Topline
Fighting between players leads to more in-game violence during National Hockey League games, according to a study published Wednesday in PLOS One, contradicting the league’s stance that its lenient policy toward fighting deters further violence in the game and suggesting fighting may be linked to traumatic brain injuries.
Logan O’Connor of the Colorado Avalanche, left, fights with Ross Colton of the Tampa Bay Lightning … [+]
Key Facts
The peer reviewed analysis examined all penalties in NHL games between the 2010-11 and the 2018-19 seasons.
Of the 2,842 NHL games in the period with a fight, there was a 66% increase in violent minor penalties committed in ensuing gameplay compared to games without a fight, rising from .035 violent minor penalties per minute to .058.
This contradicts NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, who has repeatedly said fighting causes less violence in other aspects of the sport, and the NHL is the only major North American sports league to not automatically eject players for fighting during games.
Roughly a fifth of all NHL games feature a fight—including Monday’s Stanley Cup final game between the Colorado Avalanche and Tampa Bay Lightning—and the NHL’s embrace of fighting is often tied to the sport’s gameplay that leads to concussions and other brain trauma.
Fighting thus “increases the risk” of traumatic brain injuries, according to the study’s author Michael Betz, an associate professor at Ohio State University.
The analysis found fighting in the NHL is down significantly over the last decade, dropping about 65% from .52 fights per game in the 2010-11 season to .18 in the 2018-19 season.
Crucial Quote
“What I found was that not a single approach I tried yielded any evidence that fighting or even the threat of fighting deters more violent play in the NHL,” Betz said.
Key Background
Though fighting is technically illegal in the NHL, the league rule book says referees are “provided very wide latitude” in enforcing fighting penalties. Bettman said in 2013 fighting acts as a “thermostat” that can cool down further violence during games. During 2019 testimony in front of Canada’s Parliament, Bettman again defended the NHL’s stance toward fighting, saying, “The threat of fighting makes it clear that a level of conduct that is expected should be complied with,” arguing that it prevents head injuries. Research shows concussions are more common in hockey than in most other sports. A preliminary Boston University study published in March of 74 former hockey players found people were at 23% greater risk of developing the degenerative neurological condition chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) for every additional year they played hockey.
Further Reading
Why fighting is allowed in the NHL, and there are no plans to ban it (Business Insider)
Why the politician who sparred with Bettman wants the NHL to abolish fighting (theScore)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2022/06/22/nhl-fights-linked-to-further-violence-study-finds/