Hockey Culture 101

To whom this may concern,

If you have never seen the game of hockey, it is something to behold. It is probably one of the most unique sports known to man. Aside from being by far the fastest team sport in the world, it is also one of the most physical and vicious.

Before you watch the game, I must warn you that you will most likely see one, if not two or three fights. The crowd will erupt into cheers. The officials will make very little effort (if any) to stop the fight.

Please let me explain.

Hockey is probably the only non-combat sport where fighting is now only permitted, but explicitly endorsed. Although it is considered as being crude and brutish and is a lighting rod for criticism of the sport, it has been an openly accepted part of the game for well over a century.

Even though fighting does not in any way directly impact the game in a practical way, it is considered by many to integral part of its underlying culture. For those who defend this culture, their arguments are strange, even primitive.

Hockey is seen as some sort of a refuge for this sort gladiatorial behavior that has been in some way or another removed out of every other sport. In basketball, fights are very rare and the consequences for doing so can be extensive (automatic ejection, ensuing suspensions, hefty fines).

In baseball, a sport known for very large bench-clearing brawls that can involve well over 50 people, those who engage in physical confrontations can expect to be suspended and fined for their actions. Even in american football, a vicious contact sport in which 20 mile per hour collisions are commonplace and most of its former players are suspected to be suffering from brain damage, fighting is strongly discouraged and met with suspensions and fines.

Hockey culture stands in outright defiance of this.

In the NHL, the highest level of professional hockey we have, a fight usually takes place every other game. Instead of missing a game or two and being lighter in the pocket, hockey players that fight are simply removed from play for a mere five minutes.

Since both participants are penalised, their penalties effectively cancel out and it is as if nothing happened. instead of playing 5 on 5, both teams play 4 on 4 for 5 minutes until both penalities expire.

What makes fighting in hockey all the more interesting, is that it is seen as some form of traditional ritual. Unlike other sports where a fight between two men will almost always escalate into an all-inclusive shoving match or brawl, this rarely happens in hockey. Hockey fights are conducted in what can almost be described as an honorable manner.

Both men are respectfully left alone to fight by players and officials alike, remove their gloves and helmets and start wailing on each other. Fights either end once there is there is a clear winner, or when the officials see fit to intervene.

Supporters of hockey also view fighting as an emotional cap, arguing that it settles conflicts before they involve actions that can be more potentially dangerous than a punch to the face. There are very few things in hockey more dangerous than a 6’3” 230-pound man skating around at a couple dozen miles per hour with notihing but bad intentions on their mind. Anything can happen under those circumstances.

Although it has never been conclusively proven , it is argued that fighting discourages cheap and recklessly dangerous plays. Apparently, nothing will better deter a player from laying a dirty hit on an opponent than the prospect of getting his ass kicked. In this manner, fighting keeps players honest as they are made to be aware that they will be held accountable for their actions.

To conclude, hockey culture is rooted in some sort of gladiatorial-like tradition. Yes, there are rules, and yes, the ultimate object of the game is to score, but at its very core, hockey is an intensely physical sport, with primal and brutish concepts governed by a certain set of unwritten rules for better or for worse.