From to , there were seven seasons in which the NHL had a fights-per-game average of more than 0. As stated earlier, this was the first time that the NHL had fewer than games with a fighting major. From to '12, the NHL averaged games with a fighting major per season. In , Does it seem like we're seeing fewer brawl-filled games than ever?
That perception is reality: Just 24 games last season had more than one fight. That's down from 41 games in , which had been the previous low for the past two decades, at a minimum. Finally, players engaged in a fight during the season. That's down from players in This number has been declining since a recent peak of players in , which matched the totals from the fight-happy days of Matthew Barnaby was one of those brawlers back in the early aughts. Like Carcillo, he doesn't think fighting is ever going to boomerang back into the zeitgeist for the NHL.
And having coached junior, it's not a part of that culture anymore, with all the rules in place. Barnaby is correct that there's a confluence of factors at play. The NHL has changed dramatically since the lockout, as rule changes pushed the game into an offensive era with an emphasis on skill and skating, pushing out less skilled and perhaps more fight-inclined players.
Managers are seeing the value of having an effective bottom six. So as managers attempt to populate the deeper parts of their rosters with players who can contribute in meaningful ways, they are probably acquiring players who may not have that [fighting] element in their skill set. Meanwhile, lower leagues have instituted rules to discourage fighting. The Ontario Hockey League famously followed its "fight rule" -- in which a player could be suspended for fights above that threshold -- by dropping that bar to three fights, with incremental increases on the suspensions.
An unexpected byproduct of the rule was a significant decrease in the overall fighting in our league," OHL vice president Ted Baker said at the time. All of this is happening in an era of unprecedented awareness of player safety and health concerns, specifically when it comes to concussions, CTE and the effects of a physical and injurious game on a player's life well after retirement. Although there have been skeptics about fighting's link to the concussion epidemic -- NHL commissioner Gary Bettman wrote in a letter to the Committee on Energy and Commerce that "only two percent of video-analyzed concussions resulted from fighting" in the previous season -- Chris Nowinski of the Concussion Legacy Foundation sees the downward trend as being tied to that awareness.
Nostalgia can be quite the enchantment, and Barnaby said the fist-filled days of yore still have their appeal. Some fans are always going to miss the way it was, but I'll take watching unreal skill over the fights.
I don't see this trend reversing, and it's a good thing that young men don't have to play hockey with a pre-requirement being that you may have to bare-knuckle box," he said. Even in its diminished state, a ban on fighting is something for which many continue to advocate. In concert with that entertainment value, Grimson believes there is a place for fighting in the modern game from a tactical perspective. A leading-edge research firm focused on digital transformation.
Good Subscriber Account active since Shortcuts. Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders. It often indicates a user profile. Log out. US Markets Loading I used the last 3 seasons of playoffs to have a big enough sample size.
They have essentially flipped. So our "at risk" population was not really at a higher risk after all. From this major difference we can conclude that the fighting environment is different in the playoffs.
Perhaps it is more based on situational passion rather than two goons giving the crowd a show. Maybe enforcers get less ice time. And maybe coaches don't allow enforcers to go causing trouble and risking penalties. Cookie banner We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from.
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