To Fight or Not To Fight?

By Mike.

This article is dedicated to the memory of Don Sanderson. You can find out more information on the Don Sanderson trust fund Here

Though this was going to be one of the first things I touched base on, TSN wrote a nice article on how the NHL should address fights. I've been chewing on this one for a while because I was afraid that we would ultimately see what happened with Mr. Sanderson. While fighting is tolerated in hockey, it isn't legal, nor are there any standards as to which players can either gauge or be instructed on how to conduct themselves in a fight. While your traditional enforcer adheres to "the code", anyone else is at risk of either putting themselves or a fellow player in harm's way, which can ultimately prove fatal as we've seen recently.

So, what's to do about changing things up?

The laziest answer in my eyes is to outlaw fighting outright. But if alcohol or drug prohibition has shown us anything, it's that prohibition doesn't necessarily work. In this case, you not only have the old-school fans saying "fighting's part of the game!" but also the contingent of hockey fans who're interested in the game due to the fact that hockey is the only major sport that allows players to have it out without ejecting or suspending them. The first year after the lockout, there was some interest in hockey because it was back, but it wasn't until the Anaheim Ducks won the Stanley Cup that everyone started to square off again, which actually led to the fans coming back to the game! If they really were disgusted by the on-ice antics, certainly we would have seen the trend go in the opposite direction.

The first thing for the league to do is to revamp their fighting policies as well as their stances on the instigator rules. I say the referees need more leeway to make the decisions as to the severity and the league only intervening when absolutely necessary. I support the league adopting a 2-minute minor for fighting in addition to allowing refs to assess five-minute fighting majors. How would that look like? Well, how about this:



On January 6th of 2009, Andre Roy of the Calgary Flames and Alexei Semenov of the San Jose Sharks got into that fight as seen above. While both threw punches, both agreed to square off and kept their equipment on. No one was jumped, no one was injured, and both guys skated to the box without being jerks about it. I saw some bloggers, reporters, and fans be like "Two minutes?! What in the world?!" But I think those referees made the right call there to give them off-setting roughing minors.

So what would constitute a 5-minute major? How about during situations where the fight occurs during play where it wasn't necessarily due to a "lets fire the team up" kinda scenario and more of the "I'm gonna rip your flippin' head off!" type of scenario. The referees should still retain the ability to call for misconduct or game misconduct penalties where applicable.

As for instigating, the referees should have the option of assessing anywhere from 2 minutes to a game misconduct for instigating and any game misconducts issued from fight instigating (as well as any instigating penalties taken within the last 5 minutes of a game) should be reviewed to see if their severity warrants additional penalties. The current rules are rather vague and seem to go after only the goons as opposed to "star" players. If the NHL wants to be taken seriously, they need to be uniform with their punishments. This is the league that suspended Sean Avery for insulting Dion Phaneuf's girlfriend but didn't do anything when Sidney Crosby decided to punch Boris Valabik in the testes. Here's the footage:



As for my final suggestion as a rule for fighting, I like the OHL's new model of not having players remove helmets during fighting. I think it's a great idea and once that should be enforced as vigorously as keeping the jerseys tied down during a fight. So how is a player to get into fisticuffs without equipment being an issue?

The second thing for the league to do is to get with hockey equipment manufacturers to develop protective equipment that could serve as a protector during fights. For players who like to wear visors, how about a visor that has a mount on the helmet so that the visor can attach to (and detach from) the helmet instead of having the visor permanently mounted to the helmet? If a visor-wearing player got into fisticuffs, they could lift their visor off the mount while still keeping their helmet attached. As for the hands, anyone who's seen the Don Cherry Rock 'em Sock 'em videos knows that he prefers the older style hockey gloves to the newer style hockey gloves because they protect the wrists better.



See the difference in how protected the wrists were? Well, how about instead of revamping gloves, hockey equipment manufacturers make gauntlets for the players to wear underneath their gloves. It would require some design to repel moisture, but the gauntlets could have padding around the wrists and knuckles, which would look like something similar to MMA gloves...



See that? That way not only could players be protected from slashes, but when they fight and leave their helmets on, there's less of a risk for them to break their hands. I would also suggest anyone caught altering their gauntlets to gain advantage in a fight be suspended for 10 games and have their salary forfeited based on 10 games, not 10 days, and the teams fined $50,000 USD You won't see too many guys trying to alter equipment to get an advantage then. I would also like to see that type of equipment be mandatory for all players so it doesn't appear to be just for goons.

Finally, I'd like to see the integration of fighters either in coaching for teams or in the league itself. In terms of a team perspective, old enforcers could get a job teaching the new guys how to fight properly and how to protect themselves should they get into an altercation. I would never suggest teaching fighting in youth hockey, but by the time a player reaches junior status and beyond (ages 16 and up), it starts to become necessary for them and their development to figure out how to fight if the need arises. From a league perspective, instead of having linesmen breaking up fights, you could actually have an "enforcer" type of official who'd come out on the ice to break up fights and scrums. Maybe that's a little far-fetched, but how cool would it be to see Rob Ray and Tie Domi break up a battle between Colton Orr and Andrew Peters?

Would it require some work to make fighting truly integrated into the game? Perhaps, but if the games can end based on a shootout competition for the sake of fan interest, why not redesign the way the guys "have it out" in order to keep both the fans entertained and the players safe? I think that with a few adjustments, you would not only have more interest in the game, but even encourage a few of the more timid guys to get out there and jump into the fire themselves. Because as cool as a Godard-Brashear fight would be, watching Ovie and Malkin having it out would just be too cool for words.