Fighting in Hockey: Necessary or Harmful?
For decades, fighting in hockey has been instrumental to the identity, history and high energy that brings professional hockey fans to their feet. Supported by the players, coaches, and average fan, fighting has brought a unique dynamic to hockey that is unseen in any other sport in the world. However, fighting in hockey is one of the most debated themes in all sports. Although entertaining, some argue that the dangerous elements of fighting outweigh the benefits that it may bring to the players out on the ice or the fans sitting in the stands. Already banned in most minor hockey levels, some are advocating for fighting to be eliminated from Major Junior Hockey and professional leagues like the National
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In retrospect, a majority of players, former players, and hockey legends like Bobby Orr continue to support fighting as they believe it is essential to the security of the game. Since many players and fans seem to support the intensity and energy fighting brings to the game, shouldn’t fighting remain a part of hockey and its identity? Or do the possible long-term health issues and violence fighting may advocate do more harm than good? In any case, it could be argued that other contact sports like boxing, mixed martial arts, or football present similar risks compared to fighting in hockey. So why is fighting in hockey receiving as much criticism as it is? It is hard to argue hockey would be less violent or dangerous without fighting. In a contact sport that already consists of body checking, possibilities of getting a puck or stick to the face, and dirty play like slashing or blindside hitting, the removal of fighting would not decrease the risk associated in hockey. The abolishment of fighting in hockey would only remove the excitement, history, and …show more content…
With or without fighting, hockey is undoubtedly one of the most violent sports in the world. Even so, other contact sports like boxing, mixed martial arts, or football arguably create a comparable or higher danger in comparison to that of fighting in hockey. Let’s take football for example, a sport that is heavily criticized for the number of concussions and long-term brain injuries suffered. Ann McKee, a Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy researcher at Boston University believes that playing football “would not be worth the risk”, after Boston University researchers discovered that 92 of 96 brains studied of former NFL players contained some form of CTE (Perez, 2017). Additionally, Mixed martial arts and boxing are even receiving criticism after former Canadian UFC fighter Tim Hague died in a hospital shortly after being knocked out in a boxing match in June 2017 (Fox News, 2017). So what is the difference between fighting in hockey and the violence demonstrated in football or mixed martial arts? Nothing. Unfortunately, all contact sports present a risk to a person’s health and security. Players that decide to participate are taking on that risk voluntarily and if people want to simply eliminate fighting in hockey, then they must also eliminate the contact and other dangerous elements of hockey or any contact sport in general. This is realistically
As stated in my thesis statement, the sport of hockey has been forced to compete with the growing mass popularity with other sports such as basketball and football. There once was a point in time where hockey had just as much popularity as those sports but because people are finding more interest in those sports, the National Hockey League found itself in a “drought” of unimportance with other sports. With not televising the sport as “commonly” as other sports.
Hockey is the game played with the curved stick and it is found in every culture. It has been a part of the Canadian and North American culture for over a hundred years. Hockey has developed from the original six to thirty teams, and many leagues. One thing that is prominent in hockey is the hit on the opposing player when he has the puck. Checking can be defined as using physical force to either gain possession of the puck or to disrupt the opposition’s play without breaking the rules. Checking has been a part of hockey since the beginning. Recently, there has been much controversy over whether or not checking in hockey should be banned. In the year 2005 and 2006 there were many rules and regulations added to checking that were not penalized before. Checking has made the hockey game more interesting game and also has given the opportunity to players to play more with minimal stoppage. I believe that checking should not be banned because medical science has gotten the ability to heal all injuries that occur in sports, players know in advance that there is high risk in the activity, and it allows a fan to sublimate his aggressive tendency.
face. Playing contact hockey can result in bruises, broken bones and concussions, which makes it
As long as there have been sports, there has been violence in them. Ice hockey, particularly due to its increasing popularity as a professional sport, has brought up several ethical issues regarding the act of fighting in hockey. There are strong arguments for both sides of this present problem in the world of hockey. Numerous male athletes, including children as young as nine years of age, have suffered injuries as an outcome of fighting and it should be considered if it should be part of a sport that very young people grow up with (Brust, Leonard, Pheley & Roberts, 1992).On the other hand, fights create excitement and the sport of hockey might grow in terms of popularity, making the problem of fighting in hockey complex and difficult to resolve (“Towards An Explanation Of Hockey Violence: A Reference Other Approach”). Even though hockey is known to be a very aggressive and fast-paced sport, the unsportsman-like action of fighting in hockey cannot longer be tolerated.
The NHL needs fighting to keep the game safe. It is like an oxymoron and here’s
The future of hockey protective equipment is closer than originally thought. New helmets and equipment designs aid in the protection of all skill level...
It’s Saturday Night, the crowd gone wild with an epic hit on the opposing team. The occasional drunk sitting next to you, as your kids enjoy delicious Dipping Dots. Right as the momentum is swinging towards the home team, a penalty is called. A powerplay opportunity is awarded to the defending team. With the home team fighting with all their might to defend from a goal, down 4 on 5, they run around like chickens with their heads chopped off, trying to get the puck out of their zone. Then when everything seems to simmer down, a fight breaks between the bulkiest guys on each team, punches being thrown, blood spattering across the ice. In hockey today, there are two main leagues in the United states: the NHL, and USA Hockey. Just like in any game, there are basic rules that must be followed. In these two leagues there are similarities and differences in basic “golden” rules, benefits from playing, and the official’s code of conduct.
Hockey is a very quick game. Probably the fastest game out there. The speed really helps with entertainment. Watching the players go back and forth, scoring chances everywhere. The watchers blood pumping quick and hardly any stoppages in the game. It is they only sport that actually allows fighting to occur. This entertains and gives pride to the fans when their teams player wins. As said before, any quality of other sports can be found in Hockey, In this case it was Boxing.
Canadian hockey is an important component to Canadian identity and way of life and if hockey had a less prominent place in Canadian society, this would change Canadians in many ways. Hockey impacts Canadians at all levels including youth hockey, minor hockey and professional hockey in the NHL. As hockey is one of Canada’s national sports, it demonstrates how valued the sport is in Canada. Hockey to Canadians is not just a sport, but is also a means of community and unity. It is also one of the most widespread sports across Canada and influences Canadians directly through individual or family participation or indirectly by cheering for local or professional NHL teams or by watching Olympic hockey.
March 8th, 2004 was supposed to be nothing more than a competitive and action packed regular season hockey game between feuding rivals, the Colorado Avalanche and the Vancouver Canucks. The game slipped away from the Canucks, with the Avalanche up 6-2 heading into the third period. The heated contested already had its fair share of fighting majors, but an incident that happened late in the third period shocked the more than 18,000 fans in attendance at Rogers Arena, the hockey community, and North America. After failing to instigate a fight with Avalanche forward Steve Moore, Todd Bertuzzi of the Vancouver Canucks grabbed the back of Moore’s jersey, landed a vicious punch to the back of Moore’s head, before slamming him face first on the ice and falling on top of him. Moore had to be helped off the ice on a stretcher, and has never returned to the NHL. Bertuzzi, on the other hand, was suspended for 20 games by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, and is still playing in the NHL for the Detroit Red Wings. This is one of many examples of deviance in sports, and how a win-at-all costs mentality can drive athletes to act in extreme manners. As a result of the growing commercialization of sports, athletes are socialized at young ages to believe that winning is everything, and that stopping at nothing will help you succeed. Athletes will do almost anything to gain the upper hand in their respective sports, whether it is through engaging in excessive on-field violence or through the use of performance enhancing drugs, excessively committing themselves to their sport, or by violating league rules and policies. In sports, deviance is viewed in a different light than in the outside world. As professional athletes strive towards conforming to spor...
When I think of what it means to be Canadian, one of the first things that come to mind is hockey. This is true for many Canadian’s as hockey was and is an integral piece of the formation of the national identity. However, when people think of playing hockey their attention usually turns to the men in the National Hockey League or other top men’s leagues and tournaments. Even so, Canada has come a long way from its beginnings, when women were not even considered persons under the law until 1929. While it has taken many decades for women to receive more recognition in the world of sport, today shows great improvements from the past. A key reason that women are not treated the same way as men in regards to hockey is due to how the game began;
Contact sports in America, like football and boxing, carry a rich history of the spirit of the game, and the feeling of victory. These games bring us together as we cry out and cheer for our team or fighter as they deliver the winning touchdown, or the knockout that brings them the undisputed champion belt. However, these players are facing injuries that can destroy their career and affect their brain for the rest of their lives. We shouldn’t outlaw contact sports, but we should force safety to become more important. If we want to keep our players safe and continue the tradition of the contact sports we enjoy as a country, then we must evolve our safety in sports, and change the way we view contact sports as a country.
This study showed that there was a significant difference in the amount of concussions between these two leagues. There were 69 teams consisting of 829 players from Calgary and Edmonton that participated in this research. Both of these areas allow body checking. The leagues that didn’t allow body checking were from Kelowna and Vancouver. There were 33 teams and 379 players from these two areas that participated in the study. This study classifies severe concussions as greater than ten days time loss from being eligible to participate in hockey. The research showed that there were 83 concussions and 53 severe concussions in the body checking league. However there were only 15 concussions and 10 severe concussions in the non-body checking leagues. The researchers suggest that there is a 60% lower risk of having a concussion or severe concussion in these non-elite Bantam teams when body checking is not allowed based on local
Youth Hockey Growth in the United States is the main focus of this research. The sport of hockey has been around for nearly 200 years. The game was produced from a form of stick and ball games started by immigrants. These immigrants were British soldiers who brought their type of hockey to Canada. Paintings from the 1830’s depict the sport of ice-hockey taking off in Canada.(Garth, Vaughan) As the sport grew so did the age groups in which it was played. Many sports start their growth from the elders down to the youth. The same can be said for ice-hockey. Many gentlemen started to play the sport as a way to pass the time. This is when the children began to take a liking to the sport. Fathers began to teach their children the fundamentals and from there, the rest is history.
When it comes to physical contact sports, there are two categories, collision sports and tackling sports. American football, ice hockey, lacrosse, boxing, and many more are considered collision sports. Tackling sports would consider rugby, Gaelic football, Australian rules football, and even soccer as some of the world’s tackling sports. A collision sport is way more dangerous than a tackling one. For example, in a football game, it is pretty typical to see players lose their helmet’s, ripped out of their jersey’s, and be taken off the field by ambulance. Reason being is because nowadays players feel like they are Iron Man...