Fighting has been around as long as hockey. Back on March 3, 1875, the first indoor hockey game was played at the Victoria Skating Rink in Montreal. Following the game, spectators were upset with the game taking so long on the ice and they couldn’t use it. This erupted into a fight between them and the players, so it is quite literally evidence of fighting being in hockey forever.
Fast-forward to 2024, the New York Rangers called up 6-foot-8 forward Matt Rempe to make his NHL debut. It was an exciting story, as he was the first player to take his “rookie lap” in an outdoor venue, fought Matt Martin 89 seconds into the game, and he carried this exciting momentum into his next few games. Rempe earned a major penalty and game misconduct for a hit on Nathan Bastian, then followed that up with fights against Nic Deslauriers and Mathieu Oliver, all within his first five games in the NHL.
Many fans were thrilled to see so much energy inserted into an NHL lineup, but after a picture surfaced of Rempe at practice, it set in for many fans that fighting may be an issue in the league.
Now, it is not like Rempe is new to fighting. Already this season he has seven American Hockey League (AHL) fights, but working your way into the NHL this way is not safe and should be noted by fans as well as the team and league.
Dangers of Hockey Fights
There is always a risk when you are taking turns with an opponent punching each other in the face, but there are also more serious incidents that come from a fight. Back in 2020, there was an AHL fight between Derek Sheppard and Kale Kessy that resulted in Kessy being knocked out and falling back to hit his head on the ice. He was stretchered off with an oxygen mask to help him breathe.
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In 2009, Don Sanderson was playing in a junior league and had a very similar situation to Kessy where his head hit the ice after a fight. Unfortunately, Sanderson would be in a coma for 20 days before eventually passing away.
These on-ice instances are certainly rare but should be evidence enough to take fighting out of hockey. Add in the lasting effects that many NHL fighters go through, and it should certainly be removed from the game.
Related: War on Ice: The Chilling Truth of Enforcers, CTE and Fighting in the NHL
NHL players such as Derek Boogard, Todd Ewen, Steve Montador, Rick Rypien, and Wade Belak all had tragic deaths at very young ages and were either confirmed or highly suspected to have chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which is nerve degeneration in the brain caused by repeated head trauma. While there were multiple causes of death, many believe the CTE and the nature of their fighting style in the NHL were part of the reason they dealt with the off-ice issues they faced.
Going back to Rempe for a minute, with all of the known concussion and CTE causes and problems, the NHL still allowing players to risk their health this way is unimaginable. Rempe is 21 years old and has fought three of the toughest fighters in the league, and while nobody is disputing the fact that he can hold his own in these fights, he shouldn’t have to – or be able to.
At 21 years old, the brain is not done developing, and having significant head trauma during development is undoubtedly dangerous. The celebration of an exciting first week in the NHL is more than fair, but to feel all the pressure to fight — whether it be from the fans or the organization — is not fair to somebody as young as Rempe.
The Alternative to Fighting
Traditionally, there is a time and place when fighting is justified. If an opponent injures a teammate, if there is a dirty or big clean hit, or if there is previous bad blood between the two teams. Those are the main times, but what would happen if fighting was out of the game? Things like Morgan Rielly cross-checking Ridly Greig happen. That is unacceptable, and the NHL is handing out bigger suspensions to communicate that it is a wrong reaction. If players aren’t allowed to punch each other in the face, they may resort to more of those types of responses.
Hockey will always have fighting. If the NHL were to follow the way the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), they would be in a much better position. The QMJHL implemented their “ban” on fighting by giving every player who engaged in a fight a game misconduct, and the player deemed the aggressor of the fight is given a one-game suspension as well.
The NHL following a plan like that could benefit everybody’s safety and help work fighting out of the game.