If there was a ban on fighting then cheap shots would be on the rise and star players would be injured more often. Fighting keeps those cheap shots to a minimum, like it or not fighting is an essential part of the game and is likely here to stay.

Easy decline from Flames

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Can't get rid of fighting unless refs actually called the games by the rulebook and the department of player safety would actually need to lookout for the safety of players which seem like massive paradigm shift from the status quo. Much easier to just let them fight

So basically the trades are just players that like to mix it up, and aren’t serious offers.

I’d watch hockey without fights. They don’t have fighting in football, basketball, or soccer, but there’s still cheap shots there, as in hockey. It’s up to the referees to hand out penalties for the cheap shots. Give out a few majors and suspensions, and the cheap shots will become less, but they’ll never go away.

I would watch hockey without fighting, but I might not watch hockey without hitting. I’m not a fan of the open ice hit when a guy has his head down, that’s predatory. Boarding is also reckless, but the every day, run of the mill hitting, it’s a part of the game.

I’d also like to see more scrum penalties, it gets old fast. Let’s get back to the game and quit face rubbing. Imagine basketball players all rubbing their hands in each other’s faces each time there’s a contested rebound. They swing the elbows there.

Fighting should just be in case of cheap shots. I dont want To see any prepared fight

The biggest problem with fighting, in my opinion, is that many are as a result of a hard hit. If the intent of the hit was to injure, and I’m sure that’s in the mind of some hitters, Matt Cooke, a player shouldn’t have to fight because he hit a star player. If the guy is a star player, he knows how to play, and that he’s gonna get hit.

Why don't we just make the NHL a Tim's league, No more keeping score, hitting or fighting, just a bunch of guys going out and having fun for the love of the game? Oh right cause that would be BORING as ____! Hockey is a contact sport if you take out the fighting and refs call all penalties, every game will take 6 hours to play. There is just no reasonable way to eliminate fighting while maintaining the safety of the players without the NHL DPS stepping up and handing out stiffer penalties. If they were to penalize a player that throws a blindside hit the same amount of time that the player they hit is out injured then the players will learn quickly not to blindeside someone, but until then fighting is going to remain a necessary part of the game.

there is no proof of any of that at all. If anything just the opposite. That isn't what stops teams from cheap shot other teams. Teams usually don't do that because the other team will dish it right back. Not because of fighting. Furthermore most guys aren't going out there trying to hurt the other guy. The more they all train together in the offseason etc...it's a small world.



They don’t have fighting in football, basketball, or soccer, ...........................what sports have you been watching. Hell they swing helmets at each other in football. Lets not pretend it doesn't happen. They just get ejected from the games so the penalty is so high no one does it because it ends up costing them money. It's not that there are no fights.

they will never remove fighting because they market the physicality of the sport. If you don't realize that you haven't been watching their promos. They like it being a nasty game. It draws eyeballs and improves ratings aka $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
That's why the refs don't do anything.

Guys will fight, but fighting in hockey versus other sports is a difference in quantity. Yes there are penalties, but they aren’t severe enough to stop the fighting in hockey. Baseball just ejects some players or coaches, so it’s probably second in frequency.

I mean look part of the problem in football is you can't punch through a helmet. Unless a player is stupid they aren't taking them off. Other than using them as a weapon which frankly guys should go to jail for.