The End Of The Enforcer?

This past week several articles appeared that asked that question and then reported on the number of enforcers who are out of work or were put on waivers and sent to the minors.  There was wailing and gnashing of teeth amongst the fight fans and former enforcers were quoted saying the direction was a mistake.  However, although in my opinion these player moves were positive for hockey, I suspect the NHL fight culture didn’t change overnight.

Olympic Hockey Proves Fighting is Stupid

A lot of anti-fighting hockey fans will use the Olympics as an argument of why fighting is not needed in the sport. The rebuttal from pro-fight fans is that Olympic hockey is too unique and cannot be used as a comparison to the same sport played by the NHL.   I think the pro-fight fan may be correct.

It’s Not Part of the Game – Second Anniversary

On January 1, 2012, at 12:56 PM, I published my first article on this blog.  If you merely look at the status quo in the NHL you may not think much has changed.  But I believe that over the past 24 months there has been tremendous progress in removing fighting from hockey.

Rat PIM Update – A Month of Fighting

I’ve been busy over the past few weeks, watching a lot of hockey fights.  Not exactly my favourite thing but necessary in order to collect some additional data on fighting, enforcers and the impact on Rat PIM.  As always when you look beyond the general perception of an activity you get a better sense of what is really happening.

Rambling Thoughts on the NHL Concussion Lawsuit

I was surprised by my reaction to Monday’s announcement of retired players filing a lawsuit against the NHL.  If you have read any of my posts over the last 2 years it’s obvious that I’m no fan of fighting and I always expected a lawsuit would be brought against the league at some point.  Still I was disappointed to finally see it happen.

Fighting In Hockey Debate – NHLPA Has The Last Word

Last Tuesday George Parros was taken from the game on a stretcher after hitting the ice face first while engaged in a fight with Colton Orr.  The last 4 days has been full of media coverage and blog posts calling for the end of fighting in hockey.  In response we also heard from current players on a wide range of teams providing vocal support for the role of the enforcer.  The latter group has the final say on any change in penalties or efforts to reduce fighting.

No Surprises From Leafs – Sabres Brawl

So last night the Buffalo Sabres visited the Toronto Maple Leafs for a meaningless preseason game and anyone who is a hockey fan has read an article or watched the video.  If you missed then you can catch up on the news here at the National Post or at The Toronto Star.   Any long-time hockey watchers wouldn’t be surprised by the action or the results.

NHL & NHLPA Earn Fees While EA Sports Promotes Fighting In Hockey

In the past few weeks EA Sports has ramped up their promotion of NHL 14 and is targeting fans of the hockey video game series to drive orders before the official release.  Prominent in their advertising and early reviews is the new feature, the “Enforcer Engine”   The majority of hype about NHL 14 is about fighting, and the NHL and NHLPA collect fees from every copy sold while hockey’s image suffers.

Rat PIM Update – Leafs Enforcers Policing the Game

Hockey enforcers are touted as “policemen” in hockey.  According to some they hand out retribution for cheap shots and their targets will think twice before about repeating their sins.  It has even been suggested that their mere presence on the bench will calm things down and their opponents will play differently.   Unfortunately that’s all myth and perception because the facts tell a different story.

NHL Dodges Another Bullet With Martin - Kostopoulos Fight

Last night Matt Martin fought Tom Kostopoulos and quickly dropped him to the ice unconscious.   No word at the time of this writing about Kostopoulos’ condition.   The video was shared a few million times across the web and a like amount of jokes and comments about the knockout dominated social media.   I’m sure that the NHL held their breath for a few hours and then let out another sigh of relief.

Rat PIM Highlights – Update February 18th 2013

We recently celebrated Hockey Day in Canada and Hockey Weekend Across America.  The primetime telecast in Canada on Saturday, February 9^th featured several 3^rd period brawls between Toronto and Montreal.  That game gave me the motivation to update my theory on the correlation of fights per game and Rat PIM.  I thought that I would review a small sample of games involving the top teams in fight majors this season and see how they are doing in their honourable campaign to make the game safer.

Hockey Players Fight Because They Can.

For the last 8 months I’ve attempted to disprove the popular myths about why fighting remains in hockey.  Using accepted academic studies, research from other hockey websites, NHL statistics and observations from professional journalists, I think I have presented a compelling alternative view of this issue.  But I’ve recently come to believe that the reason it remains in the game is very simple.

Jay Baruchel And I Don't Agree

On August 5th Jay Baruchel issued a simple tweet, “GOON 2. #staytuned”.  It prompted me to go back and find an interview that was published by Wired back in June.  In it he was unabashedly in favour of the enforcer and suggested that the decline of the role was responsible for the increase in injuries in the NHL.  I think the interview deserves further scrutiny and some alternative perspective on his comments.

Who Makes a Better Referee?

NHL players, coaches and team executives who firmly support fighting in the game will tell you the enforcer role is needed to police the game.  The game is too fast and the on-ice officials can’t catch all the cheap shots so the players need to take matters into their own fists.  So who is better at controlling the game, the NHL referee or the team enforcer?

A Superficial Look At UFAFs

With some recent big name UFA signings out of the way, I thought it would be a good idea to take a superficial look at UFAFs – those would be unrestricted free agent fighters.   Several teams added toughness for various reasons but some didn’t bother to look for new players who could add any scoring or those who would keep the team off the penalty kill.  Although they considered size and reputation, they may not have thought much about what negative impact the UFAF will have.

What’s In A Name?

The designated tough guy on any hockey team has been referred to as: an enforcer, a policeman, a fighter, a goon, and probably some other not-so-polite terms called out from team benches.  Let’s explore the term “enforcer” to see if the name is still valid in today’s hockey, and if role still has the same meaning.

More Facts on the Role of Enforcers

Hockey is unique in that some teams use up a roster spot for a player whose primary role is to break the rules – to go out on the ice and engage in a fight.  Enforcers are not as numerous today but they are also not an endangered species just yet.  But if you study the statistics you have to wonder why teams continue to invest in the role.

Fighters Hurt Their Teams

In an earlier post, Additional Statistics on the Impact of Fighting, I presented some stats that show teams that fight more often are less successful in the standings and in the playoffs.  That same report also showed that teams with more fighting majors also incurred a higher number of non-fighting penalty minutes.  I thought that I would take a quick snapshot of the top penalty leaders and see if there was a correlation to their propensity to drop the gloves.

The Magical Time Before The Instigator Rule

During HNIC’s Coach’s Corner on April 21st, Don Cherry, who has not coached in over 30 years, called for the removal of the instigator rule (Rule 46.11).  He was making the point that players should be policing the game, adding, “You can’t have a mad dog sitting on the bench.”   Even though he stated, “I know you can’t go back,” it was clear that he wanted a return to the good old days.

How Did We Get Here

To understand an issue you sometimes have to study contributing factors, however seemingly unrelated, to make sure that any conclusions are based on facts and reasonable assumptions.   If you believe that most people form opinions as a result of their early development and experiences then we need to look at the recent history of fighting and the role of the enforcer.  This will help us understand why NHL players and league officials all believe that fighting should remain in the game.