Thursday, June 18, 2015

The End Of Hockey Fights & NHL Enforcers?



Knuckles vs. Numbers | Grantland Channel

Hockey's tough guys face the fight of their lives against the new-school analytics regime, which has minimized the impact of the enforcer role, sending many of the NHL's top brawlers into extinction or exile.

Buffalo Sabres' Cody McCormick fights w/ New Jersey Devils' Mark Fraser

The End Of Hockey Fights & NHL Enforcers?

Hockey fights are part of the game...or is it?

Bruisers, enforcers & fighters have been a part of hockey from its inception...no question about it...they are there to protect their star-players and defend their teammates through thick and thin.


Regardless if they have hockey skills or not, these enforcers are blessed w/ some of the best hand-to-hand combat skills (on ice) on Planet Earth. With that being said, are these (hired guns a.k.a. tough guys on ice) suppose to be in the game because they're skilled hockey players w/ a propensity to throw knock-out blows & hay-makers or are they just being used for their overall brute-strength and fisticuff skills — how about both?

Bloody, battered & bruised

Although today's modern hockey teams consist of less and less enforcers, the fans seem to appreciate and want more of them. Whether or not hockey fights and their enforcers will make a comeback and thrive in today's game, statistics prove that the modern "tough guy" roles are regressing from the overall game of hockey.


Clark Gillies | #9 | LW | New York Islanders 


Bob Nystrom | #23 | RW | New York Islanders 

Hockey enforcers is a tough role and many "tough guys" are needed — or are they? As today's game speeds-up and fighting seems to be frowned and looked-down upon, the role of hockey's enforcers has decreased in recent years.

Although many beg-to-differ, the statistics show that the role of NHL's enforcers are deteriorating and will eventually become obsolete. As the crackdown on sports concussions — in both the NHL & NFL increase, the role of hockey's enforcers & fighters will evidently decrease.

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