Changes in Game Misconduct Penalties

Changes in Game Misconduct Penalties

Previously in the NHL, the only penalties that could get a player ejected were boarding and hitting from behind calls. As a way to increase player safety, the NHL has implemented a rule change that allows the referees to assign a game misconduct for multiple different penalties now such as Clipping, charging, elbowing, interference, kneeing, head-butting and butt-ending. This change hopes to make players think twice about making an illegal check as it now could now have them thrown out of the game. It can be argued that these recent changes have been improving player safety. Over the last couple years, the amount of penalties taken per year have slowly been decreasing and is now hovering around a league average of 10 penalty minutes per game. Much less than some teams who were averaging nearly 25 penalty minutes per game just a few years ago. The only issue that people have with some of these rule changes is that it is taking part of the game of hockey away. I do not agree with this as they have tried to keep clean, but still hard hits in the game without penalties or suspensions.

Explanation on hard, but legal, NHL hits

 

Should the NHL Ban Fighting?

Should the NHL Ban Fighting?

Fighting in the NHL is a highly debated topic now that concern with player safety is at a all time high. It is an issue in which almost everyone involved is either totally for it or completely against it which helps contribute to the massive debate. 

Reasons that it Should be Banned

Some of the biggest names in hockey, including former Detroit captain Steve Yzerman and well respected analyst Mike Milbury, have come out and said the fighting has no place in hockey and should be taken out of the game as soon as possible. For their arguments, they state that if this league is fully committed to player safety, it can not allow players to repeatably punch each other in the head. They state that athletes are not what they were twenty years ago anymore and players can not withstand multiple punches from some of the strongest athletes in the world in peak condition.

Reasons that it Should Stay

Fighting has always been a part of hockey and removing it would take away from the sport. There is something special that happens when a teammate gets hurt and another one comes in and sticks up for him by fighting. It energizes both teams and the crowd and improves the quality of the game. Fighting also prevents injuries in a way many people do not know about. Players have a way of policing themselves through the use of fighting. To a player, a cheap shot on the other teams star may be worth a minor penalty but the fear of the other team tough guy prevents that. Removal of fighting would increase the amount of illegal plays and overall have the opposite effect of what the NHL wants.

Why it Needs to Remain in the NHL

When it comes to making a decision it should really be the NHL players that decide it. They are the ones that play the game and know more about it than anyone else that has never played can pretend to know about it. The NHLPA held a poll asking all current players on whether or not they think fighting should be removed. An amazing 98% percent of them said that fighting should not be removed. The fact that almost none of the players that put themselves at risk have a problem with it shows that this is a problem with people who do not understand the game that just assume that fighting has to be dangerous and do not take the time to realize the extra safety that comes with it. A recent study on fighting shows that there is only a 0.39% chance of getting a concussion from a fight compared to the 4.5% chance of it happening during the game. With fighting keeping the amount of illegal checks down the removal of it would only increase the chance of getting a concussion during the game while removing the minuscule 0.39% chance of getting one during a fight.

NHL players talk about their feelings on fighting