Fighting in the NHL - anaylsis by the Quality NHL Forums

Summary: A look at the history of hockey fighters from past to present.

Fighting and hockey goons have been present in hockey since the very beginning of the NHL, and since the very beginning there has been people complaining about the hockey and making comments such as "I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out", do they have reason to act against fighting in hockey? Some may say yes, some may disagree. There are reasons to the madness of fighting in hockey though. The small stars on hockey teams are usually players who are not a very good match up against most of the big defenseman. That is the reason there are other players, bigger players that are there for the main reason of protecting the star players on the team. Without them, the smaller players would stand no chance. Yes, it is also fun for the fans to watch and yes it probably does help teams out financially, but there is always a reason! Hockey has been on a decline though since the mid 80's when it was at its peak. There used to be an average of 1+ fights per game, when now it is down to around 0.61. This is due to more skilled players coming into the NHL and making the game more based on finesse and skill, then brute force. Back in the 1970's when the Big Bad Bruins and the Broad Street Bullies were around, both had very big teams in terms of size of the players and this is what helped them win 4 championships between the 2 of them, basically out muscling there opponents. Now in our current era, there are new penalties against fighting such as the Instigator rule, which gives an additional 2 minute penalty to the player who starts the fight. Also back in 1977 a rule called the "Third Man In" which was put in place to help do away with bench clearing brawls, a player is given an automatic ejection from the game if they join in on a fight that is already under way. One very good fighter/goon in hockey is Rob Ray, being a very tough 6'0 player, he was a force to be reckoned with during the 1990's. After playing in the OHL (Ontario Hockey League) he was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres from a 5th round draft pick in 1988. He played 14 seasons with the Buffalo then was traded to Ottawa in 2003 who needed more power on there lines. With Ottawa though he only appeared in 11 games over 2 seasons. He then ended his career with 3207 penalty minutes, the 6th most overall in NHL history. Probably one of the most well known hockey fighters in history is Tie Domi. Being relatively small, at 5'10. He was never afraid to take on fights from players much larger then him. Drafted by the Leafs in 1988 in a 2nd round draft pick, he only played 2 games with the leafs in 1 season and then was later traded to the New York Rangers where he quickly enough became a fan favorite. Always providing fun and interesting fights for the fans. He spent a couple of seasons with New York, giving himself a title of NHL enforcer until he was later traded to the Winnipeg Jets in 1992 where he played 3 seasons, then was later traded back to the team that drafted him in the first place, the Toronto Maple Leafs. The leafs needed an enforcer in there line up to protect there star players such as Doug Gilmour and Mats Sundin. He continues to play with the Toronto Maple Leafs to this day, and has racked up an impressive total of 3,498 penalty minutes so far, 3rd overall of all time. Possibly the toughest fighter of all time, Peter Worrell has been appraised as the biggest good to ever play in the NHL. Drafted by the Florida Panthers in 1995 in a 7th round draft pick, standing at a towering 6'6 he has proven to be a very beneficial player for the Panthers. Then in 2003 Worrell was traded to the Colorado Avalanche where he still remains. After 12 seasons Worrell has racked up 1554 penalty minutes in only 391 games. Old hockey team rivalry's, they are one big reason what makes the game fun for local fans, or just fans of either team. Some big rivalries in the past have been between usually teams in the same geographic region, or in Canada, same province. Such as the rivalry between the old Quebec Nordiques and the Montreal Canadiens, battling it out for supremacy over Quebec In the 80's. Or the 'Battle of Ontario' between Toronto and Ottawa, which is still going on today, then in the United States, between the New York Islanders and the New York Rangers, which has been known to cause some good violence! Another 2 rivalries that involve the Canadiens and is quite well known, is the Canadiens and Boston rivalry, and the Canadiens and Toronto. Toronto, Boston and Montreal each being one of the 6 original teams, this is one of the longest rivalries in the history of hockey. Fighting in hockey has always been a part of the game and will continue to always be so. Some fans go to games hoping that fight breaks out, it adds to the excitement of the game, it creates hype. Hockey is hockey because of the contact and the aggressiveness of it, the NHL would lose a lot of interest if this was taken out of the sport. Sean McKnight www.qnhl.com