Fighting
What is Fighting in hockey?
How to understand a hockey term Fighting?
What is the definition of Fighting in hockey?
Fighting is a major penalty given to players who drop their gloves and start a fight during a game. Fighting is given as a five-minute penalty, but may result in a ten-minute misconduct or game misconduct penalty if one of the players in the fight is deemed to have been the instigator of the fight.
Fighting penalties are given out in a couple of contexts, mainly in one-on-one altercations and in bench brawls, where multiple fights between players on the two teams occur at the same time. If a one-on-one altercation is already in progress, and a teammate of either of the two fighters involved in the altercation decides to join the fight, that player will be given a penalty for being the “third man in”.
Fighting has always been part of the NHL game. However, many have been calling for fighting to be banned from the NHL, especially after the deaths of some notable fighters and the growing number of injuries and concussions that result from fighting. There used to be a lot more “staged” fights in the NHL, where two players would purposely drop their gloves to fight for the sake of fighting or pumping up their teammates.
Notable fighters throughout the NHL’s history include Georges Laraque, Derek Boogaard, Tie Domi, Chris Nilan, Dave ‘Tiger’ Williams and Bob Probert.