreciate the skill it takes to play the game at such a high level.

With one notable exception.

Yet he said Dennis Wideman of Calgary didn't do anything wrong when he coldcocked that linesman. I really like Melrose but that could have been one of the dumbest comments I have heard from a sports analyst.

Here's a solution....how about, when a fight breaks out, the REFS TRY TO STOP IT!!!!! I'm no so much opposed to the players breaking out into a fight - it's the effing officials who stand there and let it happen. Completely unacceptable.

I don't know if it is the refs or the NHL that decree when the refs get involved. If you notice, it is usually when one of the players falls to the ice.

If I were a ref I don't think I would want to get between two goons throwing haymakers. 😉

As Rodney Dangerfield once said: "I went to the fights the other night; and a hockey game broke out." Just no reason to tolerate fighting at a professional sports event other than boxing.

My goodness its hockey, fighting is part of the game. The refs let 'em go until they are worn out or one of the players go to the ice. Makes sense to me. If you don't like it, don't watch. I'd be much more concerned about MMA and UFC stuff, which is much more brutal without all the protective gear. I don't watch that stuff.

Here's a solution....how about, when a fight breaks out, the REFS TRY TO STOP IT!!!!! I'm no so much opposed to the players breaking out into a fight - it's the effing officials who stand there and let it happen. Completely unacceptable.

I don't know if it is the refs or the NHL that decree when the refs get involved. If you notice, it is usually when one of the players falls to the ice.

If I were a ref I don't think I would want to get between two goons throwing haymakers. 😉

Obviously the guys that square off and do the "put up yer dukes" posing for a few seconds before they go, someone could try to step in (still not advisable). But the fights that start 20 punches in before the rest of the building realizes there's a fight going...best to let them tire out.