Players have brawled with fans in the penalty box before. There's a lot of serious injuries that occur in hockey from fighting and variouscheap shots. But for whatever reason it's accepted and overlooked. But then again I guess there's a reason why hockey will never be taken seriouslyas a major sport in America.
wow seriously? i dont see what the big deal is. if people cant watch fights, dont watch hockey, simple. its a rough sport, and fighting is allowedbecause like people have said, its part of the game. why are beanballs allowed in baseball? you do it to intimidate. in hockey, fighting does something similarand it fires up your squad. people have no idea how momentum can swing when your teammate goes out there and mixes it up and knocks out another dude. it fireseveryone on the team up. someone takes a cheap shot at your star player? you send an enforcer out there to set him straight. whoever said fighting wasnt a partof sports anyway? isnt boxing a sport? dont even give me that "oh but in boxing, fighting is an art" hockey isnt some sissy sport like basketball. todude who made the claim that hockey isnt taken seriously so they allow fighting, just becuase basketball has rules against fighting doesnt make it morerelevant of a sport. basketball is more relevant of a sport in america because more people can afford to play basketball than hockey, so obviously more peoplewill tend to like basketball over hockey.Originally Posted by eaglebball1499
It's an example of how mechanical and idiodic precedent and tradition can sometimes be.
"We'll let these guys stop in the middle of the game and punch each other out, even though it does nothing for the game but slow it down, because, hey, that's how we've always done it! Besides, the fans go crazy and hockey players are supposed to be toothless anyway!"
Originally Posted by eaglebball1499
It's an example of how mechanical and idiodic precedent and tradition can sometimes be.
"We'll let these guys stop in the middle of the game and punch each other out, even though it does nothing for the game but slow it down, because, hey, that's how we've always done it! Besides, the fans go crazy and hockey players are supposed to be toothless anyway!"
I personally think part of the reason why fighting is allowed is because the NHL struggles to draw fans in the US and some people tune in just to see some physicality.
You're making it seem like the NHL recently came up with fighting as a gimmick to draw fans. As much as you want to argue that "tradition"shouldn't be mentioned, it's an important word/aspect of what it actually means to the league. Pre lockout, the NHL was doing just fine with networkdeals on ESPN and NBC. Now it isn't the case as they lost MANY casual fans due to the work stoppage. They have new stars in Ovechkin and Crosby that theyare trying to rebuild the leagues image off of. The loyal NHL fan will always be there....it's just trying to "re-lure" (I don't know ifthat's a word) the casual fan who was showing interest in the sport before they shut it down for the year.
