Why does hockey allow fighting

The typical fourth line enforces of the past are gone as everyone is expected to produce in the current era of the sport, but teams also cannot be without someone willing to drop the gloves to defend his teammates.

So when something happens, you go into Ottawa, you look at their lineup, it's a guy like [Mark Borowiecki], he's probably the guy that would fight if something happened.

There's that understanding. I'm not going to go grab someone else on their team like the young [Brady Tkachuk] kid. There's just that understanding. Because of his growing role, Wilson cannot simply drop the gloves against anyone just because they ask. If you get a five-minute major, you could be in the box for 10 minutes because you have to wait for a whistle.

It can be a huge chunk of time so you've got to be really smart about it. In , the NHL adjusted its rule on instigating a fight to make the punishment a game misconduct.

In , the league further changed the rule giving an instigator a two-minute minor, five-minute major and a minute misconduct penalty. But saying no to a fight is not without its risks. Refusing a fight when a player wants to stand up for a teammate or spark his team has its consequences. Wilson said there have been players who told him after he refused a fight that they would continue targeting his teammates with big hits until he agreed.

He then has to determine how much he will allow before he ultimately acquiesces. There's guys that take that approach.

Even with the instigator penalty, you also still risk getting hit if you refuse a fight. Do we still see players take cheap shots like the one in the video above? Obviously we do, but this type of scene would become far more frequent if fighting were taken out of the game.

Hockey is a fast-paced game that is physical by nature. That type of play combined with some emotional guys who have short fuses lead to the type of plays above. Fighting is part of the very fabric that built the game we all know and love today.

Taking fighting out of the game of hockey would be like not offering toppings for your hot dogs. It isn't because the skating was so much better in those games, it is because the intensity level is so high in those games that everybody knows several fights could break out at any given moment.

Fans and players love the atmosphere that comes with those games because of how much energy there is. Those types of rivalries won't take on the same kind of feeling that they have now if fighting were taken out of the game. Fighting is something that stirs emotions in the hearts of several hockey fans throughout the world.

A fight in hockey occurs if players get in a dispute during a hockey game. They are allowed to drop their gloves and fight. When this occurs, the gameplay will be stopped by a whistle from the referees. The fight will be allowed to go on until a player hits the ice or the referees deem it time to stop. Fights can sometimes escalate into an all out brawl involving the entire team.

When a fight begins on the ice, all remaining players must leave the ice and go to the player benches. The referees will position themselves in the referee's crease. Players are not allowed to remove their helmets prior to the fight. If they do they will be given a minor penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct.

It is not a penalty if a player's helmets fall off during the fight. All fights end when any player falls to the ground on the ice. A fight starts when players get in an altercation and confront each other. It often indicates a user profile. Log out. US Markets Loading H M S In the news.