Thursday, February 05, 2009
“Solving” fights in the NHL
Former tough guy Larry Playfair:
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=3885957&name=lebrun_pierre
“I think, in my lifetime, there will be no more fighting in the National Hockey League. I think the day is coming,” said Playfair, 50, in a recorded interview that will air on the Sabres’ team broadcast this weekend. “And that’s OK. The game is so much better than when I played. The game is skill on skill. It’s fun to watch.”
There’s nothing wrong with continually tweaking the rules to reduce the incentive for fighting. Instead of a 5-minute major, you make it a 10-minute misconduct. Plus you lose the “right” to fight in the next game.
Two fights in the same game gives you a one-game suspension, plus you lose the “right” to fight in your next two games (minimum five minutes of ice time to constitute a “game”). Break that rule, then you get a two-game suspension, and a three-game ban on fighting.
You can create a model where the incentives to fighting are reduced, but are not eliminated. The “all or nothing” approach will go the way of the DH: each side digs their heels, and neither side will compromise.
There is a solution to the DH, without an all-or-nothing approach (home manager discrection). And there is a solution to fighting in the NHL (make the penalties stiffer, without having a defacto ban).
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