Fighting in hockey

“I went to a fight the other night, and a hockey game broke out,” the late comedian Rodney Dangerfield joked. [1]

Fighting has been part of hockey practically since its inception and part of the NHL (National Hockey League) since its formation in 1917. The league instituted Rule 56: Fisticuffs in 1922, which states,

A major penalty shall be imposed on any player who fights. A player who is deemed to be the instigator of an altercation shall be assessed an instigating minor penalty, a major for fighting and a ten minute misconduct.” [5] [6]

The current NHL rulebook addresses fighting in Rule 46, which defines a fight as

when at least one player punches or attempts to punch an opponent repeatedly or when two players wrestle in such a manner as to make it difficult for the Linespersons to intervene and separate the combatants.[7]

Referees were purposefully given wide latitude for punishments to disperse penalties based on the extent of each player’s participation in the fight. Players who fight are sent to the penalty box during the game and may be subject to additional fines or suspensions. [7]

In the early 1960s, there was a fight in about 20 percent of NHL games. That percentage increased to over 100 percent by the late 1980s, when there was an average of more than one fight per game. In 1992, the NHL introduced an instigator rule (updated in 1996) that added a 2-minute minor penalty, a 5-minute major penalty for fighting, and a 10-minute misconduct, for a total of 17 penalty minutes off the ice. Starting a fight in the last five minutes of a game results (since the 2005-06 season) in an automatic 1-game suspension to prevent “sending a message” to a team or a player at the end of a lopsided game. A player who accumulates 3 instigator penalties during the regular season receives an automatic 1-game suspension. [8] [9]

Fighting has since decreased dramatically: in the 2001-02 regular season, there were 803 fights (plus an additional 133 in the pre- and post-seasons); in the 2024-25 regular season, there were 300 fights (plus an additional 42 in the pre- and post-seasons). [2]

Fighting in hockey has been banned nearly everywhere outside of the NHL, including international leagues, youth and NCAA games, and the Winter Olympics. While not explicitly banned, Canadian junior hockey leagues strongly discourage fighting with steep penalties for repeat offenders. [3] [4] [40]

Concern over the prevalence of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) among hockey players is also increasing. The degenerative brain disease widely associated with repetitive trauma to the head is commonly discussed in relation to football, but a December 4, 2024, study by the Boston University CTE Center has showcased the prevalence of CTE among hockey players, too; it is the largest such study to date. Of the 77 deceased male hockey players studied, more than half of them had CTE, including 27 of 28 of the professional players and 18 of 19 from the National Hockey League; 46 percent of college, junior league, and semiprofessional players (13 of 28) and 10 percent of youth and high school players (2 of 21) also had the disease. The researchers emphasized “that the frequencies of CTE reported in this study should not be construed as the prevalence of CTE in the target population since families whose loved ones are symptomatic [of the disease] are more likely to donate their brains.” The study concluded that the odds of having CTE increased by 34 percent each year of hockey played.[41]

Ironically, at the very time concern is rising over the physicality of sports like football and hockey, the new Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL, begun in 2024) has openly promoted a more physical game, allowing more hitting, fighting, and full-body checks. “The physicality is one area that they [the players] were really excited about,” claimed PWHL head of hockey operations Jayna Hefford. “These women are skilled, they’re strong, they’re fast, they train hard every day and they want to be able to play the game. It was something immediately that we knew we wanted to add to the game.” Most of the women hadn’t played with this level of hitting in the game since they were young and had to play with boys’ teams, but the women players reportedly welcomed the change and increased physicality.[14]

So, should fighting be allowed in hockey? Explore the debate below.

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Discussion questions

1. Should fighting be allowed in hockey? Explain your answer.
2. Should fighting be allowed in any sport? Which sports? Why or why not?
3. How should inter-player conflicts be resolved in hockey and other sports? Explain your answer(s).
4. What questions do you have after reading the debate above? Where might you find answers?
5. What was the most interesting thing you learned from this debate?
6. Consider how you felt about the issue before reading this article. After reading the pros and cons on this topic, has your thinking changed? How and why?. If your thoughts have not changed, explain how and why you better understand the other side of the debate.
7. Push for the position and policies you support by writing local officials, U.S. senators and representatives, or other people in a position to make the change you champion.