3 of 31

Write now Article Tools

The decline of hockey's popularity is directly related to the league's misguided efforts to make the sport less "violent". The league's crackdown on fighting may have appeased concerned peaceniks and the politically-correct, but to diehard hockey fans, removing the violence from hockey would be like removing the Big Mac from the McDonald's menu. Essentially, it would be the death of a franchise.

To the uneducated hockey fan, the violence in the sport seems gratuitous and unnecessary. But to the true fan, it is easy to see why fighting plays a valuable and essential role in the game. Through three periods of a physical game, it is easy for tempers to flare among the opposing players. Left unabated, these frustrations can often result in incidents where players risk serious injury, due to errant sticks, cheapshots, and the like. By having a few "enforcers" on the roster (players who are on the team more for their fighting ability than their scoring ability), the chance of an opposing player maliciously injuring another player greatly diminishes. Allowing two opposing "enforcers" to drop the gloves and engage in fisticuffs can defuse a game that is spiralling out of control, and it often sways a team's momentum. Many important games and play-off series in the NHL have been won or lost due to the change in momentum after a fight.

Being such a fast-moving game, officials on the ice cannot be expected to see everything. Having a few tough "goons" in your lineup is essential to keeping peace on the ice. Yes, it sounds backwards, but if you take a look at some of the ugliest moments and biggest brawls in hockey history, many of them occurred because overzealous officials wouldn't allow two willing players to drop the gloves. Frustrations mount, and before long, the game turns ugly. Not only is the crackdown on fighting resulting in more malicious play on the ice, it is also turning off fans. Old-school hockey purists would rather tune out than to watch a watered-down politically-correct version of the game. Potential hockey fans are instead tuning into "ultimate-fighting" shows and mixed martial arts matches on television; sports that are so violent that it makes guys like Jesse Boulerice and Donald Brashear look like a couple of Teletubbies.

Hockey is also a dying sport because of the league's insistence on relocating or establishing teams in places where ice hockey has no business being played. Dallas. Phoenix. Carolina. Tampa Bay. Logic dictates that if you want to fill a stadium with hockey fans, build the stadium someplace where there are hockey fans. Unfortunately, logic hasn't factored into many of the league's decisions in recent years. In spite of everything, hockey remains a great sport mired in tradition with a legacy of physical play, including fighting. It is only when these basic tenets of the game are altered that the game loses it's popularity among those who love the game for what it was, and not the watered-down violence-free version that it is today.

Learn more about this author, Marlin Bressi.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

Add your voice

Know something about Why hockey is a dying sport in the USA?
We want to hear your view. Write now!