Fighting has a place in the NHL. Lately, there has been a lot of controversy about fighting in the NHL. However, most players seem to want to keep fighting involved, and only a few people in hockey have stood up against it. Most recently, Steve Yzerman, former Detroit Redwing, stood against fighting.
However, the argument that fighting has no place in hockey is actually a very weak and uneducated argument. Take fighting out of hockey and believe it or not, hockey will actually be a more dangerous sport.
If they take fighting out of the sport there will be no way for the players to police the sport. Fighting makes up for what the refs miss. Furthermore, fighting is often used to protect teammates. Think of it this way, if a player knows that he will have to fight if he takes a cheap shot at the other team’s best player, he more than likely will not take a shot at him.
Without fighting, dirty players and cheap hitting will run rampant in the NHL. They won’t have any fear of having to deal with the toughest player on the other team so they will do whatever they want.
If you take out fighting in the NHL you might as well take out hitting. The number of injuries resulting from fighting is not incredibly high. In fact, far more head injuries are a result of checking rather than fighting.
Another reason why fighting has a place in the NHL is because it gets your team going. Nothing boosts your team up when they’re down by three goals like a fight. When someone cares enough to bleed for the team it is extremely uplifting. It can turn a game around for a struggling team. Fighting also gets the crowd into the game. When the crowd gets into the game so does the home team. Fighting is rarely done for the sake of fighting. Often, it is done to swing the momentum, which is so valuable in this sport.
If you take fighting out of hockey, it will be a different game. Not only will it disappoint many fans, but it will actually make the game more dangerous.