# How do fights happen in hockey? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 14, 2007, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-fights-happen-in-hockey/387918 "2007-01-14T08:33:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CapnPitt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/edb3f5/32.png) [@CapnPitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CapnPitt)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-fights-happen-in-hockey/387918/21 "2007-01-15T19:06:04Z")
[QUOTE=Bryan Ekers] Basically, the best solution is to let the two players tucker themselves out. The crowd loves it and rarely does anyone get hurt when it’s just fists. When the sticks start swinging is a whole other story. [/QUOTE] Just to agree with **Bryan** here, aggression happens in hockey. I’d much rather see guys drop the gloves than swing a stick. Sticks end careers…fists, at worst, might knock out a few teeth. Just a few years ago there was one of the ugliest incidents I can remember in 22 years of watching hockey…when Marty McSorely took a baseball bat type swing at the head of Donald Brashear (I think it was Brashear). Stephane Richer lost part of his liver due to a spearing incident. I feel positive that if you don’t let them fight, they’ll swing the sticks…and stick fouls are a lot worse. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-fights-happen-in-hockey/387918/22 "2007-01-15T19:12:58Z")
Watch the movie [Youngblood](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092272/) It should clear up any questions - grudge, unseen penalty, stress, obnoxious fans ---
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-fights-happen-in-hockey/387918/23 "2007-01-15T20:26:07Z")
The local newspaper gets at least one “letter to the editor” a season from someone decrying the fighting in hockey. Then again, every time I leave a game where there hasn’t been a fight, I hear at least one person complaining about that. Just goes to show - you can’t please everyone. The worse injuries I have seen haven’t been fight related but have been due to pucks and skates. ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-fights-happen-in-hockey/387918/24 "2007-01-15T20:30:28Z")
[QUOTE=CapnPitt] Just to agree with **Bryan** here, aggression happens in hockey. I’d much rather see guys drop the gloves than swing a stick. Sticks end careers…fists, at worst, might knock out a few teeth. Just a few years ago there was one of the ugliest incidents I can remember in 22 years of watching hockey…when Marty McSorely took a baseball bat type swing at the head of Donald Brashear (I think it was Brashear). Stephane Richer lost part of his liver due to a spearing incident. I feel positive that if you don’t let them fight, they’ll swing the sticks…and stick fouls are a lot worse. [/QUOTE] Two problems with this: a) This happened with fighting being quasi-legal in the NHL already. b) If the NHL can eliminate fighting, they can certainly eliminate ugly stickwork like that ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-fights-happen-in-hockey/387918/25 "2007-01-15T20:33:03Z")
[QUOTE=Rysto] A good percentage of fights do start exactly as the YouTube clip shows. The rest are in the heat of the moment, usually in retaliation for a perceived\* dirty hit. - I say “precieved” here because I see a lot of fights start after a completely clean, but very hard hit. [/QUOTE] Sometimes not even **perceived** as dirty. For example, anyone who got a clean, hard shot on Wayne Gretzky in the 80s or early 90s could expect to get decked by Marty McSorley in the next five minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-fights-happen-in-hockey/387918/26 "2007-01-15T21:03:01Z")
[QUOTE=OneCentStamp] Sometimes not even **perceived** as dirty. For example, anyone who got a clean, hard shot on Wayne Gretzky in the 80s or early 90s could expect to get decked by Marty McSorley in the next five minutes. [/QUOTE] Or never play hockey again. ---
**Author:** ![CapnPitt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/edb3f5/32.png) [@CapnPitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CapnPitt)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-fights-happen-in-hockey/387918/27 "2007-01-15T21:09:52Z")
[QUOTE=Rysto] Two problems with this: a) This happened with fighting being quasi-legal in the NHL already. b) If the NHL can eliminate fighting, they can certainly eliminate ugly stickwork like that [/QUOTE] True that fighting was (is) quasi-legal. Stickwork has harsher penalties, but I still think those penalties should be harsher still. I’m not really defending fighting, because it actually bores me…I’m more of a fan of the European style and fighting just slows the pace down. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-fights-happen-in-hockey/387918/28 "2007-01-15T21:37:17Z")
Oh come on. The fighting is obviously circus entertainment for the fans. It’s (mostly) a put-on. I suspect the NHL not only doesn’t _dis_courage fighting, but implicitly _en_courages it, to keep the fans who like that sort of thing entertained. Why do you see so much fighting in the NHL, but not in, say, Olympic competition? ---
**Author:** ![CapnPitt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/edb3f5/32.png) [@CapnPitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CapnPitt)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2007, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-fights-happen-in-hockey/387918/29 "2007-01-16T02:23:21Z")
[QUOTE=spoke-] Oh come on. The fighting is obviously circus entertainment for the fans. It’s (mostly) a put-on. I suspect the NHL not only doesn’t _dis_courage fighting, but implicitly _en_courages it, to keep the fans who like that sort of thing entertained. Why do you see so much fighting in the NHL, but not in, say, Olympic competition? [/QUOTE] My conspiracy theory on this question…it’s the Western Canadian Old Boys Network. They grew up as houses on skates and they want to keep big ol’ farmboys in hockey. ---
**Author:** ![Intelligently\_Designed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intelligently_designed/32/20957_2.png) [@Intelligently\_Designed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intelligently_Designed)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-fights-happen-in-hockey/387918/30 "2007-01-17T03:59:59Z")
Well, there’s bad blood, and then there’s[really bad blood](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYnfRDwhaLM) ---
**Author:** ![Frosted\_Glass](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frosted_glass/32/3926_2.png) [@Frosted\_Glass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frosted_Glass)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2007, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-fights-happen-in-hockey/387918/31 "2007-01-17T04:16:29Z")
I am not the most knowledgeable fan when it comes to hockey. I know the basic rules of the NHL and I am aware that they differ slightly from international play but I do not know all of the details. [This article](http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/columns/story?columnist=buccigross_john&id=2724254) explained a lot, concerning fighting in the NHL, to me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-fights-happen-in-hockey/387918.md?page=1)