The NHL Should Rethink Its Fighting Policy
There are fewer fights in the NHL today than ever before, but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t dangerous and avoidable. The NHL needs to rethink its fighting policy in order to improve player safety in the game we all know and love.
Although the NHL has enacted policies that try to make fighting slightly safer, they still have the potential to pose significant risks to players. The issue has come back into the spotlight after the NHL decided not to suspend Washing Capitals forward Tom Wilson after he sucker-punched New York Rangers forward Pavel Buchnevich and threw forward Artemi Panarin to the ice without a helmet. Two nights later, on May 5, a line brawl ensued after the opening faceoff. The teams combined for nearly 100 penalty minutes in the first period alone.
Until 2011, there was no rule barring illegal checks to the head, or a Department of Player Safety to enforce it. So, a way to discourage those and other types of dirty plays was fighting. A player who makes a dirty play would have to answer to an enforcer on the other team. Though the fact that it actually discouraged dirty plays is up for debate.
Punches to the Head
Players get hurt because of fighting. Common injuries as a result of fights are bruised or broken knuckles. However, a player will sometimes get knocked out due to a punch to the head. That’s perhaps part of the reason the NHL banned players from removing their helmets before a fight, which was common practice beforehand.
With all we know now about brain injuries, why not ban punches to the head in fights, even if they’re wearing helmets? When Alex Ovechkin fought Andrei Svechnikov in the first round of the 2019 NHL Playoffs, Ovechkin delivered an uneccessary blow to Svechnikov’s head after he was already falling to the ice. Svechnikov was taken to the hospital after he also landed hard on his head. If he wasn’t wearing a helmet, it could have been a lot worse.
When Tom Wilson threw Artemi Panarin down on the ice, there was a huge uproar of anger of how Panarin could have been killed. Yet there’s less anger when a player is thrown to the ice after a fight, perhaps because the combatants are wearing helmets. Still, it’s possible for players who hit their head on the ice with a helmet to get a concussion.
You’ve probably seen Scott Stevens’ hit on Paul Kariya in Game Six of the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals. Kariya was wearing a helmet when he hit his head on the ice. Even though Kariya returned to the game, the hit likely contributed to his long history of concussions, which led him to retire prematurely.
A helmet is like a seat belt. Just because you wear it doesn’t mean you can’t suffer serious injuries. The fact that the NHL fails to acknowledge that in their fighting policy is a problem.
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Limit Fighting Altogether
The fact that we still have as many fights as we do nowadays is because the NHL’s Department of Player Safety isn’t doing its job. There would not have been six fights in the first period of the Rangers’ game against the Capitals if George Parros had given Tom Wilson a harsher punishment. If the league really wants to move fighting out of the game as much as possible, they will need to do a better job of holding players like Tom Wilson accountable for their actions, or the teams will take it into their own hands.
Players need to know that if they break the rules, they will receive serious supplemental discipline. If the league doesn’t hold these offenders accountable, the other team’s players will have to take action on the ice.
Fighting has always been a part of the game, but there are legitimate ways of limiting fighting in the NHL. In the American Hockey League, each player is allowed 10 fights per season, and any additional fisticuffs result in a one-game suspension. The NHL should institute this rule. It will limit the number of fights and reduce the risk of player injuries. At the end of the day, the safety of the players is most important, and the NHL should alter its fighting policy to protect its players.
Hi, my name is Jack Kobil. I am currently attending Woodrow Wilson High School in Washington DC. I am a huge Islanders fan and I love to share my passion for this team.
